November 2025
Arizona Native Instills Love of Home in Her Handmade Soaps
The president and Wild Muse of Wild Women Soaps, Deborah Owens, started offering her colorful, handcrafted products at Roosevelt Row in Terminal 4, but it’s one more step in a long journey to share her craft.
Deborah got into the soapmaking business out of necessity more than 25 years ago when her then-infant daughter with delicate skin needed soap to match. The products on the store shelves weren’t suitable for her, so Deborah got advice on using handmade soap, got a book and learned how to make it, gave it away as gifts, and discovered others loved it.
“What really got me hooked is that it’s fun to create different combinations of scents and color,” Deborah said. “I learned how to tell a story through a bar of soap. That’s what made it exciting.”
Wild Women Soaps is made in a very traditional way, with all-natural ingredients. She says she makes 37 different kinds of soaps among many different collections, but one collection is close to her heart.
“I could talk forever about one of the first types of soaps that turned into a collection: Arizona-themed soaps,” she said. “They’re all made with native and indigenous ingredients to the Sonoran Desert, or their concept is inspired by the state.”
Deborah recalls the metamorphosis that Phoenix Sky Harbor has undergone to emphasize local shops and restaurants. Her longstanding relationships with some businesses that have been a part of that reworking to bring and feature more local shops and restaurants helped her get a foothold in stores where her work is offered.
“It’s super cool to be a part of that,” she said. “And now my humble soap here? Really special.”
Perhaps the transfiguration PHX has gone through echoes what she finds most fascinating about making soap.
“It is, in my mind, the modern version of alchemy. It’s basically an acid and a base that you mix together and it creates soap,” Deborah said. And that mixture becomes something attractive, special, and homemade.
That’s one reason why customers should buy from or as close to the creator you can get whenever you can.
“That little thing is making a difference for them, but also the thing you’re doing every day like taking a shower is elevated,” she said. “So, it’s good all around.”