DECEMBER 2 0 1 7 I BOROMAG.COM 17
The daughter of two productive and
creative minds, Sands said she was
brought up to believe in the power
of imagination and the importance of
applying it to your life’s work. Her parents’
encouragement, she added, gave her the
confidence to pursue her dreams.
In college, she majored in both
the conventional and the creative:
mathematics and dance. College was also
where she discovered a love for opera and
its musical complexity.
“I love the crazy chord structure of
opera, how you have to transform the
voice into an instrument and how you have
to focus on multiple things at once,” she
said. “Artists are great multitaskers. That’s
why they make great bartenders. Cocktails
are very much like cooking, or making a
personal potion for someone. It’s very fun
for me.”
Now, you can take Sands’ personal
potions home with you in the form of
scintillating soaps.
“Cocktails can be playful,” she continued.
“It’s a flavor experience in the way that
food is. With the soaps, that’s what I’m
going for — the experience.”
Her interest in soap-making began when
her fiancé, Jon Ungar, gave her a soapmaking
set for the holidays.
“I just went crazy,” she said, jokingly. “We
both did. For Jon’s sister’s boyfriend,
who’s British, I made him a soap out of
milk, honey, earl grey tea and lemon.”
From there, the number of soap gifts
she made began to increase, with Sands
personalizing scents and ingredients for
her friends and family based on their likes
and traits.
Then came the creation of Suit Cat
Soaps — the couple’s fun-filled business
whose name pays tribute to their
perpetually well-dressed cat, Maestro.
Fusing their knack for beloved and
innovative cocktails with their newfound
passion for soaps, Sands and Ungar, who
also tends bar, went to work.
Taking the words quite literally, they
created “Bar Soaps” using ingredients
from cocktails to create the cleansing
product.
“It’s a cocktail that’s in a bar of soap,”
Sands said excitedly. “You can literally
wash yourself with a Sazerac.”
The recently engaged couple plan
to modify their soaps to match with
the changing of the seasons, taking
customers from the margaritas and
mojitos of the summer, to the old
fashioneds and mulled ciders of the
winter — just as many cocktail bars rotate
their menus throughout
the year.
It’s not only cocktails
that inspire Sands’ soaps.
She also has created a
morning cleanser that
combines essential oils
and coffee.
“You can wash your face
with anything,” she said,
“but it’s fun to wash your
face with a sugar scrub
that smells like a fresh
pot of coffee. It’s just very
alluring to me.”
And to aid you in
living out your autumn
dreams year-round, these