A new harvest of soaps has arrived in the Soap Shop, and I couldn’t be more excited. When I was a kid, a hot bath was a luxury for my mother. She and my father would come home exhausted from the farm, and she’d fill the tub, tossing in supermarket bar soaps—the “fancy” brand was Yardley, a small indulgence for a couple of dollars. My brother and I would sit on the bathroom floor, talking to her about our day. Those are my happiest memories. And the reason I started making bar soap. I love the ceremony of a hot bath—the way a good soap fills the air, the way it makes you feel. I watched it nourish my mother, day after day. Unlike the supermarket bars she used, our soap bricks are made one by one. The ingredients are grown carefully, harvested by hand. We mix them fresh in our kitchen, cut them into oversized bricks, and stamp each one with care. Run yourself a bath—it’s the best medicine. x Richard