Wildflower Soapworks offers a wide variety of soaps with exfoliants using only natural products such as oatmeal, coffee, sea salt and poppy seeds, and their products are now available at the Oryana Community Co-Op. Wildflower makes handcrafted soaps, lotions, essential oils, lip balms, bath salts, perfumes and sugar scrubs. Founder and owner Teresa Peck says, “Look for the special summer scent called Lake Michigan Beach Grass. Other favorites for summer are Summer Splash and Lemon Sunshine, to name a few.”

            She recalls, “In 2002, my daughter’s second-grade class was assigned the task of putting together a science project based on a non-fiction book. I took my daughter to the bookstore and we searched the aisles; finally, a book on soap making caught our eye. She realized that soap making was too detailed, but a few months later I tried out a recipe from the book and was hooked! After 16 years of soap making, the process of taking natural oils and turning them into soap is still magical to me.”

Co-Op locations: 260 E. Tenth St. (231-947-0191); and 3587 Marketplace Circle (231-486-2491), Traverse City. Wildflower Soapworks location: 117 River St., Elk Rapids (231-264-8000). For more information, visit WildflowerSoapworks.com.