clara challoner walker bsc hons (imperial) arcs
Cosy Cottage Soap’s story begins with Clara producing handmade soaps in the
kitchen laboratory of a 350-year-old cottage in Ganthorpe, Yorkshire. Yes, the
Cosy Cottage is real! Founder, Clara, became concerned about the harmful effects
of detergents like SLS, preservatives like parabens and other additives found in
many commercially produced skincare products whilst recovering from breast
cancer. Using her knowledge as a qualified chemist and an Associate of the Royal
College of Science, Clara began by producing natural soaps free from sulphates,
free from paraben and free from palm oil, from home. It's these roots that
continue to shape Cosy Cottage Soap ethos. As the company has expanded, so has
the team. Clara’s husband Philip, her son and her daughter work part time in the
business and other friends and family regularly join her in the workshop. In
Clara's spare time, she runs writing courses and retreats with novelist and poet
Janet Dean at Awakening The Writer Within. In 2019, Cosy Cottage Soap moved
their manufacturing to new premises in the beautiful market town of Malton,
Yorkshire, where the first Cosy Cottage Store was also opened in October 2020.
