Agnes & Eva
Cold-process soap, made slowly and still taking shape.
Agnes & Eva began with my interest in the ingredients I was already growing, cooking with and learning about — and a curiosity about what happens when some of those same ingredients move from the kitchen and garden to the skin.
Named for my two grandmothers, the project has grown slowly: one batch, one formulation and plenty of experimentation at a time.
What I’m Making
The soaps begin with a core of plant oils and butters, then change as I experiment with ingredients, formulations and scent. Some ideas make it into another batch. Others don't. That's part of figuring out what belongs in Agnes & Eva.
FROM THE WORKTABLE
Botanical & Mineral Soap
BEHIND THE BATCH
Ingredients with a Purpose
Making soap has allowed me to look differently at ingredients I already knew well. Plant oils and butters form the foundation of every batch, while botanicals and minerals give me room to experiment with the character of each soap.
I'm less concerned about adding an ingredient because it sounds good on a label than in understanding why it belongs in the formula. Sometimes an experiment earns a place in the next batch. Sometimes it doesn't. That's part of the making.
Plant Oils / Butters
Every soap begins with its oils and butters, and changing their proportions can change the bar itself. I work with familiar plant oils — including olive, coconut, rice bran and castor — along with shea and cacao butters, balancing them as I refine each formula.
What interests me is how differently these ingredients behave once they become part of soap. Some contribute to hardness, others to lather, conditioning or the overall feel of the finished bar. They may not be the ingredients that get the most attention, but they do much of the important work.
Botanicals
This is where the connection between the garden, kitchen and soapmaking becomes especially appealing to me. Herbs, fruits, flowers and other plant-derived ingredients can move surprisingly easily between those worlds, and I've experimented with everything from carrot and cucumber to tomato, rosemary, rosehip and lavender.
I also include ingredients such as milks, oats and honey when they make sense for a particular formula. Not every botanical survives the soapmaking process in the way you might expect, which is part of the fascination. I'm interested in what an ingredient actually contributes — not simply the appeal of putting its name on the label.
Minerals
Sea salt, clays and charcoal bring an entirely different set of possibilities to the worktable. They can influence the appearance and character of a bar without relying on elaborate decoration, which suits the kind of soap I want Agnes & Eva to become.
I've been particularly drawn to sea salt and different clays — ingredients that are remarkably simple but give me plenty to explore from one batch to the next. Minerals also provide a natural counterpoint to the botanical side of the collection: plants and earth, brought together in a soap that remains intentionally uncomplicated.
