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When I spot Danish darling Frama in a home tour, it’s usually furniture, like its iconic metal shelving or tiny stools. If I do catch sight of the Copenhagen-based brand’s hand and body care, it’s likely in either the Apothecary or Herbarium scent. Hey, it’s hard to go wrong with the classic combo of sandalwood, cedar, and ylang ylang or the seductive melange of orange, juniper, rose, and ho wood.
But of the four fragrances Frama makes, I have always preferred Columnae. It was only after visitors kept returning to our dinner table, nose to hands, asking about our bathroom soap that I realized we may have found a signature scent.
Frama Columnae Hand Soap
Sometimes I try to explain how Columnae smells by painting a picture. A few examples: it’s like walking among Mediterranean ruins while the sun dips below the horizon. Like the second after you’ve rubbed the leaves of a flowering branch between your fingers. Like a beautiful kitchen in an aged Tuscan villa. There’s something almost chalky to it, like crumbling plaster or soft stone. But, really, it’s the alchemy of vetiver, black pepper, bitter orange, and cedar leaf that gets you, which Frama combines with a gentle cleansing gel made with aloe vera, thyme oil, and shea butter. Despite frequent use, the soap doesn’t strip my sensitive skin. In fact, it somehow leaves it softer, and that’s before the addition of its lotion partner, moisturizing without being thick.
The small size, at 375 milliliters, is a solid amount of high-quality product for the price. In comparison, Diptyque’s hand soap is $30 more; Loewe’s is $35 more; and Flamingo Estate’s is $15 more—all for less soap. Le Labo’s is more affordable, but comes in a plastic container. Upgrade to the larger, 500 milliliter bottle and the cost is still on par with those smaller sizes; a refill container costs $5 less. The large version lasted my household of two, with lots of dinner guests, for five months; the lotion, twice as long.
In a room where hand soap is a constant companion, this is the only one I jump to restock when the bottle is getting low.
