Life & Style | maker •
By Liz Pasquarelli
Lather Local A Wakefield soapmaker sources ingredients and inspo from her surroundings
Is there any nicer feeling than taking a shower after a day at the beach? How about using soap made in small batches right in South County? Watson Wax’s Sea Salt Soap is that fresh mix of organic ingredients like coconut oil, unrefined shea butter, and Mediterranean sea salt, which creates a lotion-like lather, and it’s the personal favorite of founder Shelagh Stone. Stone started Watson Wax as a candle company, which is how it got half its name. The other half was named after her Golden
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Retriever, Watson. A friend recommended she try her hand at soap making, and from there, she never went back. What interests Stone the most about soap making is the experimentation it takes to produce the perfect bar. She cold processes her soap, a method that’s been around for thousands of years. It begins with combining fatty acids, like oils and butters, with sodium hydroxide, or lye, causing a chemical reaction that produces heat and makes the soap. “I make everything in my home studio in
Wakefield,” Stone says. “I love scents, so I have shelves upon shelves of fragrances and essential oils. And then shelves of the less sexy, but just as important, organic oils and butters, clays and natural colorants, that I use for soap making. And then there are the shelves of curing soap, which makes the room smell amazing. I cure my soap for at least four weeks for a more gentle, longer lasting bar. So it’s a whole lot of oil.” To create her products, Stone blends mostly local and organic ingredients, such
Photos by Shelagh Stone, Watson Wax
Products are as pleasing to the senses as they are gentle to the planet
