Do What You Love To Do ..

As a few of you know I love making Artisan Soap, Body Scrubs, Lotions, Cleansers, Face Masks, Lip Balms etc, but what you don't know is that I daydream about turning my hobby into a business ..

People have been asking to buy my soap from day one, but I honestly had no interest in selling back then .. I explained I was just learning through experimentation but was willing to give free bars to anyone willing to provide detailed feedback, specifically negative so I knew where to improve .. As circumstance would have it more often than not the feedback was very positive, and within a few months my new hobby had turned into an full blown addiction that had me making copious amounts of soap that my testers describe as "luxurious" and "non-drying" .. And again the offers to pay for more flooded in ..

Six months later I began daydreaming about one day setting up a stall at the local markets, or online, and then it was suggested I could sell out of a few arty-farty shops in town .. Nearly a year later and I'm now thinking wholesale accounts with the B&B's around here would be ideal too, or teaming up with one of the winery's or local brewers to produce a special line incorporating their product (I already soap with various milks, beer, wine, sea water, and other usual and unexpected additives with great results) ..

I'm certainly not rushing into anything mind you .. I need to be 120% sure my soap will still be top quality even if left in a sock draw or bathroom cupboard for six months .. And of course writing business plans, deciding on the target market, packaging, working out financing & insurance, not to mention formulating a whole range to meet the numerous individual skin types! Plus design choices like texture, shape, colour, fragrance .. It all needs to be considered and takes time ..

I think that's what I love about saponification the most though, the perfect blend of science and art .. Soap is such a personal thing, and is definitely NOT all the same .. Sure people have their favourite 'brands', but few can tell you more than "I like the smell" or "that one makes my skin itch" .. Someone with allergies might read labels but still won't understand what properties various oils or synergies bring to the texture of a bar, to it's lather, it's cleansing ability etc, that takes a soapmakers knowledge and more importantly experience ..

Anyhoo, R&D is well under-way (probably will be for as long as I make soap!), but I have no idea when I'll actually open shop .. If I do ?!

Desert Rose



Here I've saponified Olive Oil with Goats Milk & Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH) to create an ultra mild bar, with the addition of Organic Ground Oats and Aussie Red Clay to help exfoliate and cleanse without stripping the skin of it's natural oils .. Finished off with premium quality skin safe fragrance of Fresh Cut Roses - absolutely nothing artificial or perfume counter about this scent, it's real roses, stems and all!