A few years ago, a boy and his soap were reunited for the first time since high school chemistry. No, we don't mean that he had a decade-long hygiene problem -- a quest for a creative vent sparked a distant memory of being the only kid in class whose bar of soap actually floated. Years later, he decided to give his master soap making skills another try. A few failed experiments, several mediocre attempts, and a handful of squeaky-clean relatives later, the soaper got his groove back. With the help of his patient and squeaky-clean spouse, union street soapworks was born (named for the first street on which they lived, in a postage-stamp-sized apartment).

But that's not the end of the story -- in fact, it's just the beginning.

We are always looking for new inspiration and as "citizens of the world" we find it everywhere, from forests of our native Michigan, to California's breathtaking Central Coast, to the tropical splendors of Costa Rica and Bora Bora, to the ageless Mediterranean, where soap was first made thousands of years ago. Our latest inspiration is also our best creation yet - a precious little boy we named Rylan (whose favorite soap, by the way, is Creamy Goat Milk).