Far from department store make-up counters where salesgirls peddle products like street vendors sell knock-off watches, promising to make you look five-- err, ten-- years younger but not really saying why, there's Duross and Langel, a Center City bath and body shop that stocks pure, simple and artistically packaged products.
No stranger to the business, Steve Duross has been using old apothecary recipes and all-natural ingredients for years to create products as beautiful as they are effective. This philosophy inspired the opening of the Philadelphia Soap Company in 1999, which garnered such a following that even when it went out of business, demand for Duross's unique products remained high. So he partnered with James Langel and opened their new shop, Duross and Langel, in September.
From handmade ChuckSoap, full of specks and swirls in fragrances like Coconutty Lime and Koala Mint, to the marvelously juicy Fresh Concepts line, to MOP products for hair and Joe's Grooming for men, everything is designed to cleanse the body and mind.
But it's Duross and Langel's own line, however, that really takes center stage. There are emollient shampoo bars designed for hair, face and body in mellow patchouli, calming rosemary-lavender and the uniquely invigorating basil-lime. There are also exfoliating seed bars, sugar scrubs, mud masks, toning mists, shave creams, moisturizers, body balms, eye gels, and a line of totally pure unscented products for the most sensitive skin.
Olive oil, beeswax, essential oils and ingredients like green tea, avocado, eucalyptus, shea butter, jojoba, rosemary, and even wine (chock full of vitamin C and antioxidants) are infused into all of their products. Duross and Langel make a point to inform the customer of the specific benefits in each of their ingredients as well.
Lavender, for example, helps you sleep, while chocolate stirs the libido (take note for Valentine's Day!). And citrus can lift you right out of the winter doldrums.
Best of all, they keep their prices amazingly affordable. Everything is about one-third the cost of department store prices, and Duross and James intend on holding true to the integrity of their vision by stocking only the best there is.
Though they welcome their success, these business partners are content to take their time with each new product they create, cultivating it to their exacting standards. Come in and be inspired.
