Abbey Brown Soap Artisan

Great even though a little pricey, but not really. They have samples for almost everything and you’re more than welcomed to try all. Friendly lady, and they don’t rush you. Wander as long as it want. Quite wide range of products and smell. Really good shop in general. Just quite hard to find a place to park, but no big deal. Highly recommended!

pretty good soap but a little pricey but I prefer the candles. I like to try different soaps. My favorite is from a pharmacist who makes soap from Pharmasoap.

One of the best looking stores I’ve ever been to! I want to own a store like this one day!!!

I love supporting independent shops or boutiques! This one was no different. Abbey Brown carries a plethora of scented goodness and it took me quite awhile to decide on what to buy. Had it been a little closer to Christmas, I would have picked up some of the Chicago themed soaps and candles. I was thinking they’d make a cute basket item for a Chicago-​themed basket.
I ended up leaving with just some bath salts since my bath collection is already way overstocked. If in the area, I highly recommend coming in and saying hello.
The ladies working the shop were friendly as well.

Fancy soaps and bath products for the fanciest of ladies. I had to stop and smell every Chicago-​themed candle. There’s a candle for every CTA line. I don’t know that the red line really smells like that, but Abbey Brown’s soaps have me convinced. It was impossible for me to choose a favorite.
I almost bought a vat of chamomile butter, but my arsenal of body products is full right now. My friend bought rose and patchouli-​scented bath salts. I don’t like patchouli at all, but the scent was a little more delicate in this product. Everything in this shop smells lovely.
Walking in here, I automatically felt a little relaxed compared to the hustle and bustle of Grand Avenue. I’m not big on taking baths, but I would recommend this shop to ladies who love baths or just simply appreciate soaps with all natural ingredients.
Of course this place is a bit more spendy than a Bath & Body Works, but the two don’t even compare. The products here are still very affordable, most in the less than $ 20 range.

I found Abbey Brown online when I was looking for Chicago-​themed wedding favors. When I perused the site, I found wonderful ideas. Since we had a very small wedding, I spent more on each favor. I also didn’t want to give favors that had no purpose. I ordered matching soap/​candle pairs ($ 15) for each couple and put them in a decorative mesh bag. I also reused the brown paper shreds from the box.
It is difficult to get the scent you want when ordering online, but none of the frangrances were bad! I did visit the beautiful store to purchase more, and the employee was very nice. If you are looking for Chicago-​themed gifts, check out Abbey Brown-​you will not be disappointed! She makes lots of other fragrant items also. I just enjoyed the wrapping with names and pictures of iconic Chicago locations. When I recieved my order in the mail (in a very timely and well-​packed manner) the woman who packed the box wrote a lovely message wishing me well on my wedding. I didn’t notice immediately, but the card was a picture of the storefront. What great idea!
Thank you staff at Abbey Brown! And FYI, Abbey Brown is the name of a color-​not the name of the store owner!

I needed a ‘thank you for hosting us’ gift to send to some friends in Miami. I was excited to check out the store and buy something not only Chicago local, but neighborhood local as a gift (I only live one block from the store). I walked into the store and was BARELY greeted by a girl in the back with an unexciting hello. I looked around at the goods for several minutes and the girl did not even come over and say ‘how are you’ or ‘what can i help you find’. She even came to the front of the store to put some items on a shelf and didn’t even converse with me. Customer service is everything to me! I simply won’t support a store, a neighborhood SOAP store nonetheless, that doesn’t have friendly service. I walked out empty handed. There were actually a few items I would have liked to purchase. Visited ⁸⁄₁₉.

What a cute little shop! Everything smells great and a helpful staff will answer questions for you, since, after all, they make the soap there! There are great little gifts for anyone from friends to really cute local things like soaps named after our CTA lines! I liked the citrus line including a great salt soak! I’m definitely heading here for my Mothers Day gifts this year!

I expected better service from a boutique shop such as this. We were basically ignored until we wanted to pay as the manager/​owner was too busy ordering her interns around. It was our first time in the shop and we came to purchase Mother’s Day gifts so a greeting, offer to help, or asking if we had questions would have really improved the experience. Instead we were left to wander around on our own wondering what our mom’s would like and what exactly was in this stuff. You might have upsold me, Abbey Brown, had you simply asked if I needed help. I like that the products are all natural, made on-​site and I love supporting local businesses, but my mom really like’s Terry’s Toffee and the employees there talk to me AND there’s free samples! I’ll update the review if there are rave reviews from mom…

This place is amazing. Both my son and I have incredibly sensitive skin and I try not to switch or try new products for a fear of a reaction and never use anything that does not pass the sniff test. Everything is handmade and amazing. It should be a must go to whenever someone comes to the city!

I have never actually been to the store so this review is just for the product. I was at the one of a kind show three years ago and picked some soap up for my mom for Christmas. She could not stop talking about it so now I have to make the hike every year to stock her up every Christmas. Soaps all smell good and are made from pure fresh ingredients. I wanted to take a soap making class at the store but they are a bit pricey at $ 60 a person.

