Just Like Jane | Natural Bath Products...Vintage Style
We live in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and we love to make soap, lotion, scrubs, and bath bombs. Specifically, natural handmade cold processed soap and products in small batches with no bad stuff in it. No phthalates, no sodium lauryl sulfate, no fixatives, chemical hardeners, foam stabilizers, detergents, or waxes. They are yucky and unnecessary.
It all started with soap. One day someone put a bar of natural handmade cold processed soap in our hands—we breathed in, and it smelled really good. We used it and it smelled even better and cleaned us up really, really nicely. And we became hooked. We suddenly wanted to shower several times a day—sort of a handmade soap immersion experience. And then our noses changed—regular off-the-shelf supermarket soap started smelling very harsh and chemical. And our skin became nicer. It was all around a great experience. So we decided that in order to be surrounded by lovely natural soap whenever we wanted, we'd better start making and selling it. So we did. And it's lovely.
What's so great about cold processed soap? It's real handmade soap. Did you know that most of the "soap" found in the grocery store aisles is actually detergent not soap? There are many ways to make real handmade soap, but we believe cold process is the best, most natural method. Here is a great article by Cheryl McCoy that explains it very well: The Benefits of Real, Natural Soap
Why do we live in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho? Visit here. Then you'll know. Mountains. Lakes. Very, very nice people that say hello. Small town, good restaurants. We could go on and on, but then you'd want to move here....Oh, alright, move here. We'll welcome you with open arms, especially if you buy our soap.
Who is Jane? And why do we want to be just like her? The real live Jane is our aunt. She is an outstanding person. So we named this company after her. And we truly want to be just like her. However, "Jane" is also many, many other women—mothers, grandmothers, aunts and friends—who came before us; who have poured themselves into us, poured themselves out for the sake of their families and communities; made us who we are, taught us what is important, given us opportunities while limiting their own, and modeled humility, courage, humor, generosity, frugality, steadfastness, faith, and the importance of soap and appropriate table manners.
Each of our "Janes" had their own style but each deeply valued quality over quantity, less is more, faith first, waste not want not, the golden rule...all values they instilled in us as well. We learned to be thrifty in a good way from our Janes. You can read a little bit about each one by clicking on the "Who's In The Photo" with many of our soap flavors.
What's with all the vintage photos? Well, first, we think vintage things are beautiful and full of meaning. We realized how deep and long-held this love of vintage actually is in our life when we gathered props for some of our photos from around our house. There were a lot of them. A LOT. And every item has a story from our family history. Second, in the age of digital photography, we think photos printed on real paper and then dog-eared and stained from use may disappear forever, so we want to enjoy them now. Third, things that have developed a patina, a few scars, whose imperfections show that they've actually got a story—these are fascinating. They show history—they prove that dues have been paid. We value aging, and we think you might, too. And lastly, we want to honor the folks who worked hard to make it through extremely challenging times...we need those kind of role models every day. We want to be just like them.
All the best,
Susan and Daniel