KTUU Spotlight

By Dani Tompkins

Published: Aug. 27, 2026 at 8:49 AM AKDT

 

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Alaska Dream Botanicals, a Wasilla-based bath and body business, is in its busiest time of the year, with the Alaska State Fair in swing and the holidays on the horizon.

“This time of year is pretty crazy. Pretty much sun up to sundown we are either making stuff here, we’re splitting time,” said co-owner Renee Behrendt. “One of us is here making or labeling while the other one’s at the fair.”

The business that has products in over 100 stores across the state is run almost entirely by Renee and her husband Jared, who also builds the wooden displays by hand used to showcase their products.

The couple co-owns and operates the business, and most days, they can be found in their Wasilla store making bar soaps, lotions, deodorants and other products.

“Everything’s made right here in our shop in Wasilla, mostly by my husband anymore. But I do help out a little with the making,” she said.

A business born from allergies

The business stemmed from Renee’s own health experiences.

“I found out I was highly allergic to sulfates. Most people are actually sensitive to sulfates,” Renee said. “If you have a bad enough one you can get anaphylaxis even from it.

“So 20 years ago, commercial companies didn’t make it. Sulfate-free was pretty rare, so we started doing it ourselves, and anything I wanted to use, we had to come up with how to make a bath bomb or how to do body butter or how to make soap. We even make our own laundry soap.”

Renee and Jared often experiment with new products or scents on their own skin, until they find the recipe that causes no skin reactions.

Developing new products can take time. Renee said the couple’s deodorant took four and a half years to formulate.

“We went about 3 1/2, four years until he didn’t react to one, and then the last six months was me not reacting and then making it last longer,” she said.

From craft fair to statewide brand

The Behrendts did their first craft fair almost 11 years ago, selling bar soaps, body butters and lip balms they had originally made for family and friends as gifts.

“They loved them, and they’re like, ‘oh, you should sell these, you should sell these,’ So we’re like, ‘all right, we’ll try it,’” Renee said.

The business has since grown to more than 48 scents and flavors, according to Renee, and the products are sold in at least 100 stores and about 15 bed and breakfasts or hotels statewide.

Behind the salve-making process

Jared said he spends a lot of time making the products and demonstrated how to make the joint and muscle salve.

“The joint and muscle salve is what I was gonna add the essential oil mix into and then also do the vitamin E for it,” Jared said.

Jared said the salve is made from a mixture of beeswax, shea butter and an olive oil infusion that includes several herbs infused over eight hours.

He said the mixture is heated to about 200 degrees before it’s poured into tins, a process that yields 60–70 tins per batch and takes about 10 minutes to set up.

The couple avoids synthetic preservatives, stabilizers and solubilizers in their products.

“We basically leave all that stuff out because most folks who have skin issues, it generally comes down to those other ingredients,” Jared said.

Renee added the company tries to source sustainable packaging. Lip balms and deodorants use biodegradable and compostable packaging, and liquid bottles are made with 20% post-consumer recycled content.

Impact

Renee and Jared hope to give Alaskans a clean, healthy product they can use over and over.

“We also want them to feel like they got their money’s worth and that they got a valuable, healthy product, and that they want to reuse it again and again,” Renee said.

State fair appearance, upcoming launch

The couple is at the Alaska State Fair through Sept. 7. They also plan to launch “Alaska Dream Supply,” which would provide Alaskans with the supplies needed to make their own soaps and other goods.

More information can be found on the Alaskan Dream Botanicals website.

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