The Stinky Lewis' Story

In 2000, Gainesville resident Ariale Lewis began experimenting with simple homemade soap, and discovered that her skin really liked it! She fine-tuned her recipe and decided to set up at the new local farmer’s market in the Sun Center downtown. The Gainesville community began to talk about the funky local lady selling some really stinkin’ good soap.

That’s where Milan Mixson first encountered Stinky Lewis’ Soap in 2005. She was so taken by the lovely earthy soaps that their labels instantly earned a place in her scrapbook of inspiration. Eventually, after fifteen years of soapmaking, Ariale was ready to retire. Milan couldn’t imagine the awesome bar soap disappearing (especially that Patchouli bar with Hemp oil, oh my), and asked Ariale if she could keep supplying the community with that stinkin’ good soap. Ariale agreed and Milan began to apprentice.

We still use Ariale’s original premium small batch soap recipes to this day, right here in Gainesville, Florida. We take skincare seriously and therefore work diligently to source the best quality ingredients. Our base oils, the main ingredients of soap, are all organic and are certified sustainably sourced whenever possible. We think nature’s beauty and bounty provides all we need and more, and this can be seen in our soap formulations.