MIFFLINBURG — “I’m more of a chef than a chemist,” Jessica Grill says as she whisks warmed olive oil and water, the base for her handmade soaps. She blends in a few drops of almond oil and the air in her small Mifflinburg shop turns slightly sweet. The mixture next gets some shea butter, then a few other ingredients and it’s ready to cool in a wooden mold.
“We have the philosophy, ‘simple, purposeful,’” Grill says. “Some of our products only have five or six ingredients.”
After unmolding the large block, she slices it into 4- by 3-inch chunks. Four weeks of shelf time and the bars are firm enough to package and sell.
Grill, like any seasoned soap-maker, learned through trial and error the secret to perfecting her recipes, but it wasn’t until late last year she realized she could funnel that experience into a career.
Restless in her office job, Grill decided to resurrect Pompeii Street Soap Co., the operation she’d started in her basement in 2001.
“I got tired of sitting in front of a computer, my creative side was going crazy. I need to make things,” Grill said.
She knew leaving her job was a risky move, but she’s not one to abandon a project because of uncertainty. This is a woman who, as a child, took chestnuts from her neighbor’s backyard and sold them to him.
Through a Web site and a few retail shops, Grill had gained a small following of people who couldn’t seem to get enough of her all-natural products.
“That’s the difference between our soaps and commercial soaps, we only use vegetable oils,” she said.
Perhaps pursuing her passion full-time wasn’t such a gamble.
In December, Grill set up shop in a small building along Route 45, just outside Mifflinburg. After splashing the walls in bright purple and green, she assembled her ingredients and time-tested recipes and got to work on her soaps, body butters, lotions and lip balms.
“Everything is made by me, and just me. I think that’s what makes it special,” Grill said.
When she says “everything,” she’s not kidding. Grill packages her products, designs and prints the labels in her shop. That can be tedious; the real fun comes when it’s time to add a scent or devise a new fragrance. For this she uses essential oils like almond and grapeseed, things derived from plants, not in a laboratory.
The soaps and lotions are available in several signature scents, including tea tree and clay, lavender and vanilla bean, chai, sweet orange and patchouli, lemon grass and ginger bliss. Grill plans to introduce seasonal scents, and is also working on Dapper Dog, a line of all-natural soaps for the four-legged friends. She hopes to make the doggy soaps available in March or April.
Pompeii Street Soap Co. opens for business Friday, and customers can watch Grill make the products and take home samples both Friday and Saturday.
The shop also sells knitted scarves and purses made by Grill’s mother.
For more information, call 966-1114, visit www.pompeii-street.com or stop by the shop at 7879 Old Turnpike Road, Mifflinburg.

Pam Dailey: 570-742-9671
pam@standard-journal.com