You know you’ve made it big when someone asks to put your name on a fragrance. Britney Spears. Beyonce. David Beckham.

But authors? No one is going to want a perfume called “Hogwarts, by J.K. Rowling.”

Kate Bethel works behind the counter making bath and body products at her shop, Maven, in Maplewood, Missouri. And when you own the place, you can name the delicious-smelling bath bombs, soaps, scrubbing salts, and other products anything you want.

Yes, indeedy. That is a handmade Sookie Stackhouse bath bomb.

Kate says she designed the fragrance with a combination of magnolia and gardenia, in homage to the Deep South setting of Stackhouse’s popular books.

You will want to stick your head in the jar.

Or all of the jars. And the antique sinks displaying the vegetable glycerin soaps, and the crates of lotions, scrubs, and everything else you might like to lather or slather all over yourself. You can keep it simple with Japanese Cherry Blossom or mix it up with Tangerine Fig or even Mayan Chocolate, which manages to be on the just the right side of smelling like something edible.

I do love nice bath and body products. A great fragrance is so relaxing, and when you’re as stressed as I’ve been lately, it becomes a necessity. My first try at the goodies from Maven included a Raspberry Guava bath bomb and an Oatmeal Cookie scented vegetable glycerin soap.

The bath bomb was incredibly fragrant. Toss it under the running water and you won’t even have to wait for the fragrance to build – it’s huge when you just open up the little bag. It made the water pleasantly fizzy and light pink in color, but don’t worry – the color doesn’t cling to the skin, the tub, your towels, or even the cheapy plastic non-skid mat I have in there. It’s just… yum. The bathroom smelled delicious all day, long after the tub drained, and my skin felt nice and clean, not filmy like it often does after a bubble bath.

At $3.50 for a large bomb and $2.50 for a small one (buy 5, get 1 free!), it’s a sweet indulgence.

I chose to try the bar of soap because I normally don’t like bar soap. It doesn’t foam up into nice bubbles and I never feel as moisturized with a bar soap as I do with a liquid body wash. Something about tallow, I think. But Maven’s vegetable-based soap was a pleasant surprise. It bubbled nicely when I rubbed it on my loofah, and the lather was full enough that I didn’t have to use a separate shaving gel.

Post-shower, my skin was soft and smelled of cookie the rest of the day, which pleased me very much because most yummy soaps only leave you smelling good for a little while after you use them. My boyfriend tried to chew on my arm several hours after I used the Oatmeal Cookie soap, so I think that proves its superior staying power.

There are about a zillion flavors, and each bar is only $3.50.

All products are 100% vegan, and all-natural when possible. Maven also offers some lovely combination products with pieces of scrubs, soaps, and bath bombs formed in molds and combined to make fantastic things like Shower Sundaes and Cupcake Bombs. I cannot wait to try one – the Red Apple fragrance is calling my name.

And I have a GIVEAWAY that is calling YOUR Name!

You’d love to open up the mail and find Maven’s  Lemon Bamboo body scrub, your choice of a bath bomb flavor (I’ll send you a list) and a surprise fragrance soap, wouldn’t you?

Just leave me a quick comment here to enter. I want to know…

What helps you relax?

You can also tweet this contest up to 4 times and leave links in the comment section, for a total of five entries (maximum) per person.

The contest closes at midnight on Friday, October 16th and the winner will be notified using the email address he or she provides in the comment section.

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In addition to the yummies, Maven also sells pieces by local artists and from various Etsy shops, so stop by and check out soy candles, scarves, dresses, bags, jewelry, and even bed linens. Maven is located at the corner of Southwest and Manchester in Maplewood, MO.

Be sure to check out the website at www.mavenstl.com. The Maven bath and body product shop on Etsy is coming soon!

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No free products were provided for the purposes of this review and giveaway. I just really like this stuff.