I visited the shop located in the French Market and was highly impressed with the quality of the products. The products are made using natural ingredients and smell delicious. There are several options at all price points. I can see these products as great gifts for the holidays.
I also enjoyed how they had soaps creatively named after local things like a soap for the Chicago French Market. They also have soaps named after the train lines. I ended up buying a citrus shea lip balm for $ 4, which I love. I’m thinking of getting the body butter since I love the smell so much.
The woman working at the shop on Saturday afternoon was super friendly and helpful. I definitely will come back here again!

I’m reviewing the French Market location.
After seeing their gift sets on the web site, I decided to get my Christmas gifts for colleagues there. However, when I asked the sales girl about them, she had no clue what I was talking about. I asked her for recommendations to put a few items together to re-​create the gift box, she still had very little idea of how to help me (she started with lip balm when I was holding the bath salts and staring at the bath items). The only thing she was able to tell me was about the smells (since they are open for me to smell, that part didn’t really help). The interaction ended with her not having bags for me (and my 4 boxes). She offered an old ikea bag, but ended up asking a neighbor for some plastic bags.
Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t poor service, I think she really did want to help — she just didn’t know the product or how to sell. I recommend you do your own homework before going.

Pricey soaps, but they clean well and smell great! I love the herbal scents and am using In The Woods in my bathroom now. Not girly or cleaning-​product-​smelly at all, but still fresh and mature smelling.
I found them at the Logan Square farmer’s market.

I love the Citus Shea Butter. It is the perfect travel size for carry on luggage and a little goes a long way.

These are the ONLY soaps I use, mainly because I know they use pure ingredients. I took a soap-​making class there and they use TONS of olive oil, which is not cheap, and zero sulfates. These soaps clean without drying my skin, so sometimes I can skip a moisturizer. I’ve also tried their body butters, which are also great, very few ingredients.
I took off one star because I felt that $ 60 was very steep for the soap-​making class. Yes, we got ONE free bar of soap, but it was basically watching the owner make huge batches of soap. Not worth such a high price.

Who do you think you are giving me super soft skin and having me smell über-​delish with your Honey and Oatmeal soaps? Making my skin next to perfect and exfoiliating and moisturizing like no one’s business? Just who do you think you are being super convenient having a location near my home and in Navy Pier? Shame on you for being awesome, you make all the other soaps sad. :-)
But really, I had a chemical peel for my face and alternated between the mud purifying soap at night and the honey oatmeal soap in the morning and my esthetician said my skin recovered better than almost anyone she had ever seen. I also use the honey oatmeal soap all over my body and the scent makes my hubby swoon. I will never use another soap and I am VERY picky. Love at first lather, trust me.

Cute place, I would expect this homemade soap and bath salts shop to be on Division or Roscoe, but it resides right here on a stretch of Grand Ave., among the Italian Deli’s and restaurants. They make all their soaps and salts in-​house, with all natural ingredients and the quality shows.
The Orange Blossom and clove soap was my first choice, but I’m really curious about their higher-​priced line, where I espied a soap made with clay soil. The salts can get expensive, but you can buy a one-​bath sample for $ 6.50. Large sizes are ~$ 21.
Also offering soap-​making classes, I do expect to take a class soon so I can make some of my own unique gifting favorites. Abbey Brown also has cards, journals, and the like, and the store help is friendly as can be!

I absolutely adore this shop! The soaps, soaks, and lip balms are amazing! I bought a few soaps and soaks for friends this Christmas and they all loved it. It is a bit pricey but they use high quality and natural ingredients and they make everything in the store. Just knowing that makes me forget about the prices. I can’t wait to take one of their soap making classes. Every time I try to sign up it is already booked. Hopefully next month I will be able to finally take one class.
The staff is also extremely friendly and I love to support local businesses!

I received some gifts (rose scented olive bar and bath salts) from here and was about to to run out from using them so much. I came by to stock up on more items and see what else the store had.
First off, the store smells heavenly. It wasn’t very overwhelming like most spa/​skin speciality/​aromatherapy type stores can be. In fact, it made the store seem so warm and cozy, and I probably lingered around longer than I should have been. If that makes any sense… As much as I loved rose scented anything, I picked up a couple other scented olive oil soap and shea balm items: pear up and peppermint. I don’t like to admit this, but the winter season is brutal to my poor dry feet. I’m quite excited to try out this shea balm for my feet and other dry patches caused by bitter winters. Damn you winter!
In addition to the all the great bath and candle stuff, the store also carries a lot of artwork, clothing, jewelry, greeting cards, and bags all made by local artists, which is awesome. Prices are reasonable (about $ 6 – 10 for most). I’m going to keep this store in mind for future gift giving and of course, retail therapy for me. I have my eye on a messenger bag displayed up front. Oh, and it’s easily accessible by the Grand bus and walking distance from the blue line.