Owner, Sabrina Russo, Helps Keep It Clean in Boulder City
More than locally made this Boulder City artisan offers better quality soaps in her shop right in your back yard. Boulder City Soap and Candle has been a staple of the Boulder City community for decades. Expanding from her brick and mortar store to nationwide shipping has helped her provide healthier bath and body options to residents and visitors from across the country.
Local Made Goods, A Resurgence In Underserved Artforms
When you ask the typical person what “art” means to them the answers may be art you hang on a wall, the art you watch, art you hear, and even tangible items like crafts. What they’re unlikely to mention is the art you use every day. In fact, the art you use to wash and hydrate your hands and body may not make the list at all. Underserved art mediums, such as home goods, foods and beverage, or textiles have become so common and manufactured at such a low cost they’ve lost their place among more respected artforms.
Recent attention to craft made goods and a desire from consumers to find healthier options may have revitalized the market, but not given it the attention it deserves. As a result many of these underserved artisans have begun to see a demand for their craft, and a smarter consumer.
Why Choose Small Batch Made Bath Products
Big box manufacturers and corporate brands have continued to corner the market, taking the bulk of soap sales from consumers. Recent awareness to the health risks associated with many of these low cost ingredients in bulk manufactured soaps has caused consumers to consider what is in the products they use daily. This includes their soap. These ingredients include detergents, parabens, sulfates and hazardous chemicals. Repeated exposure to those ingredients have been linked to skin sensitivities, allergies, and even chronic skin conditions such as eczema, rashes and excessively dry skin, among others.
Many manufacturers use those potentially harmful ingredients to reduce the cost of their products as well as the effort needed to produce them. This is partially responsible for their ability to manufacture soap in bulk, and why they produce so few variations to their products.
The Art of Saponification
Saponification is the art of making soap. Like any other artform it connects multiple components, in this case chemistry, the sense of smell, and touch. Local artisans, like Sabrina Russo take it to another level by adding a visual element to make each of her handmade products visually appealing as well. The conversion of individual ingredients into a final product is performed time and time again in the backroom of her small Boulder City shop. Raw ingredients are combined with heat and precision to create a variety of soap and candle products the ignite the senses without the fear toxic ingredients can cause.
“My customers love the variety of scents and the way these products make their skin feel. Then when they realize how much longer these products last than the big box store products their hooked.” One example she references is her shower steamers. The typical shower steamer is not only available in limited scents and colors, they can cause eye irritation, skin sensitivity, and induce lung dysfunction due to their chemical composition. Additionally, a typical shower steamer on the market is good for a single shower, as it dissolves similar to that of a bath bomb. This means you need a new one every shower. Shower steamers sold in her shop come with a satchel to hang it in and are good for up to 6 showers. The ingredients are natural and don’t cause the same irritation to the eyes, lungs, and skin, and aren’t harmful to septic tanks or drains.
Customers approach her with a variety of skin conditions, concerned with ingredients that may cause worsening of conditions. Full consultations ensue as customers look to her for advice on what is the cause to their chronic symptoms. “Once they’re convinced these products are the answer,” Sabrina goes on to say, “it’s a matter of them understanding why these products cost more than the ones that caused the conditions they suffer from in the first place. But once they try it they always come back for more and start buying them as gifts for their friends.”
More Than Soap & Candles
The wide variety of products available at Boulder City Soap and Candle has helped remove toxins from products beyond just soap and candles. Offering a line of handmade artisanal lotions, body butters, sugar scrubs, shower steamers and uniquely crafted soaps allows them to provide their products for their customer’s needs.
The People Have Spoken
With hundreds of products sold every month it is clear that people love artisanal, handmade soaps with ingredients they know they can trust. And while some people can appreciate sculpting soap into various shapes as an artform, the chemistry and craftsmanship to create soap from raw materials is often overlooked. When you consider purchasing art, consider it being used in your everyday life and buy handmade soaps.
Shop Yours at their Store 501 Nevada Way, Suite 2, Boulder City NV 89005 or online at BoulderCitySoap.com