Photos by Sage Feighan
This Dutchess County boutique produces soothing soaps, hand sanitizers, exfoliants, and other top-notch skincare items.
Everyone deserves a little pampering once in a while. Self-care and at-home spa treatments have become one of the most popular methods for de-stressing without breaking the bank. The Hudson Valley delivers with new wellness-centered shops and skincare products with high-quality ingredients.
Sage Feighan, owner of Nourish Natural Soap Co. in Beacon, and her husband, John Papanicolau, share their passion for soaps that not only smell fantastic, but are healthy for sensitive skin, too. They started their business in 2017 when Feighan was searching for an all-natural soap that was different from the typical store-bought fare.
“We couldn’t find any natural soaps that were really great on our skin, and we were really looking for things that were different, like exotic scents or really cool exfoliants. We just couldn’t find them,” she says. Feighan’s search led her to a new passion project. When she couldn’t find the skincare products she dreamed of, she decided to learn how to make them herself.
Once she started giving handmade natural soaps to friends and family, neighbors and friends of friends started asking for more. Nourish Natural Soap Co. grew the way the products are made — totally organically.
All of the products are handmade in the store with all-natural ingredients. Some of the ingredients like lavender, bergamot, and eucalyptus are sourced right here in the Hudson Valley.
Upon entering the store, visitors can smell — and see — all the wonderful scents, mixing together to create a relaxing and sensorial experience. Everyone should take a look at some of the ingredients used in Nourish’s products on a petrified wall, created by Corrine Bryson, of neighboring flower shop Flora Good Times. Customers can watch Feighan in her element, making soaps, bath bombs, and other products while they visit the store. A glass partition dividing the storeroom from the workshop allows customers to have full transparency of what goes into Nourish soaps.
“We’ve turned so many people away from the manufactured soap that’s not great for your skin. It’s accessible; it’s not overpriced,” she says, “We’re about giving people the opportunity to really nourish, no pun intended, but nourish themselves.” And, just as the soaps help customers relax and escape, making soaps is “cathartic” for Feighan. It began as a hobby to distract from the stresses of her day, and is giving back the same valuable time and care to the community and her customers.
“I want them to feel like we care, which, you know, we really do,” she says. “I handmake everything, and people have said to me, ‘The attention you put on each of these things, and the care that you put around them is so important to me. It’s like you made it just for me.’” Originally from Pennsylvania, Feighan, along with her husband—a Hudson Valley native from Westchester—moved to Beacon about two years ago. She said it was the right fit for the family and for their business.
“We love to listen to customers and get ideas of things we can make,” Feighan says. Products like shampoo bars, shower steamers, and their new CBD bath bombs and soaps were all inspired by customer requests.
Nourish’s dedication to an authentic, all-natural experience doesn’t stop there. Not only do Sage and her husband try everything they make before they sell it, but they also have a local group of testers that they give new products to in exchange for feedback.
One fan-favorite item at Nourish Natural Soap is the Sea and Sand soap, which has bergamot, hyacinth, and orange, as well as pumice sand for a natural exfoliant. Customers can try other natural exfoliants through the oatmeal soap line as well. Plus, everyone can take their scrub to the next level with three degrees of exfoliation to try: Gentle Oatmeal, Gentle Oatmeal with oats for a stronger scrub, and the Oatmeal and Coffee bar, which is the strongest exfoliant. For more sensitive skin, the Oatmeal and Goat’s Milk bar can help make rashes disappear.
The owners’ pick is their Geranium and Kombucha soap, which is made with the SCOBY mix that is used to ferment kombucha tea, kombucha tea scent, and an olive oil base. Ancient Egyptians used geranium oil to tighten and soften their skin, which Feighan says is her favorite part about the bar. Be sure to stop in during holidays to find some special boxes or deals on gifts for parents, grandparents, children, and friends.
Nourish Natural Soap helps Hudson Valley residents relax and practice their own personal wellness, but it also brings them joy. Feighan says the company would not have grown as big as it has if not for customers being excited to share their products with each other.
“We want people to feel good, we want people to feel empowered, and we want them to just feel like they can get through anything,” she says.
Nourish Natural Soaps
236 Main St, Beacon
845.440.3922
