How a Sculptor’s 4-Week Process Landed in NYC Restaurant Bathrooms
Made the cut
Four Horsemen in Brooklyn stocks a purple soap bar in their bathroom. So does Tatiana. NY Magazine tracked what they called a “stealthy takeover” of high-profile NYC restaurant bathrooms by a soap from a Red Hook studio.
We wanted to know what the restaurants knew.
The answer starts with a sculptor named Addison Walz. She studied at Bard, spent a decade on textiles, and founded Mater Soap in 2016. The guitar-string cutter she uses to slice each bar came from her weaving practice. The cold-process method requires four weeks of curing.
Commercial soaps are ready in hours.
What the 4-Week Cure Actually Means
Soapmaking forums compare short-cure bars to box wine. The difference is density. Cold-process saponification lets water evaporate slowly, creating a harder bar that lasts longer in the shower.
Mater bars cure for four weeks before they ship. That time shows when you pick one up.
The WOW Score: 9 out of 10
Our WOW dimension measures uniqueness and discovery factor. Mater scored a 9. The reasoning: this soap is taking over NYC’s best restaurant bathrooms while remaining unknown to mainstream consumers.
The sculptor’s origin story has verifiable depth. Press coverage spans Architectural Digest, NY Magazine, and Bon Appetit, but you won’t find it at Sephora or Target.
Architectural Digest described the scent as “floral and earthy, but not at all sweet or geriatric.” That specificity matters. Generic soap reviews say “smells nice.” AD told you exactly what this doesn’t smell like.
The Naming Story We Verified
Mater is Latin for mother. In an interview with Reliquary SF, Addison Walz explained: “My mother, who passed away when I was four. Mater Soap was named for her.”
This is the kind of detail that transforms a $16 bar into something you can tell a story about when someone asks where you got it.
The Gift Intelligence
Who is this perfect for? We matched it to people who curate their bathroom like they curate their bookshelf. Friends who appreciate obscure finds. Moms who never buy nice things for themselves. Hosts who want guests asking about that purple bar.
The naming story particularly resonates for Mother’s Day gifting.
Leaping Bunny certified since 2018, seven years running. The National Museum of Women in the Arts stocks it in their shop. C.O. Bigelow, the NYC pharmacy operating since 1838, carries the line.
What the Purple Color Tells You
The purple comes from alkanet root, not synthetic dye. Natural colorants behave differently than lab-created pigments. The shade varies slightly between batches, which is how you know you’re looking at plant chemistry, not factory consistency.
The Final Score: 8.1
GLOW (visual appeal): 8. Hand-cut edges, natural color, minimal packaging that lets the sculptural form speak.
WOW (uniqueness): 9. Sculptor’s origin, restaurant validation, press coverage in design publications.
MOMENT (gift experience): 8. Palo santo and lavender scent fills the bathroom. The bar disappears with use, which the founder calls “an object of perfect utility.”
TRUST (verification confidence): 6.5. Strong editorial validation, seven years of Leaping Bunny certification, premium stockist network.
The math: (8 × 0.25) + (9 × 0.35) + (8 × 0.25) + (6.5 × 0.15) = 8.125, rounded to 8.1.
This bar made the cut. See the full Mater Soap Holy Bar product page for gifting details.