How Toulane started — and why we went back to olive oil

Before there was a brand, there was a kitchen.

Eman Al-Sherif grew up in a Palestinian household where skincare wasn't a routine — it was a ritual. Cold-pressed olive oil. Nabulsi soap made from the same olives that had grown in Palestinian soil for centuries. These weren't luxury products. They were just what you used, because they worked.

"In our family, we always used the Nabulsi soap made of olive oil on our bodies and hair," Eman told Arab News in 2019, in one of Toulane's earliest press features. Her sensitive skin pushed her to start experimenting with her own formulas at home — blending the natural ingredients she'd grown up with into products that actually addressed what her skin needed.

That experimentation became Toulane.

From home recipes to a GMP-certified lab

In 2018, Eman launched Toulane with her sister Dina, bringing those home recipes into a proper laboratory setting. Every formula went through GMP-certified, ISO-accredited production in Dubai — the same rigorous standards used by pharmaceutical manufacturers — without losing what made the original recipes work: the cold-pressed olive oil, the natural botanicals, the absence of synthetic fragrances and harsh preservatives.

The first product Eman ever developed was the Rose Elixir — a multi-purpose beauty balm she started working on in 2016. It began as a solution to her own dry skin and became, years later, the product customers message about at 3am when they've run out and can't find a replacement.

Why olive oil, specifically

Olive oil isn't a trend ingredient for Toulane. It's the foundation.

Cold-pressed Palestinian olive oil — particularly Nabulsi olive oil — has been used on skin and hair across the Levant for over 4,000 years. The traditional Nabulsi soap-making process, which dates back millennia, uses nothing but olive oil, water, and lye. No additives. No shortcuts.

Modern cosmetic science has caught up with what Palestinian families already knew: olive oil is rich in oleic acid, squalene, and antioxidants that closely mirror the skin's own lipid profile. It absorbs well, supports the skin barrier, and is gentle enough for the most sensitive skin types — including skin recovering from conditions like eczema, Accutane treatment, or irritation.

It's why Sodium Olivate (olive oil) is the first ingredient in our Charcoal Soap. It's why it anchors the formulas that our customers with reactive skin reach for first.

As featured in Arab News

In August 2019, Arab News featured Toulane in a piece on Palestinian entrepreneurs in the UAE. The article captured what the brand was built on: the connection between heritage, natural ingredients, and a belief that what worked for generations doesn't need to be replaced — it needs to be made properly.

You can read the original article here: arabnews.com/node/1539131/lifestyle

In 2022, Mille World featured Toulane in a piece on organic skincare brands worth trying — describing the brand as a step towards healthier skin and highlighting the GMP-approved, ISO-accredited lab in Dubai.

You can read that piece at milleworld.com/organic-skincare-brand-you-need

What Toulane is today

Small-batch. GMP-certified. Made in Dubai. Rooted in Palestinian heritage.

The formulas have been refined, the range has grown, and the lab is more sophisticated than Eman's first kitchen experiments — but the foundation hasn't changed. Every product starts with the same question: does this actually work, with ingredients that have earned their place?

That's the standard Palestinian olive oil set. Everything else follows from there.