About Touch of Time Soaps

Hi there!

I'm Elaine Hutchison, CEO and soap master at Touch of Time Soaps.

Touch of Time Soaps was born out of a lifelong love of history combined with my love of soap making. I've always been fascinated with the idea of sharing an experience with those that lived long ago. And I wondered if I could do that with soap.

I wasn't curious about making a personal version of pioneer soap or even my grandmother's soap--I wanted to recreate or recapture the sense of the great luxury soaps of the past.

And so I began to research the traditions of these soaps. Two things immediately caught my interest, things that surprised me:

--Most of the craftsmen that made soap for royalty and the very rich weren't soap makers. They were perfumers.

--The best luxury soaps--the soaps made for royalty and the very rich--were all made from plant oils. Like most people, I once assumed that soap from the past would be made of animal fat. Not so! In fact in France, there were laws enacted that specifically called out against it. (more on that later!)

I loved the idea that I could create historically accurate soaps while not comprising my current vegan way of living. And I loved reading the books and records left behind by these perfumers to the powerful.

A few years of research and testing followed and Touch of Time Soaps was launched!

Each one our soap collections has a different way of connecting you to the past.

The Decor Collection features soaps embellished with a bas-relief pattern or silhouette in the style of different time periods. These decorator soaps are created with scents that were popular with a certain person or a certain time of history.

The Icon Collection soaps were created to recapture the sense of bathing luxury experienced by some pretty famous folks. Because it isn't always possible to find an original soap recipe for each individual, I created soaps with his or her favorite scents, using materials available in that person's geographic area and lifetime.

The Heritage Collection features legendary soaps made from original recipes, original materials, or original essential oil blends. More than any other collection, the Heritage soaps are a direct link to the great soaps of the past.

Most of the soaps offered during launch are French. That's because France was the home of the great luxury soaps for the two hundred years that spanned the late 17th through the 19th centuries. As our catalog expands, so will the historical range of our soaps

Thanks again for stopping by, and if you have a minute, I'd love to hear from you! Please drop me an email with comments, feedback, or just drop me a line to say "hello!"

Elaine