Two soldiers who read labels

Christopher “Thomas” Laughlin and Christopher “Reeves” Otto met in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. They served together for more than five years in the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team Headquarters, S3 Operations — one of the 28th Infantry Division’s brigades — between 2004 and 2012.

Christopher “Reeves” left the service. Christopher “Thomas” stayed, retiring as First Sergeant of A Company, 1-111th Infantry Battalion.

A podcast about what is actually in things

Years later the two started a podcast, I Might Be A Kook. Across roughly seventy-five episodes they worked through health, menswear, sports and the occasional conspiracy — and one subject kept coming back. What actually goes into the things we use every day. What is in our food. What we put on our skin. Whether the shampoo, lotion and soap in every bathroom cabinet are anything like what the label claims.

Spending that long reading labels changes what you are willing to buy.

Two men, the same idea, separately

The show ended. In a conversation some time afterwards, the two found out they had both quietly started making their own products. Reeves was making soap. Thomas was making candles.

They decided to build a men’s soap company with a single goal: make the most natural bar they could, formulated for men’s skin, with nothing in it they would not put on their own.

Thomas Reeves Co. is named after their two middle names.

How the soap is made

Every bar is made by hand, in small batches, in Pennsylvania. We use the High Temperature Fluid Hot Process method, which drives saponification to completion in the pot rather than over weeks of curing.

That process produces glycerin — a humectant that draws moisture into the skin. Commercial manufacturers strip it out and sell it separately. We leave it in. Our bars are built on saponified oils, shea butter and organic yogurt, scented with real essential oils. No detergents, no parabens, no synthetic foaming agents.

It is why our bars cost more than the supermarket alternative, and why they behave differently in your hand.

Our mission

To make men better by providing healthy, holistic products and education, while benefiting every stakeholder involved.