The Mad Optimist by Soapy Soap Company

The Mad Optimist by Soapy Soap Company is an Indiana bodycare maker that produces personalized, responsibly sourced products and runs a custom soap, lip balm and bath soak making studio. Its range includes bar soaps, face soaps, shave soaps, shampoo soaps, lip balms, bath soaks and body sprays. Customers build their own products online by picking a product, choosing ingredients, personalizing it and selecting a price, and the company also handles bulk custom orders, gifts and limited editions. Orders are guaranteed to ship within 18 days, and shipping within the U.S. is charged at a flat rate. This made-to-order model sets it apart from mass-market personal care brands, which typically sell fixed formulations at scale.

The company uses only plant-based ingredients and describes its bodycare as vegan, cruelty-free, all-natural, halal, non-GMO and made from scratch to exact specifications, as well as gluten-free. Halal standards in cosmetics govern both ingredient origin and processing, which makes such products relevant to Muslim consumers, while vegan and cruelty-free claims appeal to buyers who avoid animal-derived ingredients and animal testing.

The Mad Optimist is owned and operated by three friends who work as soapsmiths, two of whom are brothers. Its published principles, which it calls a Humanifesto, frame its production, vendor choices, treatment of staff and running of the business through the owners' Islamic faith. Under these principles all employees, owners included, are paid one equal rate, products are priced on a sliding scale, and the company commits to transparency and sustainable sourcing. Equal pay and sliding-scale pricing are uncommon practices among consumer goods makers, and they make labor and pricing policy part of the brand itself rather than separate from it.