Mistral

During winter and spring, the Mistral wind sweeps down from the Alps across the storied landscape of Provence, leaving behind luminous, deep blue skies. A Mistral collection of exquisitely scented bath, body, and home products takes its name from this legendary wind whose fragrant course is shaped by the mountains, rivers, and plants of the region.
In 1993, Matthew Tilker, Mistral's founder and the president was studying alternative cancer therapies in Europe on a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship. During a stay in Provence, France, Matthew met a seventy-year-old master soap maker who, in a family factory, still crafted soaps according to a three hundred-year-old traditional triple milling process, always using the finest natural ingredients. The soap maker's artistry, love of his craft, and extraordinary knowledge and experience in soap making left a lasting impression on Matthew. After completing his studies and returning home to California, Matthew imported soaps directly from Provence and sold them at his mother's home during the 1994 holiday season. It was the beginning of Mistral, and his mother loves to remind him that the first Mistral store was located in mom's house! Currently, the Mistral line offers customers thirty soap fragrances, as well as a full range of Mistral-scented personal care products. The Mistral wind moves over the entire Rhone valley, creating seasonal changes and spectacular climatic swings. It has a profound effect on the terrain by rejuvenating the soil, creating lush planting conditions, and giving birth to fields of herbs and flowers.
By evoking the powerful spirit of the Mistral wind, we invite you to experience the scents and colors of Provence as part of your daily bath and beauty moments.
The true test of any personal care product is its power to transform you. At Mistral, we take our name from a wind that brings change and transformation throughout the region of Provence. Every product honors the very spirit of the legendary Mistral wind and informs our core philosophy of change. When you apply one of the nourishing body care products, bathe with exquisite soaps, or inhale one of the signature fragrances, your skin will soften and beautify, your mood will brighten, and your spirit will be soothed. It is this journey, both sensory and experiential, that guides the research and product development team in their quest.
This could sound like a lofty goal for the products, however, with the fields and perfumers of Provence, we have the world's most wonderfully unique selection of natural ingredients, knowledge, and talent. From the lush fields of lavender, linden trees, and sparkling summer sunflowers, they select pure steam-distilled oils, essences of flowers and fruits for their natural benefits, and use time-honored techniques refined and enhanced over the centuries. Every Mistral formulation blends the best of modern science with the age-old wisdom and traditions of the past.
At the heart of each Mistral, the product is a special fragrance crafted in Grasse, which is then formulated for each product. This transformative power and energy carried forth on the slightest breeze come to you as cream on your hand, a bubble in the bath, or a bar of soap, imparting an unmistakable aroma that infuses your spirit filling you with joy. When the regal scent of perfect gardenia smells exactly like the flower in morning dew, or the invigorating aroma of lemon verbena picked fresh and rubbed in one finger reaches your nose evoking a noon garden, we know you will feel the transformative spirit of Mistral.