Witch Baby

Edited by Chloe Lee.

Self-care. Even the phrase itself sounds calming, a sort of invisible hug from your own  stream of consciousness; maybe that’s why it’s turned into a marketing frenzy. Brands like Glossier and Milk Makeup have taken full advantage of the self-care movement, with a focus on marketing their own unique aesthetics rather than their actual products. Unfortunately for them, there’s a new kid on the block. Meet Witch Baby: a punk, gothic twist on traditional selfcare.

Chelsea Selby, the owner of Witch Baby, has a rich history with all things magical. She’s been interested in the otherworldly feel of witchcraft since she was a girl, and picked up on some other unique interests, too. 

“The punk scene is very DIY, and I often couldn’t find what I wanted anywhere, so I’d make it myself… my business began in my kitchen.” 

On and on Chelsea grew, and it wasn’t long before she completed vocational school, became a licensed cosmetologist, and went to college for Alternative Medicine. And even with a salon job in hand, she kept selling her homemade cosmetics on the side. She and her husband, Joe, worked together to keep the business booming. Chelsea manages product design and marketing, while Joe uses his property management experience to handle the paperwork and red tape of a family-run business. Back in the infant days of Witch Baby, though, Chelsea didn’t plan on becoming an entrepreneur; it took one truly significant life event to push her small business into the limelight. 

“I was fired from my job while I was pregnant… I faced my ‘tower moment.’”

In tarot cards, a ‘tower moment’ refers to the downfall of one thing in your life to make way for another: “It can be a good thing long-term, but it made for some tough times in the moment.” But still, by and by, Witch Baby grew from a teen girl’s daydream to a truly impressive reality. 

Witch Baby was an exclusively online business from 2013 to 2019, when Chelsea opened her first store on 11 Eastman Street in Cranford, NJ. From there, it wasn’t long until location number two came along: her second in-person store opened on 17 Monmouth St. Red Bank, NJ, in June of 2021. And after seeing and falling in love with Summit’s downtown, Chelsea opened her third Witch Baby store at 73 Union Place only a year later. 

Walking through the doors of Witch Baby is surprisingly similar to walking into a bakery: colorful cakes of soaps line the shop, shaped like downy clouds, tiny pink rosebuds, and tarot cards; jars of face masks, “bath potions,” scrubs, salts, and oils help fill the remaining space, as well as the shop’s unique and stunning bath bomb collection. Their bath bombs are skillfully constructed and range from a navy-and-gold-dusted astrology bomb to a deep crimson “Dragon’s Blood” product. Toss in some of their floral “bath tea”, and you might just have to take up permanent residency in the tub. Of course, true to the name, everything behind Witch Baby’s doors is reminiscent of a cross between Harry Potter and a Stephen King novel— be it a cerulean mermaid bath bomb or a rose-and-gravestone soap, everything’s got just a dash of magic, and a ladle full of mysterious intrigue.  

Now that we’re getting down to specifics, we need to have a talk about the scents. Witch Baby means business; the beautiful products are just the tip of the mystical iceberg. Everything smells amazing. Their products largely use essential oils (hence their medicinal properties), and the scents are themed to the product and season. 

“Halloween is always the busiest time of year—no surprise there, I guess.”

Looking for the scent of “sweet berries, delicate florals, and soothing coconut milk”? Well, Witch Baby’s Fairy Milk soap, with a clear finish embedded with lavender rosebuds and a brilliant copper butterfly (made of soap, of course) is just for you! What about “the haunting mellow aroma of a cactus-fruit-drenched desert-witch”? Look no further than the strikingly realistic Full Moon soap. Who needs Galileo when the wonders of the night sky are only a soothing bath away? Chelsea’s sure to keep every new product in line with her impressive precedents, and she devotes hours to cultivating new scents. Only a true witch could make “graveyard dirt” into a recognizable and addictive perfumed soap; and it only further proves the supernatural capabilities that Chelsea possesses, to impress with brilliant, foreign-feeling scents while still keeping her business completely local— “Everything is made in an old ravioli factory in Union County.” If you ask me, there’s definitely a connection between the delicious background of the factory and the otherworldly force infused into the soaps it churns out, but who knows? Witch Baby’s “radical self-care” powers could come from anywhere; the number one rule of witchcraft, after all, is to never give up the key to your power. 

Witch Baby, as a whole, made quite the impression. Chelsea’s aims for the company are ambitious, and yet, they are bewitchingly on track with what she believes— a practice all too forgotten in this steel-and-paper world of business.

“I make products that are not so much focused on the beauty market so much as making you feel good on the inside.” 

That same mindset follows Chelsea into work every day; the store saying (aside from the classic “get naked, do witchcraft”) is “smooth seas never made a skillful sailor.” It was a long journey here, and I suspect it’s only the beginning. Born from the kitchen of a (panicked) mother, and sustained with the sheer effort of a loving family, Witch Baby is just taking its first steps. Visit Witch Baby at their website here, at their Instagram @witchbabysoap, and their Twitter @witchbabysoap.