By Michael Freeman
Orlando Sentinel.
In the summer heat and humidity known as Central Florida, Jennifer Peets knows that some people fret about doing that one thing they absolutely dread: sweating up a storm.
There’s no reason to feel anxious about that, she said.
“Sweating is good for you,” Peets said. “It releases your toxins. But you will not stink.”
Of course, one way to guarantee that, she said, is to check out her new store, Naked Bar Soap Co., which has its grand opening on Saturday at 1520 Edgewater Drive, Suite J.
Peets, who founded the shop with Natasha Gaylon and Karen Peters, noted that their shop features more than 20 varieties of natural, micro batched bath bars.
It should also be noted, she said, that the term “naked” refers not to the state people are in when they use the soap — but to its ingredients, since their bath and body products are made with all-natural ingredients like olive oil, coconut oil, and sustainable palm oil combined with dollops of Shea, Cocoa, and Kokum butter.
The only scent from the soap comes via essential oils, not synthetic fragrances, she said, adding that the shop offers a liquid soap station that allows guests to fill or refill bottles of liquid soaps.
“Everything that we list in our products, all of it, is something you could find in your own pantry,” she said. “You’re not going to find things in our soaps that are unpronounceable. People are concerned today about what they put inside their body, and they do need to take care of their skin as well.”
In addition to bath bars and liquid soaps, Naked Bar Soap Co. will also carry Pit Cream natural deodorant, exotic carrier oils, sustainable bath accessories, and will be hosting custom soap blending classes.
“If you’re on that green path, and nature’s path of being eco-friendly and conscious, why not go all the way and do the same thing with your soaps?” she said.
The company has its roots in the desire of both Gaylon and Peters to find natural products — and both women ultimately decided they wanted to make their own soaps.
“We are a three-woman company,” Peets said. “Natasha and Karen have been making soups for quite some time. Natasha, when she had her first child, was looking at alternative things because her husband and son were suffering from skin eczema. She thought, ‘Okay, I can make my own soap,’ so she started doing it and researching.”
Peters drew inspiration, she added, from a trip to Africa where she began to contemplate the joy of simple products made without all the costly ingredients that large America firms put into soaps.
“She had some kind eat-love-pray moment, and she really had an epiphany,” Peets said. “That’s why she wanted to do natural soaps. We even list on the walls of the shop the ingredients we use to go back to basics.”
They also made a decision, she said, to bring their products to downtown Orlando by opening a shop in College Park.
“We saw that in Orlando, there wasn’t a place like this, and we wanted to do something for the locals,” she said. “We have over 20 different natural soaps that we’re working on.”
Naked Bar Soap Co. micro blends their soap loaves. Bath bars start at $7.50 and $10 for 8-ounce bottles of liquid soap.
To learn more about this business, call Peets at 407-683-2981 or email info@nakedbarsoapco.com.
