Page 11 - September 2019

I t'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 inventory using all the same soap-making
with "free smells" and warmly welcomes recipes, processes, and designs.
customers to take a hands-on approach to Bathe's products are made using
experiencing more than 1,500 bars of soap vegetable and plant-based oils and butters
and other skin care products that she hand- such as olive oil, coconut oil, sustainable
crafts daily in the store. Bathe offers some palm oil, castor oil, and shea butter.
53 varieties of soap including both body Additionally, non-synthetic, all-natural
and facial bars, liquid soaps, body washes, essential oils and oil blends are used to
scrubs, face masks, moisturizers, shampoos create a wide variety of scents. Whether it's
and conditioners, body butters, bath salts, citrus, floral, clean or no scent at all, Natalie
beard oils, CBD balms and salves, and says there's always something customers find
more. as their favorite.
"Customers are often surprised that all One such favorite and best seller is the
the products they see in the store are made signature scent she designed and calls
right behind the counter," says Natalie, who "Beaufort" which is a blend of essential oils
learned the art of soapmaking from her including lemongrass, tea tree, eucalyptus,
sister Stacy who has operated a successful and lavender. According to Natalie, a
on-line wholesale soap business, Kiss A second favorite is the activated black
Prince Soap, in Anderson, SC for the last charcoal bars great for acne-prone skin.
10 years. She was skeptical that a retail Yet there's plenty to choose from whether it's
store-front selling soap could work," admits body bars, facial bars, or gardener's soaps.
Natalie, "but we have found our niche here Her products sometimes include
in Beaufort." exfoliants such as poppy seeds, South
What keeps customers coming back to Carolina grits, pumice sand, salt, clay, and the store's inventory. It keeps the shopping
the store is Bathe's commitment to using even coffee grounds. Natalie also adds new experience exciting for visitors who include
all-natural ingredients. Natalie sold 10,552 Bathe products seasonally, often relying on a broad demographic of all ages of men
bars of her hand-crafted approximately in her social media presence on Facebook and and women, teens, and families with
her first year of business, and quickly credits Instagram to let customers know about the children.
her sister who helps supplement the store's latest new scents or products she's added to "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.
BeaufortLifestyle.com | September 2019 11