Essential Journeys® is an Asheville, North Carolina Company that designs and creates small batch soaps and body care products. 

When Kimberly started Essential Journeys® in 1999 it was to create handmade soaps for sensitive skin.  By 2004 Essential Journeys® pushed the limits of soap making from being merely a chemistry project into “Soap as Art Sculptures” inspired by journeys around the world.

Today Essential Journeys® offers a comprehensive line of body care products including bath soaks, body lotions, candles, butters, salves and lip balms. Created by the synergy of design, form, and function, Essential Journeys® products are safe and natural.  They combine scientific research, tried and true ingredients with cutting edge concepts, homeopathy, aromatherapy, and natural botanicals. By shopping at Essential Journeys® you are supporting an independent business venture.

We do not test on animals, however our dog soap has been tested on humans.

Thank you for your support!

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At Essential Journeys®, founder and creative designer Kimberly Masters has discovered a way to combine her passions – bicycling, traveling, and creating – by handcrafting soaps and body care products inspired by scouring the planet, mostly on the seat of a bicycle.  

Kimberly has always been intrigued to follow her nose, whether it is getting lost in the fragrance filled souks of the Marrakesh Medina, cycling through Argon Tree orchards along the Moroccan Coast, visiting cosmetic seaweed farms in Nusa Lembongan, Bali, hiking through wild arnica flowers blooming throughout the Dolomites in the Italian Alps, or the production pottery in Baktupur, Nepal. Ideas are born in every corner of the world and Kimberly has a desire to discover the world for herself, meeting local people living off the land and creating handmade products. By capturing these scents, experiences or landscapes in a slice of soap or a jar of salve, Essential Journeys® brings these inspired formulations to you.

As a child, Kimberly’s parents grew their own vegetables, her father kept bees and her mother, an accomplished painter, also sewed most of her clothes. Kimberly enjoyed the process of designing outfits, spending afternoons at the fabric store looking for just the right buttons. Finding herself both lost and found in painting, pottery, batik, and book binding classes, she discovered Inspiration is everywhere. The more you know the more there is to know. For Kimberly, Essential Journeys® is a journey of discovery.

Certainly, a woman who lived in the Alaskan wilderness for five summers with no water or electricity understands the importance of a fine slice of soap. During the Alaskan winters, Kimberly, would travel to Asia and Central America as well as pedal her bike thousands of miles across the United States. In 1999, Kimberly moved from Alaska to Asheville. Now she makes her home in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, the place where she learned the art of soap making and began another chapter in her journey. 

Memories of the crisp air of Alaska, the rich textures of Thailand, and the Blue Ridge Mountains of her home inspire the innovative designs and luxurious scents you will discover in Essential Journeys® handcrafted soap and body care products.

We look forward to adventures yet to come: journeys in new countries, and journeys in the mountains of our backyard.  Our wish for you is that Essential Journeys® inspires your passions!

All the best,

Kimberly Masters
Soap Peddler Extraordinaire

Kimberly is also a Bicycle Tour Guide for www.womantours.com which feeds her desire for having shared community experiences, encouraging cycling as a means of travel, and connecting with others.