Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/60293
ne Home Mixed Bag Michele Diodati, bottom left, and some of her products. Thirteen years later, Diodati's Plum Island Soap Company sells dozens of body products in her home-based Northern Boulevard shop and online. The larger- than-life pots on her stove attest to the enormous amounts of soap produced right in her kitchen. Plum Island Soap's beginning was inspired by the area's natural beauty. While walking her dog, Diodati imagined shipwrecks off the coast as she found odd items strewn on the beach. One day, she imagined a crate of soap, fashioned a display from that vision, and her com- pany took hold. "Plum Island is raw in its beauty," she says. "No one has tried to carve it out or put up arcades." Diodati experiments with ingredients like coconut oil and beeswax to make all- natural products that came from necessity, she says. She wanted pure baby products af- ter her son's birth, so the baby line started. The dog had fleas, so she made a chemical- free bug repellant. She wanted an Origins salt glow and couldn't afford the price tag, so all kinds of face products hit her shelves. Diodati says small batches keep her retail Soap Star successful shop full of products that are anything but typical. Michele Diodati turned her love of natural soaps into a as a girl, Michele Diodati saved up to buy fragrant, wholesome soaps at the local natural health store. So when she made her first batch of soap on a whim in 1999, she was only trying to make something that she would like. But when her friends asked for more, Diodati thought she might be on to something. 32 nshoremag.com May/June 2012 photographs by henrique plantikow products fresh. Even after years of making everything from body sprays to face mois- turizers, she still compiles pages of infor- mation when making something new, like her latest line of face scrubs and masks. The Man Can is Plum Island Soap's best-selling product, with women buy- ing the skincare gift set for the men in their lives. Women tend to favor anything lavender, although citrus and patchouli are popular as well. But Diodati is not afraid to experiment either; her black licorice lip balm and body butter isn't something you find in many places. Diodati especially loves using her orange ginger line when she's feeling stressed. "I come out feeling like Wonder Woman," she says. "I swear it is good for your soul." plumislandsoap.com. —Julia Quinn-Szcesuil