Natalie Wohlwend
One Bar of Soap at a Time
story by KAREN SNYDER photos by SUSAN DELOACH
It’s part art, part science, part craft – and a huge part love. That’s what goes into soapmaking for Natalie Wohlwend, owner of Bathe in downtown Beaufort, a destination storefront that offers handcrafted soap and body products.
Having recently celebrated her first year in business, no one seems more surprised at her success and the popularity of her small-batch, hand-crafted soap products than Natalie. Yet, it’s not hard to see why her dream of becoming a business owner has become a reality. Take one step into her store and a true multi-sensory shopping experience begins. Bright colors, soft hues, and scents of every type await customers who frequently are taken aback by the sheer beauty of the soap bars stacked in artful displays around the boutique-style store.
Natalie jokingly invites visitors to her store with “free smells” and warmly welcomes customers to take a hands-on approach to experience more than 1,500 bars of soap and other skin care products that she hand-crafts daily in the store. Bathe offers some 53 varieties of soap including both body and facial bars, liquid soaps, body washes, scrubs, face masks, moisturizers, shampoos and conditioners, body butters, bath salts, beard oils, CBD balms and salves, and more.
“Customers are often surprised that all the products they see in the store are made right behind the counter,” says Natalie, who learned the art of soapmaking from her sister Stacy who has operated a successful on-line wholesale soap business, Kiss A Prince Soap, in Anderson, SC for the last 10 years. She was skeptical that a retail store-front selling soap could work,” admits Natalie, “but we have found our niche here in Beaufort.”
What keeps customers coming back to the store is Bathe’s commitment to using all-natural ingredients. Natalie sold 10,552 bars of her hand-crafted approximately in her first year of business, and quickly credits her sister who helps supplement the store’s inventory using all the same soap-making recipes, processes, and designs.
Bathe’s products are made using vegetable and plant-based oils and butters such as olive oil, coconut oil, sustainable palm oil, castor oil, and shea butter.
Additionally, non-synthetic, all-natural essential oils and oil blends are used to create a wide variety of scents. Whether it’s citrus, floral, clean or no scent at all, Natalie says there’s always something customers find as their favorite.
One such favorite and best seller is the signature scent she designed and calls “Beaufort” which is a blend of essential oils including lemongrass, tea tree, eucalyptus, and lavender. According to Natalie, a second favorite is the activated black charcoal bars great for acne-prone skin. Yet there’s plenty to choose from whether it’s body bars, facial bars, or gardener’s soaps.
Her products sometimes include exfoliants such as poppy seeds, South Carolina grits, pumice sand, salt, clay, and even coffee grounds. Natalie also adds new Bathe products seasonally, often relying on her social media presence on Facebook and Instagram to let customers know about the latest new scents or products she’s added to the store’s inventory. It keeps the shopping experience exciting for visitors who include a broad demographic of all ages of men and women, teens, and families with children.
“I’m so grateful to my friend, Megan Bridge, who runs all Bathe’s social media accounts. She ensures that fans of our pages as well as new customers to Bathe know what’s happening in the shop and what new products, specialty soaps, and scents we’re working on,” adds Natalie.
Though whipping up a batch of soap usually only takes about 30 minutes, once molded the bars need to cure for a minimum of 4 weeks. “The more the moisture evaporates, the longer the bars’ scents will last,” she explains.
“My soap bars are not detergents like many mass marketed soaps. My customers really feel the difference and improvements that using natural products makes to their skin.”
Interestingly, Natalie’s path to mastering skincare and becoming a successful business owner was an unpredictable one. Her life’s experiences are as varied as the soaps she makes. Born in Maine where she lived until age 14, Natalie moved to Anderson, SC upon her father’s retirement from the U.S. Air Force.
In 1999, Natalie also joined the Air Force where she served as a meteorologist while also earning a BA degree in Natural Sciences and Mathematics at Thomas Edison State University in Trenton, NJ. She later earned two master’s degrees – one in Management and another in Human Resources from Webster University.
Natalie pursued a variety of careers serving as the only female civilian instructor of meteorology for the Department of Defense at the Community College of the Air Force, teaching high school science and math, and even a short-lived stint in Las Vegas as a TV meteorologist.
Natalie arrived in Beaufort in 2010 when her then Marine husband was stationed here. Just before her move back to SC, Natalie began searching for the best schools in the area for her son and daughter, then ages 6 and 11, to attend. Her search for schooling, however, actually led to her next career opportunity at Riverview Charter School in Port Royal where she served in several capacities as a program director of the school’s before- and after-school program, as a middle school teacher, and as the school’s Director of Operations.
It wasn’t until Natalie’s divorce in 2016 that she found herself at a crossroads. Having been a military spouse where her career aspirations often came second, Natalie realized that she now had the opportunity to “make my own choices about my career and dreams.” For as long as she could remember, the desire to own her own business was present. “I always had a vision of owning ‘something’ but what that was I wasn’t sure,” she reflects.
“I liked the thought of being my own boss but was uncertain about what I could actually do. What kind of business could I have?” Then one night, Natalie explains, she awoke from a deep sleep thinking, “I can make soap!” The decision to leave the security of a job she loved at Riverview Charter School was one filled with risk, uncertainty, and lots of doubt.
There were many times in the year-long journey to open her doors at 210 Scott Street, that she questioned her choice. “I realized there were no more holidays, no more weekends off, no school breaks and felt a bit of panic,” she admits. But still, she made it her goal to open on July 1, 2018. An admitted perfectionist, Natalie did it all. From designing her store’s interior, to her company’s logo, to her product labeling and branding.
Upon her opening, Natalie realized there was still lots to accomplish. “I had a long list of things still on my list, but I realized I just had to do it. That not everything had to be perfect when I opened the store.” With no retail background, Natalie jokes, “I opened for business on my first day and realized that I hadn’t even thought to get cash for the register!” Now with a part-time staff of three and lots of friends who actually “work for soap or nothing at all,” she’s thankful that the Beaufort community has embraced her.
A member of the Downtown Beaufort Merchant’s Association and Chamber of Commerce, Natalie is grateful for the support that other Beaufort businesses have given her. Whether it was small business tips like putting out a sandwich board to drive traffic into the store or sending customers her way, she says she felt immediately welcomed by the business community.
Bathe has produced several private labels for area businesses and organizations such as Breakwater Restaurant & Bar, the Rustic Pup, Brays Island, and the Port Royal Sound Foundation. And, adds that many corporations, schools, doctor’s offices, realtors, and other local businesses request large orders of her soap and products for company gifts and promotions. Wedding and baby shower favors are popular, too, she says. Natalie also supports the local community through donations of her soap and Bathe products to organizations such as Hopeful Horizons, a children’s advocacy, domestic violence, and rape crisis center.
Beyond store hours, Bathe also hosts private parties and events including Girl’s Night Out, bath bomb making parties (popular with teens), neighborhood gatherings, military spouse get-togethers — all complete with appropriate refreshments.
Marking her first anniversary by launching a new Bathe website (batheinbeaufort.com) at the request of her customers, Natalie seems content, yet very humbled, about her success. She’s quick to give credit to those around her that helped her to make it happen.
“I know for certain how special it is to have the support I do. You can’t find that just anywhere.”
