Sydney Sweeney Will Sell You Her Used Bathwater

You might be one of the only people in history to start and then actually finish building a treehouse.

(Laughs) This is a funny story. My parents were really, really cool, because they always wanted me to be very independent and hands-on. And so they’d give me the tools, but then I’d have to do it. And so I built a treehouse. I mean, it wasn’t even something crazy. It was just a platform with some railings and a ladder, but I had a rope that would dolly all my tools up, and I felt really cool as a fourth grader doing this.

I finished building it, and then I painted it. I don’t even remember what I painted, but I was very, very proud of it. I remember walking in and just telling my parents all about it, and showed them the paint from my art room that was…washable paint. And I remember walking up the next day and the entire tree and the ground underneath was just covered with all the paint. And my beautiful mural had just completely washed off. I was so sad.

You’ve spoken in the past about how challenging it’s been to navigate Hollywood as someone who grew up working-class, and how taking brand deals has been a necessity for you to make ends meet. Has your philosophy around what deals you take changed at all?

I make sure that every brand that I become a part of, I organically and authentically use. It’s super important to me to make sure that whenever I’m saying, hey guys, I really, really love this product, or, hey, I really use this that, I actually am. I’m a consumer just like everybody else. If it doesn’t actually work for the person and they’re just saying it, it doesn’t benefit any of us.

So would you actually use this soap bar yourself?

I do have the bar. I actually took a shower this morning, and I have the bar and I used it.

What’s the skin feel of this bar of soap?

It’s super soft. It’s really pretty, I’m looking at it right now. It’s marbly and has blues and a little bit of brown in it.

When we were at the [Dr. Squatch] shoot, they had a tub for me. And I actually got in there and I took some soap, and we had a nice little bath and they took the water. So it’s my real bath water. I wanted to have it lean towards my home roots, so there’s this really outdoorsy scent of, like, pine and earthy moss and fir. So it smells super manly. But then there’s some city bath water mixed in.

Were you inspired by other products evoking a specific sense of intimacy? I’m thinking of someone like Erykah Badu, who’s created incense meant to smell like her nether region.

No, but I would like to say yes, because that’s the coolest thing ever (laughs).

Why do you think a woman’s bathwater has such a powerful and erotic draw for people?

Um, because women are awesome?

Do you see the concept of selling your bathwater as wresting back power for yourself in terms of your image?

Yeah, of course. It’s funny, and there’s a lot of different plays that are in motion at that time. My hope is that it just gets guys to think about taking care of themselves and cleaning themselves with some healthy products.

I mean, I have been in some pretty disgusting dude bathrooms before.

Exactly.