This past year we were reminded of the importance of washing our hands. But staying clean—and healthy—needn’t be treated as a hassle. This year we’re trying to lean into the ceremonial aspect of beauty. Our first stop: upgrading our soap bars.
Jared Simons’ hand-crafted cold process soap is just the treat we’ve been looking for. Made in small batches using the finest ingredients, it’s the perfect blend of practicality and aesthetics.
According to Simons, his small soap company, Whitechapel Soap Co, was actually born out of another love of his—cooking. Having cooked professionally for some 20 years, he was in search of an additional creative outlet. One afternoon, he noticed heaps of used cooking oil behind a friend’s restaurant, which brought to mind the movie Fight Club and more specifically: the scenes where they make soap. “I had plenty of fat,” writes Simons on his website. “So combining my cooking experience and taste of lavish skin products I made my first bar of soap.”
These days his basic ingredients include water, olive oil, coconut oil, sustainable palm kernel oil, sodium hydroxide, shea butter, and pure essential oil.
According to Simons, he tries to put a small story into each bar of soap he makes. “I think things are really inspired by a vintage California lifestyle,” relayed the Los Angeles-based soap maker in an interview with Matter of Hand. “Being in California we’re close to the beach, close to the mountains, close to the desert. So all of those places provide a scene and scent.”
Another source of inspiration he naturally draws from is the kitchen. “I think pulling from that and then taking everything that I’ve used in cooking, in the culinary world. For example citrus is really important in cooking, it’s a great acid and it works its way into a lot of soap,” says Simons.
Simons stresses that details such as packaging are equally important to him. “I try to make each bar different,” he notes. “They’re all hand finished and that brush gives them that texture that you don’t see on every bar of soap that’s out there. So just making people think about the product itself.”
Purchase a bar of soap here, and follow Whitechapel Soap on social media for more:
