Jupiter Artland and Dook collaborate to make arty Charles Jencks-inspired soap

The collaboration was born after a couple of successful markets

Dook x Jupiter Artland soap Pic: Brenda Rosete

Part of the appeal of visiting sculpture park Jupiter Artland is being able to wander across the grassy landforms, Cells of Life, by American artist Charles Jencks. These are inspired by cell division, and consist of eight mounds, bridges and four lakes.

We suppose you could get pretty mucky, after a rainy day of tramping across those. Luckily, your cleanliness is now in hand.

When the Wilkieston park reopens for the season in April, their on-site shop will now stock a rather unusual-looking Dook x Jupiter Artland hand and body soap, which was created by the eponymous business.

This souvenir is also available on both of their websites, and you’ll find it in the Portobello premises of the soap creators.

Their owner, Helen Atherton, was inspired by the design of the Jencks artwork, when it came to designing and hand-making these monochrome blocks. They were originally commissioned by the team at Jupiter Artland, who approached her over a year ago.

“Their shop already stocks our soap and we also participated in their Christmas Markets in 2021 and 2022. It was following the sell-out market of 2021 that they got in touch,” says Atherton, whose creations are also stocked at The Fruitmarket Gallery and Mercantile in Edinburgh, and Glasgow’s Apercu, among others. “They wanted a bespoke soap for the rental that they have on site, The Artist’s House, and to sell in their shop. They asked for something bold and graphic with a fresh herbal scent”.

In common with the new creation, Dook’s original salt-based soaps, with varieties including Cedar & Bitter Orange and Rosemary & Frankincense, have a marbled effect. These are all made from organic shea butter and coconut oil but the magic ingredient is the 50 per cent Himalayan sea salt, which has been chosen for its pale pink colour, texture and the high mineral content.

However, they tweaked their main ingredient for the Jupiter Artland collaboration, in order to get a more graphic and dramatic look.

“We're using the same method as in our other soaps, except we’ve gone for a Sicilian sea salt rather than Himalayan,” says Atherton. “This leads to a purer and whiter colour, a gentler product and reduces the carbon footprint of the ingredients. That’s something that we're continually looking to do across the range”.

The black layers are made from activated charcoal. They’ve also created the minimal packaging from 100 per cent recycled coffee cups.

The scent they’ve chosen for this collaboration is juniper, rosemary and petitgrain - a combination that was also inspired by the cultural destination, and smells fresh and resinous.

As Atherton says; “We have used juniper in other soaps before, but it felt like a great fit for this collaboration and combines beautifully with the other ingredients to create a herbal, green and slightly spicy fragrance. It’s perfect for springtime”.

Dook X Jupiter Artland soap is £9, from www.dookofedinburgh.com and www.jupiterartland.org

The Dook shop is at 22 Joppa Road, Edinburgh