Sometimes the small pond on hole 3 of the Las Vegas Country Club below my bedroom window is not enough to quench my desert desire for a water view. On Wednesday March 20th, my husband I took a short car ride to Lake Mead Marina for lunch. After a nice lunch and a terrific view of Lake Mead complete with a variety of ducks and other waterfowl, large well-fed fish, and boats of all sizes, we made our way over to Main Street in Boulder City to one of my favorite stores.

I first discovered this store a few weeks prior on our first trip to Boulder City. On that first visit I put together a gift basket for my dear fairy godmother in Chicago. Yes, that’s right my fairy godmother, Gwendolynn, and yes, that really is her name, not many people are lucky enough to have one, but I am! She’s been my mentor for over twenty years and her magic is plentiful. The Boulder City Soap & Candle Store is owned by Sabrina Russo. In a world of e-commerce shopping with a click of a button, how refreshing it is to be in a store that is traditional business with physical premises!

Sabrina used to represent a product line that she sold to this store to the former owner Kimberly Taggard. When Kimberly decided to move to Hawaii, Sabrina took the opportunity to buy the store. Kimberly graciously taught Sabrina everything she knew about making the products. In the back room, behind the storefront is where she can concoct all her potions- 85% of the products are made by hand by Sabrina and anything she doesn’t make is all locally-sourced from other like-minded small business owners. 

Although she quite rightly likes everything in her store, I pressed her to name her three favorites products:

The shower steamers come in all different scents but the most popular is “Breathe.” The therapeutic ingredients open the sinuses. Ever a skeptic of shower steamers, Sabrina changed my mind, she doesn’t let uneducated consumers, walk out of the store. Before I met Sabrina, I would have simply put the shower steamer on the floor of the shower which becomes a messy blob and doesn’t really permeate the shower with the scent. With the purchase of each shower steamer, Sabrina provides a beautiful mesh bag, that is placed on the floor of the shower. The water from the shower, melts the steamer, permeating the shower with fragrance every time.

Second pick are her hand-made soaps greatly infused with oil to combat desert dryness. This is also her playground where she gets to experiment and often introduces new scents. By the way, custom orders are welcome!

And last, but not least, are her lotion bars, they look like deodorant and function as such. However, the lotion is delivered in a stick form, that are so moisturizing that you could apply and take several showers before reapplying again to get that smooth glowing skin. They are to be used from head to toe.

Not only is it a joy to be in a real store with the actual owner but she’s just so passionate and that’s a winning combination.