Here’s some good news for Bushwick’s vegans and body care enthusiasts alike! This fall, mother-daughter duo Kathy and Amanda Fox have opened a brick and mortar location for their cruelty free bath and body product line, The Fanciful Fox!
We stopped by the deliciously fragrant storefront at 204 Irving Avenue, between Harman Street and Himrod Street, a short walk away from Maria Hernandez Park—here’s what we found!
The Fanciful Fox opened on September 15 and has neighbors in Bushwick businesses Lucha Lucha, Pussy Willow, and Ops Pizza. This place is is the sole set-up in Bushwick concocting and selling micro-batches of vegan, organic, and natural products for your skin.
from scranton to brooklyn
After operating Fanciful Fox out of Scranton, Pennsylvania for six years, Amanda and Kathy decided to move their operation to Brooklyn in 2014. When they first set up shop in Kings County, the two worked out of a small studio space on Meadow Street in East Williamsburg.
Kathy tells Bushwick Daily that she and her daughter are absolutely in love with their street level spot in Bushwick, and indeed, the shop feels homey and very comfortable! Colossal windows in the front of the store shed a ton of light on the absolutely gorgeous design of the shop, which was designed by local contractors Rockstar Renovations and includes lots of reclaimed wood and a breathtaking patchwork tin ceiling turned wall.
Like all of the ingredients used in The Fanciful product line, Kathy and Amanda’s love of making bath and body products came about organically. The two used to “wander around craft stores,” dreaming up products, reveals Kathy.
They first tried their hand at soap making eight years ago, when they worked with a candle making supplier who serendipitously sold soap making supplies, too. “We enjoyed making soap more than making candles, and then everything evolved from there,” explains Kathy.
it starts with the ingredients
Kathy jokes that “watching somebody make soap is kind of like watching somebody’s hair grow:” each batch of soap they make takes four to six weeks from start to finish.
The Fox’s creations account for the enticing aroma throughout the store: visitors will recognize lots of scent notes, from ylang ylang to mint to patchouli and lavender. Bath fizzes in glass candy jars located at the front window evoke old time-y sweet shop too—that was Amanda’s creative genius!
Products are reasonably priced and include everything from soap ($7), to lip balm ($3.50) and facial moisturizers ($13).
Everything you see at The Fanciful Fox is made in-house and (as their last ingredient listed for every product reveals) with love.
I tried the Black Magic cleanser scrub cake facial moisturizer (for oily skin) and highly recommend it to those who share my skin type!
All products sold at The Fanciful Fox are made without the use of animal fat or animal testing. “We use really high quality oils like shea butter, coconut, sunflower oil…all these wonderful, beautiful oils that we combine together in a certain way to make it very moisturizing and cleansing on your skin,” explains Kathy.
The “Sweet Sweet Love” organic coconut milk soap is a work of art, and so beautiful you might not want to use it, but knowing that a couple of its ingredients include both fair trade and organic shea and cocoa butter, we’re pretty sure you will. It’s topped with rosebuds, so it would make a perfect Galentine’s (or Valentine’s) Day gift!
So. Cute.
get a free facial at the fanciful fox before your raucous halloween weekend!
This Thursday, October 27 from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. The Fanciful Fox is hosting a Halloween party! The house will serve drinks and snacks and Kathy and Amanda are giving away free facials— “just because it’s fun,” smiles Kathy. We agree!
Kathy explains that it’s super important to her and her daughter that their business be connected to the Bushwick community, emphasizing that she doesn’t want attendees at the Halloween party to feel obligated to purchase things.
“We want to have a nice environment that’s friendly and welcoming. We just like having people around!” exclaims Kathy. In the future, The Fanciful Fox would like to host vegan dinner parties, pot-luck style.
Stop by The Fanciful Fox and buy yourself something nice, Bushwick!
204 Irving Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, 11237 (equidistant from the Dekalb L and the Knickerbocker M subway stops).