Cruelty-Free, Vegan Beauty Store Open In Cranford

CRANFORD, NJ - Chelsea Selby startedWitch Baby Soap, a company that specializes in handcrafted vegan and cruelty free beauty products, in her Kenilworth kitchen in 2013. Now, the self-described Head-Witch-In-Charge has opened a brick and mortar location at 11 Eastman Street in Cranford.

"I couldn’t find quality luxury skincare products that suited my personal witchy aesthetic so I wanted to fill that hole in the market. I also wanted to stay home with my baby and Witch Baby gave me that flexibility as a new mother," Selby said, noting that when she started the company she had an empty bank account and a baby strapped to her chest. "We quickly grew over our span of five-and-a-half years, sometimes selling out entirely within five minutes of our launches."

The company has products free of parabens, phthalates, sulfates, formaldehyde, and other beauty boogey-men that are traditionally found on shelves, Selby said. The products are also set apart by their manufacturing process.

"We’re a handmade beauty store. Our products are made fresh daily in our Roselle Park manufacturing facility, so 100 percent of the beauty products bought from our store are made and manufactured within Union County," Selby said. We also pair our products with a hint of magic and esotericism, marrying self-care with spirituality.

Selby says that the Psychic Bath Bomb and Blood & Milk Body Butter are among her best-sellers.

"The Psychic Bath Bomb is one of our most popular items. It creates a glittering crystalline purple bath, has an amethyst embedded on top, is made with yarrow - a psychic herb, and it smells like lavender, amber, and musk," she said. "Blood & Milk Body Butter is another best selling item that sounds macabre, but actually gets its name from its main fragrance notes - blood orange and coconut milk."

As for the best-selling bar of soap, that title belongs to Gossip Stopper.

"It contains slippery elm, an herb witches have long used to deter gossip, slander, and libel, charcoal so you can detoxify your haters, biodegradable glitter that makes it look like a galaxy, and the sweet comforting aroma of vanilla, cinnamon, and clove," she said.

Selby said that her customers are most surprised by the way their atmospheric blends can evoke memories from the past.

"I really enjoy creating scent blends that drop you in to the middle of a time and place. The psychology behind fragrance is so interesting to me. There is no greater compliment that I can receive than being told I’ve created a fragrance that someone feels so deeply connected with that it makes them feel closer to a person they have lost," she said. "Some of our very own fragrances are a tribute to some of the people I too have lost like Rest in Peach, Holy Ghost, and Elder."

For Selby, opening the store in Cranford made sense, as she is currently a town resident.

"I have absolutely fallen head over heels in love with Cranford. It has a truly special community and it is filled with so much magic and mystery. I adore the history here, the beautiful old buildings and victorian homes that surround our downtown, sprawling parks, and a thriving community of small businesses," she said. "We sell a variety of colorful spellbinding bath bombs, body butters embedded with crystal energy, herb infused body oils, magic soap, and goddess worthy skincare items."

The store will have more than just the soaps in the name as well.

"We’ll also have a hand curated collection of precious gems and crystals, candles, and other spiritual goods," Selby said.

Thanks for reading! Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site here. Have a news tip you'd like to share? Or maybe you have a press release you would like to submit or a correction you'd like to request? Send an email to russ.crespolini@patch.com

Subscribe to your local Patch newsletter by clicking here. You can also have them delivered to your phone screen by downloading our Apple iOS app here, or by visiting the Google Play store for the Android app here.