Scarsdale Inquirer, By Jennifer Leavitt-Wipf

Ancient Techniques Inspire Modern Business

Trading in brick and mortar buildings for soapy works of art, Marie Labropoulos now applies her education in civil engineering to the eco-friendly, vegan self-care products she designs for Kalliste Organics Inc., her shop just off Garth Road, on Freightway. Labropoulos spent her early childhood in Brooklyn, before her family relocated to Athens, Greece. That move - From a modern city of prepackaged goods to old world Europe - made quite an impression. She spent her days learning traditional Greek customs and ways of life, including how to make soap from the oil of pressed olive leaves, a skill her grandmother Maria taught her.

Scarsdale Patch, by Kathleen Willcox

Kalliste Soap Shop Helps Clean Up a Global Mess

Does chucking those little bars of leftover hotel soap ever make you feel wasteful and dirty? If so, you’re not alone. The Global Soap Project was designed to put all of those excess stubs of soap left in hotels around the world (2.6 million bars are thrown out every day, the Project estimates) into the hands of people for whom a sliver of soap could be a matter of life or death. “As soon as I heard about the Soap Project, I knew I had to get involved,” said Marie Labropoulos, owner of Kalliste Soap Shop, a purveyor of a unique, artisanally made line of all-natural skincare products

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Westchester Happening, by Christine Vuksanaj:

SUDS UP FOR CHARITY!

A month or so back, we introduced you to Kalliste Soap Shop in Scarsdale and its enchanting owner, Marie Labropoulos. We were taken by Marie, and her handmade soaps, created from ages-old Greek recipes. While her soaps are a far (and better!) cry from the little bars of soap most of us have experienced in various hotels, she is now embracing those little bars in a charitable way.

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The Daily Scarsdale, By Katie Drucker:

Soap From a Greek Village to Scarsdale Village

Marie Labropoulos picks up a hunk of Herbal Olive soap from the top of a soap log in her Scarsdale store, Kalliste Soap Shop, and gently touches it to her nose, closing her eyes and smelling it. "This is the one my grandmother used to make," said Labropoulos. Labropoulos, an engineer and Irvington resident, used to visit her grandmother in Greece every summer from Brooklyn. It was there that Labropoulos learned how to make soap from her grandmother, a designated soap-maker in her village near Athens.

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Westchester Happening:

Shop Local and Effect Global

I am a hound for soap. Real, honest-to-goodness handmade soap, and not the detergent that most people think is soap. Up until last week, I had to go far north (to Orange County!) to find what I was looking for…until I wandered into Scarsdale, and off the beaten path. Just off Garth Road, on the Freightway, is a little shop of sunshine and the most intoxicating and inviting herbal aromas. Walk into the soapshop known as Kalliste (Greek for most beautiful), and not only will you be greeted by the beauty of the shop itself and its wares, but by the warmth of owner Marie Labropoulos.

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Healthcare News:

Growing up in Athens, Greece, Marie Labropoulos learned how to make soap from her grandmother, Maria. Labropoulos still cherishes those days, bonding with her grandmother, as the family tradition was passed on. And still lives on. Two years ago, Labropoulos started making organic vegan soaps: The endeavor was part hobby, part side-job for Labropoulos, a civil engineer. It has grown into a fledging business in Scarsdale.

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Westchester Magazine, By Nancy L. Claus with Madasyn Czebiniak:

Cupcakes—Without The Calories...Decadent-looking desserts and pastries greet customers as they enter Kalliste Organics (30 Garth Rd, Scarsdale 914-574-5467; kallisteshop.com), along with the irresistible aromas of chocolate and vanilla. Better take a closer look at that cake in the window before you ask for a slice, though: the products are all made of olive-oil-based soaps.

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Life&Style: New shop hopes to clean up. Owner makes vegan, organic products from old family recipes. It's easy to think the personable blond woman behind the counter at Kalliste, and airy handcrafted soap store in Scarsdale, is the person for whom the shop is namded. In the two weeks she's been opened, Marie Labropoulos says she gets the question, "Are you Kalliste?" a lot.

Online Version.

Another Bakery in Town? Take a Closer Look...If you’ve been over to Freightway lately you may have noticed a new shop tucked into the side street next to Classy Consignments. Look too fast at the cupcakes and chocolate torte in the window and you’ll assume that Scarsdale is now home to another bakery. But upon closer inspection you’ll notice that the cake in the window is actually made of soap, and that Kalliste is new organic bath and beauty products store.

Full Review.

Vegetarian Beauty Products writes:

Kalliste organic and vegan skincare products is a line of eco-conscious products, in gorgeous, gift-worthy, packaging. And not only would this fashionable packaging spruce up any Easter Basket or Mother's Day morning, most of it is made of either recycled or biodegradable materials...

Full Review.

Vegan Beauty Review writes:

Spray Lotion and Wine Scented Soap? Yes, Please!

Yup, that's right! I found a vegan company that makes lotion for those days you feel like spritzing on your moisturizer rather than slathering it on. And wine scented soaps?! I found a whole bunch of cool skin care goodies from Kalliste Bath & Body, and they're all handmade, mostly organic, natural and 100% vegan. My faves...

Full Review.

Vegan Beauty Review writes:

Why Conventional Soap Sucks

Conventional soap is full of nasty crap that you don't want on your skin-trust me. I'm just gonna break it on down... 1. Conventional soaps contain Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (foaming agent) = evil ingredient/suspected carcinogen

2. They are basically detergent bars made with petroleum (aka crude oil) products-yuck!

3. Those strong unnatural fragrances (read: chemicals) they add are inTOXICating...

Full Review.