Handmade @ Home
What started as a hobby became an obsession: to make the best soap. For myself! I was tired of dry, irritable skin, so I decided to fix it. Over the years spent searching for top quality ingredients, experimenting with ratios, cutting countless batches and waiting for them to cure, I'm proud to say we've perfected a few favorite concoctions. Every bar of soap is crafted personally by me, the C.E.O.. I get a kick out of saying that, because it's really just me and sometimes some helpers.
A Story of Deep River
Quiet and quaint, tucked away in the woods by the water, Deep River is classic Connecticut. A sense of community, respect and volunteerism forms its cultural foundation; a bedrock as beautiful as its brick walkways and colonial architecture. As you walk through town, you pass an assortment of mom-and-pop shops that are uniquely New England. Everything seems in its place, except for a single statue of an elephant right outside Town Hall.
Indeed, it may seem odd, yet this statue serves as a reminder of a history more sordid than splendid. In the 19th & 20th centuries, the U.S. was the world's biggest buyer of ivory. The bulk of that trade went through the lower Connecticut River Valley town of Deep River and the neighboring village of Ivoryton, in Essex. Up to 100,000 elephants were killed a year. Their carcasses were left to rot in the African sun while the tusks were shipped on steamboats to be cut into combs, piano keys, and billiard balls. Deep River was dubbed the "Queen of the Valley", due to the prosperity of the ivory industry.
It's a history from which Deep River doesn't hide. This dark past is woven into school curriculums and taught to the future generations. Many of the town's citizens and local companies make contributions towards elephant and wildlife preservation. The last line on the plaque reads, "Deep River remembers its debt to this majestic creature as it looks forward to a new future as 'Queen of the Valley.'"
To honor the local community culture, and the powerful pachyderm that helped to create it, we chose the elephant as our mascot and donate a portion of all net profits to Save The Elephants, the world's most successful orphan elephant rescue and rehabilitation program. Photos taken by self on a South African safari.