The Soap Pedaler

Follow that bike to the Seaside Farmers Market

Celeste Cobena at the Seaside Farmers Market with her trusty peddle machine. An environmentalist, Cobena’s spirited line of fragrance bars and Shea butter soaps are hand-made with plant-based essential oils. Photo by Jacqueline Ward Images

Celeste Cobena puts her pedals to the metal in order to peddle. On Saturday mornings, the Dune Allen resident rises bright and early to prepare for the nearly 10-mile trek from her home to Seaside Farmers Market. She straps a tent to her bike, piles up soap products into a custom-designed carrier and takes off.

The rest of the week, she’s busy making deliveries to retail outlets along 30A that sell her sought-after products. She resorts to four-wheels only on distant locations like Patchouli’s in Rosemary Beach to fulfill the promise printed on her soap wrappers —“delivered by bike when possible.” She pedals over to “For the Health of It” in Blue Mountain. She also coasts down the 30A bike path to “Pickets” in Seagrove Beach. “I’ve gotten caught in downpours and stopped at La Loba’s Bakery or the bike shop to cool off during 100-degree temperatures. But I’ve always made it!” she exclaims. Once this energetic woman starts moving, it’s hard to slow her down. She charges full steam ahead, always arriving at her destination come rain or shine.

“It’s funny, you never know where something might lead,” says Cobena, recalling a bike ride she took through a state forest 20 years ago shortly after moving down from Louisiana. It transformed her into an environmental activist who helped save the state lands she rode her bikes through. One thing she did was to map out an extensive network of greenway trails enjoyed by many today, an action followed by helping to found Beach to Bay Connection Inc., a grassroots organization dedicated to keeping the land protected.  With modesty she clarifies her role. “I instigated the trails,” she says. “But scores of volunteers worked with me to clear and establish them.”

The soaps she made for Christmas presents more than 12 years ago turned into a flourishing cottage industry. “I always made homemade chocolates for Christmas gifts until I sampled so many that the only thing that fit over the holidays was a pair of baggy sweatpants with a drawstring waist,” she exclaims. “I decided to create a non-edible gift for the following Christmas and chose handcrafted soaps after reading how to make them. That first year I made too many, so I hauled the rest up to Barret’s Store on Highway 98 and they continued selling them until the store closed.”   

Cobena knows some fascinating details about the history of soap. “Soap is an ancient substance that legend says was discovered by women washing clothes in streams below hills where animal sacrifices took place,” she explains. “Animal fats dripped into the fires and mixed with the potash (the alkali) thus creating soap that ran down the sloping hillside into the stream. Women noticed how much cleaner their clothes looked on those days when soap flowed into the water.”    

Soap has come a long way since then, with modern technology allowing for a superior product to be produced. “Years ago when people made soap at home it was guess work as to how much oil and alkali to combine,” Cobena says. “These days I use a computer program and digital scale to get accurate measurements of the ingredients.” Cobena’s soaps are made in small batches by hand, and her formula leaves in a little extra oil so it doesn’t dry the skin. With a master’s degree in geology, she approaches soap making like a chemist, using her scientific knowledge to concoct unique and interesting soaps by experimenting with a variety of essential oils, fragrances and colors.  

Some of the synthetic ingredients used in commercially produced soaps have harmful affects on your skin, Cobena says. Triclosan, for example, is one that may cause dermatitis, hormone disruption or respiratory problems, she warns. Cobena purchases high-quality plant-based essential oils that are naturally beneficial to the skin. Each herb or plant contains its own therapeutic properties. For example, lavender helps relax and pamper the body, while the oils in orange peel heal and release an uplifting zesty scent. Lemongrass is a tall tropical plant with a strong lemon aroma that both invigorates and relaxes.

Cobena set up the studio off the back of her house because, “all your food tastes like soap if you make it in the kitchen,” she admits. “Coconut oil is used in many soaps, but I prefer palm kernel oil. It lathers up better and is gentler on the skin.” Shea butter is a basic ingredient in her soaps. “It comes from a nut harvested from an African tree and is the most hydrating oil I’ve found,” she says. “The oil promotes healing and contains an anti-inflammatory ingredient.” 

Her Shea butter bars rival costly imported French triple-milled soaps, and are made right here in the Panhandle and sell at reasonable prices. One that she playfully labels Follow Me to Seaside Farmer’s Market is made from tallow Cobena renders from a side of grass-fed beef she purchases from a regional farm. It feels creamy, perhaps because it contains the thick rich cream from Ocheesee Diary (another Seaside vendor), along with palm kernel oil, sunflower oil, emu oil and castor oil, as well as spicy notes of clove, patchouli, lemon, cinnamon, eucalyptus radiate and rosemary. The clever packaging on this soap pictures a black and white angus cow riding a bike with a chicken perched in a basket up front while another one straddles the cow from behind. These organic nature-inspired products are a perfect fit for the market, for as she reminds us, “You put healthy food inside your body, but what about your skin on the outside?”      

Her current personal favorite is Egyptian Musk. It’s a blend of patchouli essential oil, lavender essential oil, sandalwood and musk fragrance. Day at the Beach is one of the most popular and is created from a trade secret recipe Cobena will not divulge. Another customer favorite is Florida Sunshine, a zingy citrus blend of sweet orange and lavender. One of the latest is a soap that blends sweet orange and peppermint essential oils and includes duck egg yolk from Twin Oaks Farm she named Wake Up Call. “These soaps make an ideal gift because they are a unique product handmade in South Walton,” she says. “Also terrific for a vacation souvenir, as their natural aromas evoke the clean outdoor scents of sea and air that stimulate memories — and are delivered by bike whenever possible.”