A new shop opened last weekend in Wolseley, offering customers a variety of locally made, natural bath and skin care products.
Five years ago, Susan Lorenz determined that the ingredients in laundry soap were causing her husband’s constant itchiness. Her solution was to create laundry soap with natural ingredients that would not irritate his skin. Her efforts were so successful that soon her daughters were asking her to make other bath or skin care products. She occasionally sold these items privately or at trade shows but only recently decided to focus more on the venture.
Lorenz and her husband moved from Govan to Wolseley two years ago with the intention of retiring in the picturesque community. Lorenz worked in the healthcare industry for more than 25 years and was most recently employed at the clinic in Grenfell. Her husband also works in healthcare at the nursing home in Wolseley. She took early retirement this summer for personal health reasons but is eager to remain active and felt the timing was right to begin marketing her soaps.
On Saturday, Sept. 3, Lorenz held a grand opening for a new shop called Naturally Vintage. She is grateful for the encouragement and support she received from family and friends to help open the shop. It is located in her home at 201 Claude Street and occupies a bright corner room with lace curtains. Two china cabinets with glass doors reveal a selection of soaps, salves, scrubs, bath bombs and salts.
The name “Naturally Vintage” reflects two important aspects of Lorenz’s shop. Products are made with all natural and often plant-based ingredients like lavender and chamomile. Her soaps typically start with a base of goats milk and honey and are prepared in her workroom, which has shelves filled with essential oils, jars of dried herbs and plant-infused oils.
Lorenz finds the process of creating soaps fascinating. “It’s like magic to pick something from the yard and boil it into something useful,” she said.
Lorenz describes her products as “vintage” since they are made using old-fashioned methods and ingredients. After she began creating natural products, Lorenz’s aunt told her that she was using natural resources in a similar way to what her Metis grandmother had done many years before.
Although she has completed an aromatherapy course, Lorenz continues to learn and explore new ingredients or methods. She is looking forward to expanding the business, with plans to add teas and tinctures from herbs grown in her garden.
Naturally Vintage is open Saturday through Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
