So fresh, so clean
You could probably devote an entire chapter in your future autobiography to baths and showers you’ve had throughout your life. Kinktown activities aside, it’s a fact that the bathroom is a spiritual retreat and, as melodramatic as it sounds, a good bathroom begets a good bath.
You may not realize it, but in the bathroom, water and fragrance and mirrors and light come together to produce the ultimate me-time. Scrubbing, rinsing, and repeating seem to make problems fade into the ether. Then again, singing your lungs out definitely helps, too.
To make shower time even more of a treat, I’ve recently turned to bath gels. I know — big whoop — but the bath gel I stumbled upon smells convincingly like mint chocolate chip ice cream, which is my all-time favorite flavor, which in turn makes it my sorta all-time favorite scent. Fittingly called Mint Condition, this peppermint bath and shower gel is by a Pinoy company called Soap Opera. And so I investigate.
The Afterbath
The Soap Opera Bath Shop ethos takes a decidedly different tack: Owners Dana Santos and Sarah Duremdes address the way we keep clean while seeking cues from bands, TV shows, and films. There’s totally nothing vanilla — or Vanilla Ice? — about that. Snicker.
“Dana and her mind,” goes Sarah, pointing to the brains responsible for their goods’ witty names. “Some of the products are also inspired by our favorite movie stars and famous characters in a TV series. We wanted to be the first pop culture pure ingredient bath store.” (Case in point: Soap Opera’s daily clarifying soap is dubbed Small Wonder. Their eau de toilette answers to the name Nirvana.) By “pure ingredient,” they want everyone to know that each item was formulated with the least amount of chemicals possible. Talk about coming clean.
The two friends happen to know what turns bathing into an adventure. Dana has exposure in media and marketing, while Sarah has experience in media and brand management. Both, I assume, hit the showers more than once a day. Combined with that, their familiarity with the local publishing, music, and retail worlds has shored up their already deeply-felt pop culture convictions enough for them to take on this new, sweet-smelling business.
About Face
The first product Soap Opera concocted involved green tea, an ingredient that used to be all the rage but has since taken a backseat to more exotic building blocks. “The green tea formula was available already, since it’s the company’s property. Unfortunately the variant didn’t take off,” Sarah shares. “But one of the pioneer variants that people love is the strawberry line.”
The Soap Opera Bath Shop dramatically expands its offerings every two to three months so clean fiends will have something new to look forward to. Right now, there are around eight products, with the number of bath soaps numbering about 15. Among the handful of sundries, their Power Whitening Glutathione & Arbutin Soap Bar is, hands down, the most popular. At P50 for a bar of Soap Opera soap (on sale) to P500 for the Power Anti-aging and Power Whitening Body Scrub, their dermatologist-grade products are not only friendly to the skin but to the checkbook as well. Ahhh.
Fun While You Foam
So what have people been saying about Soap Opera? “They love the goods, they love the look, they love the image. And like their favorite soap opera, the products have dramatic effects on them,” Sarah says, selling the drama.
Though they’re mainly targeting the ladies, there are a few bonuses for the gents as well. After all, guys bathe, too, you know. “Oh, yeah, we missed that! Surprisingly a lot of men are attracted to the store. They love the mint products — soap and bath gel,” she remembers. “Guys from the gym come by to get a refreshing mint-based product. More mature men love Growing Manes, our hair grower and thickening shampoo.”
The Soap Opera Bath Shop has established a beachhead in Megamall. But since people have been texting and clamoring for more stores, two are in the pipes — one in the north, one in the south. The target date is 2008.
And since the holidays are sneaking up on us, it’s awesome to note that Soap Opera goodies make ideal stocking stuffers. Gift packs are available, but they can custom-wrap some for you as well. And the perfect no-brainer gift is? “The bath soap bars because there’s a variant for everyone, whether you just want to be squeaky-clean or be in a better mood, or have lighter, younger, and healthier skin.” Yup, the fluorescent colors not found in nature make everything extra cheerful.
Think about it. A bath isn’t only a way to stay fresh. It’s also a great way to turn down the world’s volume while turning up your own. To lather up your relaxing bath recipe, why not push your imagination past the literal with pop culture-based body products? Hey, enjoy.
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The Soap Opera
