By Carole Marshall

The mission statement of this Sonoma County company stretches to a full page, but for the consumer it comes down to these few words: Fresh, all natural, handmade and chemical free. Sumbody, the whimsical name of a business that takes what they do very seriously, produces and sells bath, body and home spa products. If you have been to the sinfully luxurious Spa du Soleil in Rutherford you might have experienced their products. If you have visited the charming Bath Factory on the town square in Sonoma you might have purchased a sumbody item. They are not a large enough company to be called ubiquitous, but they are certainly worth seeking out.

From their store in Sebastopol (they also have stores in Healdsburg and San Francisco), partners Deborah Burnes and Kila Peterson have combined their diverse professional backgrounds with a passion for natural products that really work. Incorporated into this is a love of plants of all kinds, from herbs and roots to fruits, vegetable of flowers, the study of what different uses and properties they all have and how they can interact.

In Palestine over two thousand years ago, Essenes wrote “People cannot live long or happily without honoring Mother Earth, without following her laws”. At sumbody, both Burnes and Peterson pay tribute to that philosophy as they constantly experiment with the bounty and properties of the planet, making small batches of a dazzling array of products.
“Nature never fails,” they say. “Our ingredients are so pure they’re actually edible … cream, avocado, lavender, cocoa butter, orange and carrot and rosehip oils, honey”.

The moisturizing lotions and butters only enforce this statement, with names like Goats Milk, Silk Amino, Avocado, Milk and Honey, Camilla and Jojoba. The scrubs, which are a relatively new line for the company, have received great reviews, and they benefit from names that are not just literal, but whimsical as well. Names such as Vanilla Pudding, Egg Noggin’, Hot Chocolate, Snow Storm and Pumpkin Pie. They also make gift packs that combine a variety of products for specific needs or desires. Hopefully there are bath fizzers included in the box, since they believe that bathtub fun should not have to end when you give up your rubber duck.

The list of sumbody indulgences runs to pages, but each item runs true to the philosophy that using the produce of the earth to regenerate and renew, to enrich your life while also honoring the planet, is an admirable goal, and if it is fun, luxurious and just a bit sybaritic at the same time, well, there’s not a thing wrong with that, either. ¦