The packaging is so funny you might not notice that Filthy Farmgirl soaps, lotions and lip balms are made in Hawaii.
The label cites a Pahoa hometown on Hawaii island (where its post office is), but its solar-powered facility is in Kalapana, within about a mile and a half of the ocean and newer lava flows.
“There are no power lines, no paved roads, no telephone lines,” said Filthy Farmgirl LLC co-founder Devin Asch, who created the company with soapmaker and partner Gretchen Wetzel. In order to get cellular signal to be interviewed, Asch stood on the roof.
Their slogan is “No yucky stuff.” Products are made with 100 percent natural ingredients, most of them vegan-friendly, with no chemical fragrances or additives. Even the soap labels are printed on 100 percent recycled paper.
They cook, cool, cut, wrap and ship products twice a week. Because perishable essential oils and other natural ingredients are used, they like for customers to know that when they “open up a box, it hasn’t been sitting on our shelves … we just made it a couple days ago,” he said.
They offer more than 100 formulations of soaps, which they call flavors.
Why?
“It’s just something we’ve always done,” said Asch. Many flavors “really do have food in them,” such as chocolate, oatmeal and mint, to name a few.
They are not called flavors for moms who wash their children’s mouths out with soap, though “we thought about making a Filthy Mouth soap,” Asch said. They do have a Filthy Mind soap.
Some of the flavor names are NSFW (not safe for work), explaining why friends looking through the soaps snicker, giggle, gasp and guffaw whilst reviewing purchase options. You’ll need to find them in a store or go online for the names that dasn’t be shared herein.
“Australian flight attendants … always wipe me out of Filthy Flight Attendant soap,” said Nalani Holliday, owner of Red Pineapple at Ward Centre, which offers a variety of the soaps. “People can’t help but laugh,” she said. “If they walk in with a sourpuss face, they end up giggling.”
The soap company got its name in part because Wetzel previously worked on an organic farm and also made soap. She and her friend would call each other filthy farmgirls. In Asch’s words, “Gretchen is the original soap chef and master chemist of the Filthy family.”
All flavors initially bore the Filthy Farmgirl on the label, but they branched out and Filthy Lumberjack sold well with guys and the women who love them.
Now “everybody wants their profession” depicted on a label, Asch said. Non-profession-related names include Filthy Bride, Filthy Bridesmaid and Filthy Flying Spaghetti Monster.
Asch is an illustrator of children’s books and designs the labels, so the collaborative effort “is really a fun, creative thing for both me and Gretchen,” he said.
“We’re a mom-and-pop, though we’re not moms or pops — but we do have puppies,” he chuckled. Puppy-mama Sasa “has been with us from day one and is the original filthy farm dog.” Featured on the “Delicate Dog” label, Sasa is a “Jack Russell-Chihuahua-alien kind of mix,” Asch laughed.
People also want their own dog’s breed pictured on the “Muddy Puppy Dog Soap,” which they learned through selling directly to the public. “That’s the great thing about having a product you sell personally: You get to have those light-bulb moments with real customers,” Asch said.
The seven body lotions and dozen lip balms are available via the website, as are the more than 100 soaps, the latter in a 7-ounce size for $8 and a 2-ounce size for $3, “but they’re hand-cut so sometimes you get lucky,” he said. Shipping anywhere in the U.S. is free, with no minimum order.
Filthy Farmgirl offers custom work for weddings or other occasions, including one package of 100 small bars for half-price at $1.50 each, “and we do the design for free,” said Asch.
Filthy Farmgirl products are available at dozens of retailers on all the larger islands including selected ABC Stores, Whole Foods Market on Maui and Oahu, and at Oahu specialty shops including Red Bamboo in Kailua, Sweet Home Waimanalo and Island X Hawaii on the North Shore.
Maui residents can find them at Mana Foods in Paia, Designing Wahine in Makawao, Aloha Jewelry & Gifts in Kihei and the Ulupalakua Ranch Store in Kula, among other places.
On Hawaii island the products are at Island Naturals in Kona, Kealakekua and Pahoa, Puna Girl Farms and other retailers, and Asch and Wetzel offer special deals at the Maku‘u Market on Sundays and the Hilo Farmers Market on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
“We’ve never spent a dollar on advertising, we don’t have distributors, there are no sales reps going door to door,” Asch said. The business has become known based on “organic, kind of word-of-mouth, and we’re making twice as much soap.”
———
“Buy Local” runs on Aloha Fridays. Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com or on Twitter as @erikaengle.
