Have you ever held and smelled a soap that made you want to quit your job? The fragrant poetry within Marfa Brand Soap bars is palpable upon first sniff, and only further beguiles the senses of any desert wanderer ambitious enough to breathe in twice. Behind such decadence is the poet herself, Ginger Griffice, who years ago moved to Marfa and found her muse. Mixing lye water with olive, palm, coconut, and avocado oils, then further adding yucca root, rosemary, and botanicals, Griffice’s alchemy is perfected through tea leaves and time. After curing for a couple weeks, Marfa Brand Soap bars emerge like a bonafide currency.
Griffice’s is a story that does well to remind us the value in the full breadth of our perceptions. Harnessing shared intangible nostalgia along with feelings of personal experience, Griffice lets her sensory compass guide the naming process of each soap. Forever special to El Cosmico is Ranch Road: the free spirit scent of a desert storm on a dirt path. Speaking of paths, Ginger’s road has been a winding one from the big cities (New York, and then Paris for perfume school) to the wide open spaces of far west Texas. Rather than being in the middle of nowhere, Griffice prefers to think of Marfa as the middle of everywhere. As for the company name, Griffice says, “I couldn’t have done this anywhere else.” Maybe you keep your job, but Marfa Brand Soap is righteous enough you just might weep, and in this day and age, we could all use a good cry.
