How Aurora Wilson built a wellness hub on Main Street
By Kat Braz | Photos by Christine Petkov
Aurora Wilson didn’t set out to become an entrepreneur. She was just trying to feel better.
Years ago, Wilson was managing chronic migraines, fibromyalgia and Hashimoto’s disease — conditions that sent her searching for answers beyond what traditional medicine was offering at the time.
“I kept asking for solutions, and they just weren’t there,” she says. So she began researching on her own, drawn to the idea that plants could be medicine and that the body, given the right support, could heal.
Around that same time, Wilson was introduced to essential oils. Curious and cautiously hopeful, she invested in a starter kit and began experimenting — diffusing oils, learning their properties and paying closer attention to how her body responded. But it was her youngest daughter who unknowingly sparked what would become a business.
During a winter cold snap, Wilson’s daughter came to her with painfully dry hands, the skin on her knuckles cracked and bleeding. Searching for a solution, Wilson found a simple recipe for a lotion bar made with shea butter, coconut oil, beeswax and lavender. With the ingredients already on hand, she made a small batch and rubbed it into her daughter’s hands.
“Two days later, they were completely healed,” Wilson says. “Like they had never been bleeding at all.”
That moment changed everything.
What started as a single lotion bar turned into a quiet obsession. Wilson began making lip balms, soaps and bath products for her family and friends. She paid close attention to ingredients, intentionally avoiding the chemicals and synthetic additives she had learned could disrupt hormones and irritate skin. Over time, her “fun little hobby” became something more refined, more scientific and more in demand than she ever expected.
Encouraged by friends, Wilson decided to test the waters. During the 2018 holiday season, she listed just four products on Facebook: lotion bars, lip balm, rose water and bath bombs. Within a day, she had made $300. She was fresh out of college with a background in computer information systems and web development, but the traditional job search wasn’t clicking. Her husband encouraged her to try selling her products at farmers markets, and business boomed. Customers lined up not just for soap, but for solutions — for products that felt good, smelled good and aligned with a growing interest in natural ingredients that support wellness. Then COVID-19 shut everything down.
Rather than closing the chapter, Wilson and her husband made a bold decision: if markets were gone, they would open a store. In November 2020, in the middle of a pandemic, Wilson unlocked the doors to Essentially Aqua in her first brick-and-mortar space on Main Street in downtown Lafayette.
Five years later, now located just a few doors down at 525 Main St., the shop has become a fixture — celebrated for its inclusive atmosphere, delightfully scented offerings and Wilson’s stalwart commitment to wellness.
Wilson produces her products on site in the basement below the store. The operation is less craft time and more chemistry lab: precise recipes, weighed ingredients and meticulous consistency. Her product lineup includes cold-process bar soaps, shower steamers, bath bombs, lotions, body butters, body oils, shampoo and conditioner bars and foaming sugar scrubs with seasonal scent collections launched four times a year.
Soaps remain the foundation. “If your skin feels tight or itchy when you get out of the shower, it’s usually the soap,” Wilson explains. Her bars are superfatted — made with extra oils and butters — so they cleanse without stripping the skin. For customers new to wellness-focused skincare, she encourages starting small, just one bar of soap, and building from there.
The shop also features a refillery, where customers can bring in a bottle to refill everyday essentials such as hand soap, dish soap, body oil and lotion — all available unscented. But beyond the products, what customers often observe is how the space makes them feel.
“The goal is that everybody feels welcome,” Wilson says. “It doesn’t matter what you look like or where you’re from.” The store is intentionally homey, inviting people to explore at their own pace. Many linger. Some come just to breathe.
That sense of care and community inspired Wilson’s next chapter: Market on Main.
Launched in October, Market on Main is a cooperative housed within the same space — a year-round, indoor take on a farmers market designed to support local makers and producers. The idea came from fellow vendor Nick Atchley of Atchley Farms who noticed Wilson’s shop had room to grow and asked a simple question: what if downtown had a permanent market?
Today, Market on Main includes a curated mix of vendors offering local meat, farm products, whole food supplements and handmade gifts. Refrigerators stocked with locally sourced food sit alongside shelves of artisan goods, drawing in curious passersby and helping address what many consider a downtown food desert.
More importantly, it lowers the barrier for small businesses. Vendors can gain a brick-and-mortar presence without the financial risk of leasing their own storefront. The cooperative model gives each partner a voice, while shared staffing and seven-day-a-week hours offer stability and visibility.
For Wilson, it’s a natural extension of her original mission.
“Wellness isn’t just soap,” she says. “It’s food, it’s sustainability, it’s community.”
In a city she describes as deeply rooted in connection, Wilson credits Lafayette’s support for her longevity. Customers know her name. She knows theirs. And even in uncertain economic times, she sees people choosing local — understanding that every purchase supports families, not faceless corporations.
What began as a mother trying to soothe her daughter’s cracked hands has grown into a downtown hub for healthier living, thoughtful consumption and shared success. On Main Street, wellness isn’t a trend — it’s a community practice, built one bar of soap at a time. ★
Three Tips for Healthy Skin
1) Drink more water. Your body — and your skin — need it. Hydration starts from the inside.
2) Use real sunscreen. Handmade sunscreen isn’t safe or regulated.
Buy a tested, FDA-approved product and use it consistently.
3) Stay informed. Awareness matters. Understanding ingredients, triggers and habits is key to long-term skin health.
Winter Market Update
The winter market was held at the Bistro 501 Atrium at the Lahr one Saturday a month, January through April. Molly Welch, quality of life manager at Greater Lafayette Commerce, says there were consistently 20 vendors at each market, with an estimated total of 1,200 visitors.
“We received a lot of positive feedback from patrons, saying that this has been much needed as a way to get out during the colder months,” Welch says.
“The Bistro 501 Atrium is a beautiful space that a lot of people forget is downtown. I’m glad that we could get the community back in there for at least one Saturday a month.”
Welch says she received helpful feedback from vendors about layout, time and overall feasibility of a winter market. “I’m excited to see how we can continue to grow our winter market,” she says.
Market On Main Vendors
Current partners include:
10:10 & Healthy: Whole food supplements
Art with a Happy Heart: Take and make art kits, original art and unique gifts
Atchley Farms: Certified naturally grown produce
Essentially Aqua: Natural skincare, bath, body and home products
Middlefork Meadows: Locally raised beef, pork and chicken
Interested In Becoming A Vendor?
Market on Main is actively seeking additional partners for its year-round farmer’s market concept. Local producers and makers looking for a low-risk entry into a brick-and-mortar space are encouraged to reach out directly at the shop at 525 Main St.
Area Farmers Markets Open In May
West Lafayette Farmers Market: 3:30-7:30 p.m. Wednesdays, through October. The market is held at Cumberland Park in West Lafayette with more than 50 vendors.
Lafayette Farmers Market: 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Saturdays, through October, on Fifth Street between Columbia Street and mid-block to Ferry Street, and Main Street between Fourth and Sixth streets.
Thursdays, through October.
