Meet Charlene

I started making soap at my kitchen table at nineteen, with three little ones under my feet and a growing obsession with bathing as both ritual and refuge. I've always said soapmaking is my church, and the bathtub my altar. Both are places to come home to myself. It's no wonder that Bathhouse Row became the home of my first soapery, and the name Bathhouse, well, that landed divinely. 

Twenty-five years later, that obsession has become a life’s work. In 2009, I opened the flagship Bathhouse Soapery in Hot Springs, Arkansas, a town steeped in ancient waters and old healing traditions. That small shop became a bubbling soap cauldron, giving rise to locations in Eureka Springs, St. Charles, Natchitoches, and Memphis—and eventually Bathhouse's twisted sister, Villainess Alchemy. Villainess redfines bathing, beauty, and fragrance by way of rebellion and ownership of self.

Along the way, I’ve built and sold other indulgent ideas—cupcakes and gourmet oils & vinegars all within a few blocks of each other in Hot Springs. I’ve served on the Board of Directors as President of the Hancraftrd Soap & Cosmetic Guild; the global not-for-profit trade association handcrafters. I took beauty and bravery too a new level winning the crown as Mrs. Arkansas in 2019 and competing nationally at Mrs. America - making the coveted Top 15. 

In the past two decades, I've found myself unexpectedly featured in national media. You can explore those stories here if you'd like. Above all, I want to emphasize that every product I make is for those who understand that bathing isn’t just about getting clean; it’s about coming home to yourself.

Welcome to Bathhouse. - Charlene