Clara Challoner Walker BSc Hons (Imperial) ARCS

Cosy Cottage Soap’s story begins with Clara producing handmade soaps in the kitchen laboratory of a 350-year-old cottage in Ganthorpe, Yorkshire. Yes, the Cosy Cottage is real! ​ Founder, Clara, became concerned about the harmful effects of detergents like SLS, preservatives like parabens and other additives found in many commercially produced skincare products whilst recovering from breast cancer. ​ Using her knowledge as a qualified chemist and an Associate of the Royal College of Science, Clara began by producing natural soaps free from sulphates, free from paraben and free from palm oil, from home. It's these roots that continue to shape Cosy Cottage Soap ethos.​ As the company has expanded, so has the team. Clara’s husband Philip, her son and her daughter work part time in the business and other friends and family regularly join her in the workshop. In Clara's spare time, she runs writing courses and retreats with novelist and poet Janet Dean at Awakening The Writer Within. ​ In 2019, Cosy Cottage Soap moved their manufacturing to new premises in the beautiful market town of Malton, Yorkshire, where the first Cosy Cottage Store was also opened in October 2020.