Natural 20 Soaps Strikes A Blow Against Gamer Funk!

Stereotypes follow gamers around like bad smells, and the worst is actually the belief that those who carry bags of funny-shaped dice are not on speaking terms with hygiene. This is usually a blatant falsehood, but it happens often enough that the urban legend is hard to scrub off.

That's where Natural 20 Soaps comes in.

This is my soap. I'm seriously more excited by this than I should be.

I've talked about Natural 20 Soaps before in this post right here, but for those who didn't see it they're a pretty straightforward operation. The idea that was put together by Emily Hawk and her business partner Douglas Menke was to set a trap for geeks (particularly gamers) who would show up to game with a weekend worth of funk hanging around their necks. They created soap swords and shields, d20 shaped soaps, and as evidenced by my own picture, trick soaps that you have to wash with in order to get the die inside them.

They brought their bars to Chicago-land cons, and made one hell of a splash.

So What's The News?

Well for those who take their hygiene just as seriously as their character builds, Natural 20 Soaps is expanding both how available it is, and what kinds of great, geeky goods it offers. Da Source, a local gaming company in the Chicagoland area is now going to be distributing their products. This means that you don't have to go to their Etsy store (located right here) or find them at conventions like CapriCon or C2E2 in order to buy these great soaps for yourself and all your hygiene-challenged, game-loving friends. You can still do it that way, but you don't have to.

Stay away from the dark side... it smells funny.

In addition to being more widely available than ever before though, Natural 20 Soaps is offering a slew of products, starting with the "newbie set" which is a complete set of d20 dice (20, 12, two 10s, 8, 6, 4) each in its own soap. There's also police boxes for the Whovians, refined companion cubes (the above is an original), miniature Serenity spaceships, and even custom-made action figure soaps. They're also experimenting with pokeball soaps and Hero Clix soaps, which might be a "see what the surprise inside is" purchases.

In addition to the cool new shapes and colors though, Natural 20 Soaps still offers all natural soaps that keep the skin moisturized, clean deeply, and don't cause reactions in the same way many store-bought detergents do. They've got more than 50 fragrances on hand, with over 100 more they can offer for those with picky noses, and they offer coconut milk, glycerin, goat's milk, olive oil, honey, and a vegan base for their soaps.

If that wasn't enough they're also offering a custom print image that can be put into a bar of soap to make a one-time, one-of-a-kind gift.

Also, no matter which kind of soap you get it works great as a shaving soap (which is one of the most important factors for a clean shave according to this list of shaving life hacks). So if you're looking for a great gamer gift with the holidays coming up (Halloween is a holiday, shut up), then check out Natural 20 and see if they've got something for those special dice slingers on your list.

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Natural 20 Soaps: A Confirmed Critical Against Con Funk

The words "Gaming" and "Hygiene" are not often associated in the collective, pop culture consciousness. While gaming has come out of the basement, so to speak, and is experiencing a lot of popularity now that being geeky is considered sexy, there are still some folks who didn't get the memo. Fortunately there is Natural 20 Soaps, a company dedicated to fighting con funk wherever it raises its revolting, protuberant head.

Yes that is soap. Yes you can buy it right now.

Seriously though, take a look at their Etsy store right here and see some of this. We could wipe out the smelly gamer prejudice overnight if word got out a little quicker.

How It All Began

Natural 20 Soap, which is run by Emily Hawk and her business partner Douglas Menke, was inspired by two, separate conversations. The first conversation detailed a sneaky idea of putting a d20 inside a bar of soap, using it as bait to trick those possessed by con funk to wash in order to get the prize inside. The idea might have died there, except that a customer at Emily's knitting store asked if there was a kind of soap that would wash wool without harming it. Finding no affordable options on the market, Emily decided to produce her own in the shape of an adorable sheep. Along the way she and Doug also decided to take up the standard for hygienic geeks everywhere by bringing us Natural 20 Soaps, which sold its first soap in December of 2013.

And are we ever glad they did.

What Makes This Soap So Special?

Well, aside from the fact that it comes in a huge variety of patterns, shapes, and colors, from sheep-shaped soap and D20s to the stripes of Jayne Cobb's hat (seriously, check out the store!), these soaps are made using natural ingredients. They're nourishing for the skin, they get you cleaned up quickly, and best of all they can be made to one's specifications. Whether someone's looking for a vegan soap, a soap in the shape of a Templar shield, or just a soap that's so geeky only the gifter and the receiver will get the reference, Natural 20 Soaps can make that happen.

This cake is a lye.

With sleek, plastic cases that keep soap protected before it's used, and with new designs always coming out, Natural 20 Soaps has great presents for those who just don't know what to give the gamer in their lives. As of right now they're planning a superhero line up, and there's been talk of making soap with secret messages inside them using water soluble paper. For updates on what's going on with the company, and more importantly what conventions you'll be able to find them at, check out the Natural 20 Soap blog right here!

As always, thanks for dropping by Moon Pope Monday. Know something interesting, weird, or hilarious that your fellow geeks will find too cool not to share? Tell us! Also, if you want to keep up to date with everything Improved Initiative has to offer then enter your email in the upper right hand box, or follow us on Facebook and Tumblr. For those who'd like to help keep the site going feel free to leave a donation in the "Bribe the DM" button, or become one of our monthly patrons by checking out our Patreon Page!