When Anne Dezort opened the SOAP (Save Our Ailing Planet) Refill Station in Springfield in 2018, her mission was to end the assumption that natural products are elitist and expensive.

Growing up, she struggled with sensitive and itchy skin caused by synthetic beauty and household products but felt like “you had to be rich to use green products,” which she wasn’t, Anne says. So ten years ago, she decided to create her own natural products to help clear her skin in an affordable fashion. After it worked, she wanted to share the products with others.
SOAP is a bulk natural skin care, body care, household, and cleaning product store. Customers can bring in their own containers, buy a new container, or use a free donated container provided by the store to fill with the products. All of the products are priced based on their weight in ounces, minus the container. Anne says it’s similar to a bulk candy store; visitors can buy as much or as little of a product as they like.

The store has everything from deodorant, conditioner, and face masks to laundry soap, dishwashing soap, and fabric softener. What sets SOAP apart from many other bulk stores is that it has an extensive oil bar that offers perfume, facial oil, and body oil.
Anne challenges people to “just come in,” even if they aren’t sure how to navigate the process or don’t know what type of products to buy. The staff are kind and eager to help, she says.
Since opening in 2018, the business has grown. SOAP moved from its original location in downtown Springfield to Sunshine Street in Springfield and expanded in 2020 to a second location in Kansas City. That same year, SOAP started making most of its own products, which it had previously outsourced. By avoiding the cost of shipping and the packaging of products, the company has been able to further reduce the cost for patrons, Anne says.

While a central mission of the company is to help create natural affordable options for customers, it also aims to promote sustainability. Every time a customer brings in his or her own container to fill, the staff makes a tally mark on a piece of cardboard. At the Springfield location alone, over 100,000 containers have been kept out of landfills or recycling centers, according to the tally marks. “We are way over that in less than five years in the Kansas City location,” Anne says.

“The plastic waste, in general, is just such an obvious part,” Anne says. “I don’t even really harp on that much because I feel like we all, as humans, know that plastic waste is an issue, and we all know that now. Let’s talk about what we’re going to do about it, not that it’s a problem.”
The stores are located at 1912 East Sunshine Street in Springfield and 7441 Broadway Street in Kansas City. To learn more, visit GetMoSoap.com.
All photos courtesy of SOAP.
This article was originally published in the January/February 2025 issue of Missouri Life.