Those images we see in health and beauty magazines of wrinkle-fighting Baby Boomers balancing cucumber slices over their eyes would fit beautifully into an ad campaign for SHWOOMP! – a place where visitors aren’t sure whether they’ve moseyed into a produce market or a skincare store.

The 1,000-square-foot bath boutique, which opened in Hillcrest last year, sells an array of skin products and soaps made largely from fresh fruits and veggies delivered to the shop each week. Edibles such as avocados, tomatoes, cucumbers, bananas and oatmeal sit in a deli case alongside the goopy facemasks and scrubs they go in to. The window in the back reveals what looks like an industrial kitchen, the area known as “the laboratory.” But the owners can’t call it a kitchen because the health department would come knocking with its litany of restaurant rules and regulations. And who needs them when all you’re feeding is human skin?

According to Brent Altomare, who owns the shop with his wife, Jennifer, and business partner Allison Rynne, “We keep a very clean kitchen – cleaner than most restaurants.”

Here, ingredients that chefs would use normally for their salad carts and soup du jour get mashed and turned into aromatic, topically applied products every morning for a line called Just Made Skin Care. Most of them carry only a 48-hour shelf life, such as the raw cucumber-avocado facemask, made to refresh and moisturize normal-to-dry skin. Conversely, the apricot-oatmeal mask works wonders on greasy complexions as the oats suck up the oils while the apricot helps create a silky-smooth finish.

Altomare’s favorite item is a tomato-mint foot scrub with ground pumas, a below-the-ankle meal that moisturizes, deodorizes and exfoliates without using any synthetic oils or chemicals.

“All of our products contain some sort of oil or butter, such as Shea butter and a wide variety of nut oils. They’re used for sealing in the skin’s moisture,” he adds.

SHWOOMP! came about after months of planning and research. “We had rented a small apartment in North Park as our little research center,” says Altomare. “My wife and Allison spent 40 hours a week there, experimenting with ingredients and combing the Internet and books to teach themselves chemistry. They learned about the benefits certain fruits, vegetables and oils have on the body.”

Their line of soap, which is showcased like cheese at a deli shop, is bought from a local soap-maker who works out of her garage. Profits from those sales are periodically donated to The Center. But it is the custom-built “lab” that provides customers a first-hand look at how many of the other products are made. Additionally, sugar and salt scrubs containing ground almonds, lemon zest and strawberry seeds are available for sampling at the store’s two sinks.

“Mother Nature has had millions of years to get her recipes right. So rather than us trying to compete with her, we’re utilizing the things she’s already produced for us.”

Other products include a smorgasbord of spray lotions, bath bombs and moisture bars. When asked if the products are edible, given their appetite-inducing scents and titillating displays, Altomare responds, “You can eat anyone of them, but I’m just not sure you would want to.”

SHWOOMP! is located at 3827 Fifth Ave. It is open from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 12:00 noon to 6:00 p.m. Sundays. For more information, call (619) 574-2535.