Long Island Iced Tea, Beer + Cigarettes, Negroni, Gin, Elderflower Mimosa, Whiskey, and Limoncello soaps
1. Long Island Iced Tea 2. Beer + Cigarettes 3. Negroni 4. Gin 5. Elderflower Mimosa 6. Whiskey 7. Limoncello Photo: Ryan Segedi

“Booze is for drinking,” insists the founder of Soap Distillery, Danielle Martin, who brews cocktail-inspired soaps, body scrubs and oils, and candles. That’s why you’re not going to get a contact high from her products, which don’t contain any actual alcohol. Rather, an old-fashioned in personal care form conjures the drink’s aromatic ingredients with hints of wood and spice. In 2012, Martin, tired of regular soap offerings, began making her own out of her Avondale apartment, experimenting with scents. While still working as a graphic designer, she turned the hobby into a moneymaker on Etsy, one that took off once she landed on her signature concept. “Me and my boyfriend were watching TV, and I was bouncing ideas off him. Then I stopped and looked at my drink.” These days, the side hustle has become her main gig, with scents that run the gamut from mint mojitos to the combo of beer and cigarettes ($8 a bar, $42 for six). Martin now has four employees and a workspace in West Town. “I was lucky that I tried to do this in Chicago,” she says, “a city that is prized for how it likes to drink.” soapdistillery.com