Natural soaps are not a family tradition. We do not have our own olive trees from which we make olive oil that we can then use to make soaps. In fact, up to 2012, the only link we had to olive oil was enjoying it in our cooking. And as far as soap goes, we had the occasional olive oil soap around the house, but like most, we had been using shower gels. Moving to the island of Aegina gave us the idea to start dealing with something closer to Nature.
Olive oil is probably Greece’s best agricultural product. It is great to use in cooking and to add fresh to salads and breads. It is also a great basis for making natural soaps. Traditionally Greece has been a producer of olive oil soaps. Today, the market is overloaded with glycerin soaps and so-called olive oil soaps that are not of dubious quality.
So here was our idea: produce a series of quality natural handmade greek olive oil soaps with respect to nature, people and animals. No chemicals would be used, only natural ingredients. The production method used would be the cold process method, which is time consuming and limits quanitity, but offers a much better product than other soap making methods. And to top it all, the packaging would be real cool.
Yanis, being a chemist-artist-craftsman, found the prospect inviting and challenging, and Marina, who has worked in many fields and owned a gallery, with a background in anthropology and a passion for all that is natural, embraced the idea. 3 in a box designed our logo, packaging and all printed matter. Iliana has been taking photographs ever since.
The Cool Projects is about fare trade, small production, crafts, design, quality vs quantity, natural handmade products, and an unending effort to sustain small traditional workshops. We design and produce all our products following the above principles.
Our first project is Cool Soap: a series of all natural olive oil soaps made by us on the island of Aegina with respect to nature, animals, ourselves and people who work with us. We have created a range of 19 different soaps that cover a wide spectrum of needs. All natural.
We went on to create a series of handmade soap dishes to make sure our natural soaps would have a long life. Then we created a small series of fabrics accessories: toiletry bags and scented accessories that aim at bringing the Mediterranean into your homes.
Our second project is Cool Collection: a series of handmade objects for the bathroom and the home, all designed by us, most also manufactured by us and some by collaborators.
Additionally we work with other small producers who respect our principles based in Turkey, Denmark, Tunisia, the UK and of course Greece.
