The Origin
Named for a place in Haiti
As a baby I was so reactive I couldn't tolerate the water I was bathed in. My grandmother made oat milk from scratch and used it to soothe my skin. It was the only thing that worked.
She was born in Madère, near Jérémie in Haiti's Grand'Anse — a port town known as the City of Poets, built on coffee, cacao and cane. The brand carries her name and her remedy.
Years later I developed eczema and went looking for the same relief on a shelf. I couldn't find it. Over five years of testing I came back to what she had used all along, and built a soap around it.
The Problem
Most soap isn't made for reactive skin
Commercial soap is typically built with synthetic fragrance, detergents and preservatives. For people with eczema, allergies or highly reactive skin, those are exactly the ingredients that cause trouble — and even many bars marketed as gentle or natural still carry added fragrance.
The choice ends up being a product that irritates, or nothing at all.
How We Make It
Oat milk, made from scratch
Every bar starts with oat milk we make ourselves — not water, not a powdered additive. Oats are blended fresh in cold water and strained, then used as the full liquid in the soap.
No fragrance
No essential oils, no fragrance oils, no synthetic scent of any kind.
Natural oils and butters
Olive, coconut, castor and cocoa butter. Nothing else.
Small batches
Made by hand in small runs so every bar is checked and cured properly.
- Cold process — cured a minimum of six weeks for a harder, longer-lasting bar
- No synthetic preservatives, detergents or hardeners
- Vetted suppliers — raw ingredients sourced from quality-controlled sources
“It was the only thing that worked.”
In the Workshop
Also made here
Alongside the unscented oat milk bar, we make a small range of scented, decorative bars — swirled, piped and cut by hand. These are made in the same small batches, using the same cold process method and the same six-week cure.
What's Next
Growing carefully
Maison Madère has grown entirely by word of mouth, through family, friends and people with similar skin. We're now moving from a home kitchen into a dedicated production space so more people can get their hands on it.
A fragrance line under the Madère name is in development for 2027.
Maison Madere LLC · Pennsylvania