Nordic Allure soap company goes from hobby to storefront

When Gloria Nyswonger became a stay-at-home mom in 2012 she felt a strong pull toward creating a passion project.

She began making handmade soaps and what was a hobby turned into Nordic Allure, a company that has fully transformed into a storefront in downtown Kalispell.

“It started out that I was just making soap for my family or for Christmas gifts here and there. Fast forward a couple of years and I had basically stocked my friends and family up for a good long while and they were like, ‘Please no more’. So I started selling it at the farmers market,” said Nyswonger.

Nyswonger explained that she had her son at the end of her active duty in the Navy and though she had envisioned a 20-year military career, decided to stay home with her son.

“It all worked out because I got to spend a lot of time with my oldest and that’s how I got into soap making,” she said.

During this time, Nyswonger explored several hobbies and ultimately landed on soap-making because of a fond childhood memory.

“When I was younger, there was a gal that my mom was friends with. I remember going to her house a couple of times while she was finishing up making soap and I was always fascinated by it. Fast forward 10 years when I’m looking for a project, and I thought, ‘I’ll give that a whirl.’ It was chemical romance from the beginning,” she said with a smile.

Nordic Allure’s handmade soap include offerings like Glacier Ice, with eucalyptus and peppermint the soap is described as cool and refreshing, and Autumnal Equinox, that has crisp fruity notes of cranberry warmed with autumnal spices.

The evident theme of the soap company was inspired by Nyswonger’s Nordic heritage and the unique nicknames that followed her throughout her life.

“My heritage is pretty evident so I always got these nicknames in the Navy like the Viking Princess and the Berzerker,” she laughed. “I always had a nickname and it didn't matter where I went, they followed me. So I went with Nordic to describe that northern culture and then I wanted a word to describe beauty and I landed on allure and the light bulb went on.”

While Nyswonger is a one-woman show, she eventually hopes to employ a few other people and have the downtown Kalispell store be her flagship. Nyswonger said her long-term goals include expanding Nordic Allure and having a few different locations within Montana.

“Nordic Allure is not a box store or large corporate entity. It is locally made and I try to locally source a lot of stuff when I can. It's not mass-produced. Everything is made by hand. It is a very intimate product,” she said.

According to Nyswonger, the bulk of store bought “soap” products have synthetic detergents of which many people are sensitive.

“If you look at store bought products they will say ‘shower gel, beauty bar, or moisturizing bar,’ because they can’t say they’re soap,” she said. “A lot of people don’t want the synthetic detergents which are the bulk of those ingredients in the store.”

Nyswonger said she loves being able to create a local product that people love. Her full list of products include soap, lip balm, lotion bars, deodorants, shea body butter, hemp lotion, facial cream, eye serum, beard balm and oil, and bath bombs.

“At the end of the day, my ultimate goal is making sure people are enjoying the products that they are buying,” said Nyswonger. “I've met some amazing people between other vendors and customers and I’ve loved the places I've been invited to. The whole experience has been awesome.”

Nordic Allure is located at 1517 Sixth Ave W. The store can be contacted via phone 406-224-4877 or email at support@nordicallure.com. To keep up to date on the latest products, visit Nordic Allure’s website at nordicallure.com or check out their Facebook or Instagram @nordic.allure.

Reporter Summer Zalesky may be reached at szalesky@dailyinterlake.com.