It has certainly been an adventure getting our soap department up and running! I have spent the past several years slowly studying all the different aspects of soap and soap making and I have to tell you the rabbit hole goes deep!
We pride ourselves in providing natural, health promoting products that are both sustainable & ecologically sound. This being said, my first big hurdle was to understand the hype and reality of using Palm oil & Coconut oil in my soaps. These are some of the best vegan latherers so I know I needed them, but how to provide them in my products while not destroying the planet! (sigh)
It turns out that these ingredients can be ethically & sustainably grown in fields where they no longer clear cut the tropical rain forests to provide these amazing ingredients. Point one for the orangutans and the Earth's lung system!
Next I had to learn the basics of Lye handling and use, as well as how I can be creative with the soaps while using as many natural colorants & exfoliants as possible, check.
Next came the time and space to be creative and have fun. I had watched thousands of hours of videos on both cold and hot process soaps, melt and pour, liquid soap making, and just about any aspect of the process and business as I could. Can you say OCD much?
Using my brain's database of products for skin health and body benefits, I began to come up with my own recipes and combinations of skin loving ingredients.
Next came testing. Its our policy to test only on humans, and humans we love. No testing on our dogs or cats, and especially our l not our rats! (our life is actually sans rats). My Fiancé loved the forest scented exfoliating soap and my Mom can't get enough of our Raspberry Preserves scrub and soap. My personal favorite is our Tea Tree Charcoal Soap, probably because I am getting dirty while getting clean at the same time! (Enters my twelve year old playful side)
I am still chugging along and will soon have the soaps on the website for sale, people are chomping at the bit for them, searching our site for them because of a preview post or two I posted on Instagram and I have to say...this makes me very happy! I'm so glad that my customers want my soap creations!