MIFFLINBURG — Jessica Grill began making soap in her parents’ basement. She became interested in essential oils during a summer job in college, but realized she wanted to do more than just smell the oils.
Pompeii Street Soap Company owner Jessica Grill holds up one of her holiday soap scents.
“All good things start in a basement or a garage,” said Grill. She has since turned her passion into her own business, Pompeii Street Soap Company, in Mifflinburg.
“Soapmaking is both an art and a science,” she said. “I love that it makes something usable.”
Customers seem to love artisan soap too. Besides the Pompeii Street Soap Company, other artisan soapmakers in the Greater Susquehanna Valley include Ole Mill Soap Company in Lewisburg, Two Mules Soap Company in Sunbury and Lazy B Country Herbs in Danville.
Grill said the artisan soapmaking trade has grown dramatically in the last few years. “There are more books on soapmaking than when I started,” she said. “There are whole businesses that sell soapmaking supplies now.”
She believes this growth in popularity is partially due to an increased awareness of health and natural products.
“I would say 75 percent of our customers know about our natural ingredients, and that’s why they come in,” Grill said. “We have access to more information than we used to have.”
Ole Mill Soap Co. owner Ashley Troup with some of her products.
Ashley Troup, owner of Ole Mill Soap Company, said her business really took off when she first sold her goat milk soap on Facebook. She said Instagram also attracts a lot of out-of-area customers.
Besides naturally moisturizing goat milk, Troup said her soaps use a range of all-natural ingredients like avocado oil, castor oil and coconut oil.
“It isn’t something that you can’t pronounce on the back of a label,” said Troup. “People want to know what they are putting on their skin or into their bodies.”
Monica VanSickle, of Winfield, said she loves shopping at the Pompeii Street Soap Company.
“I love that it is all natural and high quality,” said VanSickle. “There is too much artificial out there.”
It is important to provide people with an authentic alternative when it is already hard enough to escape synthetic and potentially hazardous chemicals, said Grill.
“We color our soaps with mineral oxide colorants. We don’t use any F, D or C coloring or micas,” said Grill. “We send our oils and our formulas to a third-party tester for a chemical analysis before we release it on the market.”
Pompeii Street Soap Company employee Diana Schreck cut and arranged the special holiday gingerbread soap at the Mifflinburg store on Wednesday afternoon.
She shared a story about a time when they got their hands on an essential oil steamed and distilled from Christmas trees. After sending it to a lab, Grill learned that the oil had five kinds of pesticides, including one that was banned 30 years ago.
“It is strong proof that stuff doesn’t go away,” she said. “Customers are getting more educated about what’s good for them and what’s not good for them. There is a demand and there is room for all of us (soap companies) in the Valley.”
Email comments to eginader@dailyitem.com. Follow her on Twitter @EmmaGinader.
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