Where This Writer Finds Vegan-Friendly Soaps in Mar Vista

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

Los Angeles has more stores than anyone could physically tackle, but somehow we always keep returning to the usual suspects. To break out of the rut, we've asked some local shopping and fashion gurus to provide their hidden retail gems—those unique stores around LA that we might not all know about. Cue the Beatles: We're about to get a little help from our friends.

Image via Yelp

For more than a decade, Victoria Namkung Koch was a fashion and celebrity journalist widely published in the Los Angeles Times, Style.com, C magazine, USA Today, Los Angeles Confidential and Huffington Post. She recently launched A Gifted Society, a blog, consultancy and writing shop whose clients include South Coast Plaza, FIDM, Morrison Hair and The Way We Wore. Her favorite shop is Soaptopia, a quaint spot in Mar Vista with an eco-friendly angle.

"One of my favorite spots in LA is Soaptopia in Mar Vista because they make natural soaps, candles, bubble bath and shea butter with essential oils and natural ingredients like flowers and herbs. My friend Jessica gave me a gift set a few years ago and I haven't used any other soaps since. Each soap is eco-friendly, vegan, synthetic-free and petroleum-free and I am particularly obsessed with L.A. Squeeze (lemon and lavender) and Blue Velvet (sweet orange blossom and ylang ylang with French blue clay). I love going there to shop for gifts because there really is something for everyone and they do great gift-wrapping as well. I like to buy people the Five Soap Bubble Box ($32) and guys love the Sir Follicle Whisker III Shaving Kit ($54), which comes with an old school brush, wooden shaving soap dish, travel bag and two shaving soaps."

· Soaptopia [Official Site]
· A Gifted Society [Official Site]
· All Shopping Confidential Posts [Racked LA]

Soaptopia

12228 Venice Boulevard Mar Vista, CA 90066