SHOP SMALL SERIES: MENAGERIE
Menagerie, a small-batch beauty supply & gift shop, opened up in Fall 2014 and has been garnering interest ever since. Located in a renovated vintage Airstream off of SE Division, Menagerie's mission was to bring together makers of small-batch beauty & natural skincare as well as artisan jewelry, and gifts.
They provide products that are good for the body and the environment as well as the people who make them; Carrying non-chemical cosmetics, skincare and grooming products from companies who put quality above all. I was able to spend some time in the shop with owner Casey Shagena, a package designer from the Midwest. Casey shared with me a few of her favorite items in the store, and had a lot to say about why it's crucial for shopping small to become the new norm, and how her shop is helping it along.
“I’m intrigued by well-designed pieces that have been loved, lived in, worn and passed on. Telling stories behind the process of making and sharing is why I gravitate toward small batch and hand-crafted. I believe products, art and design should touch people and not just be consumed and thrown away. Menagerie allows me to create a space where I can share the stories of these well-loved pieces...”
After speaking with Casey I had some time to look around and pick out a few things that caught my eye. Each product had an important story behind it, which speaks volumes about how they're created and why.
One of the first items I noticed in the shop was a rollerball perfume from Vitruvi, a Luxury aromatherapy brand founded by brother and sister team Sean and Sara Panton. They have a variety of scents all featuring the best essential oils you've ever smelt in your life. I loved the woody scent of the "Wake" as well as the immune boosting essential oils placed into "Go". Menagerie also has their own line of products in the store as well, ranging from the The loose herbal incense to these incredible silver honeycomb shaped earrings.
I also wanted to highlight this Rose Clay soap, created by Brooklyn/San Francisco brand The Greater Goods. Made from Organic Olive Oil, Organic Coconut Oil, Sustainably Sourced Palm Oil this Rose Clay scene is filled with moisturizing elements that will make your skin sing.
I have been following this brand for a while now, and was thrilled to see it stocked in Menagerie.
Overall, Menagerie is an incredible shop that truly incapsulates the big idea of shopping small. There are so many lovely brands, the Menagerie collection included, offered in this shop that smell and look just as good, if not better, than the everyday beauty and skincare items we use on a daily basis. If we traded those brand name items in for the ones featured in this post or ones like them, we'd be directly giving back into our community and would feel better knowing exactly what was in the items we're putting onto our skin, because we can actually read the words they put on the labels!
Do pay a visit to Menagerie if you haven't yet, be sure to tell them you saw this post!
What shop should I stop by next? Leave a comment below and let me know.
- C
