Duygu Akiz is the owner and artistic director of Sabuncakiz Hamam a local artisan company based in Turgutries that makes and sells their own handmade soap. They also sell Turkish towels, bath accessories, and an array of other authentic hammam gifts.

I was lucky enough to meet Duygu (Sparky to her English speaking friends who can't pronounce her name) at a dinner party the other week. Not only is she fabulous company, but she has a passion for the products she makes.

More about Duygu

After she completed her sculpture education at the Fine Arts Facility at Dokuz Eylul University, she started a branch of a family-business making authentic handmade gifts in Turgutreis.

Turkish Handmade Soap

Her handmade and hand-shaped soaps are make according to a recipe handed down the generations within her family, and although she wasn't as enthusiastic about soap when she was a small child, she is now fascinated by the process and very passionate about her creative process because the design possibilities are endless.

These soaps are all made out of Olive Oil, which is a natural moisturiser, and produces a mild, non drying soap that nourish and feed your skin. All of the soaps are completely handmade every step of the way. They're mixed in small batches by hand, before being hand poured and hand cut and shaped. Then they're hand-packaged giving a rustic and artisan look and feel. (Plus: They're all free from detergents, foaming agents, alcohol and preservatives).

Turkish Towels

Duygu likes to keep loyal to the traditional Turkish Hammam towels, but she can't resist playing around with the colours and lines of the designs to make her towels stand out from the mass-produced towels available on the local Turgutreis market.

With the encouragement of her brother and sister-in-law, Duygu bought an old wooden loom, which she overhauled so that she could create her own designs with the help of a local craftsman, in order to maintain a high level of quality in her designs.

These hand-woven peshtemals are traditionally used as Turkish Towels when you're at the Hamam (Turkish Bath), but because Doygu makes them in different designs and different thicknesses (thin & light, very soft and fluffy, and thick & weighty) these towels are very functional for other uses.

Other Uses for Peshtemals

• If you get a little chilly in the evening when you're out and about for dinner, choose one of the designs that can be used as a scarf of shawl.
• Forget all about lugging a bulky towel to the beach, and choose a soft and fluffy peshtemal, and use that to lie on and dry yourself instead.
• Did you forget your sarong? Well, there's a great selection of thin and light peshtemals that would be ideal to use as a cover-up over your bikini or swim suit.