Anne-Marie Faiola, Author at Soap Queen

5 Quickfire Questions

August 11, 2009 Filed Under: Business Musings

Melissa Hutcheson is the owner and and founder of the Joy of Soap out of Hayward, California. They take pride in making their bath products from organic, natural and sustainably grown ingredients. The fabulous Melissa was kind enough to send us two bars of her handmade creations; Rosy Cheeks Rosemary and Ginger Snap! They are both quality bars of soap with lovely lathers.

Alright, gang, hold on to your seats! It’s time for 5 quickfire questions for Melissa. Here we go…

Anne-Marie: How did you get started making soap?

Melissa: I have always enjoyed arts and crafts and making things. I also used to travel quite a bit for work and realized that bath products in the hotels were not so nice for my skin. Once I started researching ingredients and their impact on skin and complexion I understood that I needed to make some changes. I found a great business nearby, The Nova Studio, where I could take a class on how to make soap. Lori Nova, the founder and owner of The Nova Studio is a great teacher and I admire the way she has developed her own niche and business to help others learn new skills. From there I started making soaps from scratch in my kitchen, storing them in the garage and packing them in the dining room. Several months later we built a website and sales started coming in slowly and have been growing steadily over the past year.

Anne-Marie: What’s your favorite part about what you do?

Melissa: The creativity involved. The opportunity to dream big, and to learn (by doing) how to turn the dream into a viable business. There is so much to learn, and so many people out there who want to help small businesses succeed if you just ask for guidance.

Anne-Marie:What’s your favorite Bramble Berry product?

Melissa: The Synergy Blend Essential Oils. These are great essential oil blends that take the guess work out of discovering the right blend of oils. I also like the website layout. It is easy to navigate and provides clear details on all products – thank you!

Anne-Marie: What inspires your recipes?

Melissa: I am inspired by images and scenery; images in nature and in publications. I can easily spend hours exploring gardens, and when I travel I try to visit gardens to learn more about a region’s flora and how they are used in making local beauty products. Ideas come to me when researching ingredients, and from friends, family and people I interact with in all types of settings. Our Shaving Soap was inspired by my acupuncturist based on her knowledge of herbs and personal experience, and my husband inspired our Manly Man Soap which is now our most popular bar.

Anne-Marie: What’s the best advice you can give someone wanting to start their own business?

Melissa: Be patient. Be clear on your goals and set a realistic time line for achieving both small and big goals based on your time and financial resources. You may need to change course along the way in order to achieve a goal, and you may also discover a different focus as well. This is OK, and will ultimately produce a more successful business. Be open to asking and receiving help; it is OK to delegate tasks to people who have experience in areas where you do not. You will save so much energy and worry less if you realize that you do not have to do everything yourself. If you are not having fun anymore it’s time evaluate why and what you need to adjust, change, stop doing, delegate, etc. Stay inspired.

Anne-Marie: Thank you so much, Melissa, for the inspiration and advice. We can’t wait to see what’s next for the Joy of Soap!

Learn more about the Joy of Soap here:

Joy of Soap is Practicing Green
Joy of Soap Blog
Wholesale Information
Follow Melissa on Twitter

Amazing Soap using Melt & Pour Tool Kit

August 10, 2009 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

Krazy K on the Teach Soap forum posted some of her amazing soap art and I just had to share to inspire you too. She says that she made these using the Melt and Pour Tool kit and that the soaps didn’t take too long with the kit. The soaps turned out quite stunning.

On the Teach Soap Forum, Krazy K (user id: eelyak) is very helpful, sharing her tips and techniques on getting a true black, finding cool and innovative molds and showing her finished soaps to inspire others.

Saponifier Annual Awards – Vote Now

August 10, 2009 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

Saponifier’s 3rd annual Readers Choice “Supplier Awards” are happening again and it’s time to vote.

If you would like to vote for your favorite vendor, you can vote for them here: http://saponifier.2009-awards.sgizmo.com

The survey closes midnight on August 27th.

The Die of my Existence (Win Stuff)

August 9, 2009 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

When we purchased the Heavy Duty Mold line back in June, we planned on expanding the already cool mold line. There are so many nifty mold ideas floating around my head and I’ve heard some incredible design thoughts from soapers over the years. Having the freedom to design new molds has long been a dream. With the purchase of the Heavy Duty Mold line, that dream is a reality. And like many dreams that turn into reality, the reality is a little um, hazier than it appeared to be at first glance.

We have a large warehouse for ELF Industrial (the name of the company set up to design, produce and manufacture the Heavy Duty Line and new molds). In this warehouse we have a vacuum forming machine and the backstock of Heavy Duty Molds. We also have a complicated, beautiful machine that is run by a heavy duty computer program. The ‘beautiful machine‘ then cuts designs to the computer’s specifications.

We have been working on various custom design project for a couple months. The designs are done. The dies are cut. And we’ve produced molds with the dies. So far, so good.

Alas, the molds have striations – fine tiny lines running down the entire width. We’ve tried sanding them away and still, the sanding isn’t totally invisible to the naked eye when a mold is made. These fine lines are called ‘tooling marks‘ and apparently, everyone gets them. While I will admit to some irritated rumination (‘Why didn’t anyone tell me this before now? Did the expensive beautiful machine people not mention this on purpose?‘), mostly I’ve been hard at work trying to find an alternative solution to the mostly-not-totally-working sanding option.l

I’ve called a chocolate molding company. They get them and say the only thing to do is sand them. Erik (manager of Otion and ELF) has called the materials supplier and they say to sand them. I called a chemical company. They said to sand them. But, they also suggested a low pH solution to try and buff out the lines with a chemical bath.

I tried a solution with a pH of 3. That didn’t make a dent. Today, I’m trying a variety of chemical concotions that have proven to alter Polyurethane. The dies are made out of a very high density Polyurethane and thus far, seem impervious to everything.

I’m coming to you because with all of your different industries and backgrounds you will have ideas. If you have a winning suggestion that works to smooth the striations, I will send you a set of the brand new, not yet released molds, as we perfect them. That’s 12 molds in all. Or, if you’re not into molds, I’ll give you a gift certificate to Bramble Berry for $50. You can post ideas here or if you want yours to stay super secret, email me at info (at) brambleberry (dot) com. You can also feel warm and cheery inside knowing that you’ve saved me countless hours of teeth gnashing, phone calls, chemical engineering consulting and helped further the innovative soap mold industry.

Got any ideas? Email or post ’em. I’m confident the soaping community can solve this small chemical engineering mystery.

From Screen to Reality

August 7, 2009 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

I love (love, love, love, love, love, love) seeing SoapQueenTV and SoapQueen-inspired ideas out on the marketplace. It’s even better when the soaper flat out says that our soap’spiration inspired them to make cool works of soap art.

Here are a few that I came across this week. First up, from the TeachSoap Forum, Honey from Ireland tried the Rubber Stamp Technique from this post. The soap she came up with looks great! What an easy way to personalize a wedding, a birthday or a retirement gift.

Then ‘SingingWolf‘ from the forum (and frequent commenter at SoapQueen.com) tried the Fortune Cookie Soaps from SoapQueen.TV Independence Day Episode and did a great job. They were for a present for her boss and she says, ‘Folks were crowding around my boss’s desk, sniffing at the birthday presents that were stacked up‘. Sweet! That’s just what we like to read.

Hallie made these Geometric Soaps below and they look great! She says ‘I think I’ve learned my lesson about dry pigments instead of handy pre-mixed and non-bleeding options. But otherwise, this came out just about as I hoped it would. (I was aiming for off-kilter.)‘ I’d say she got off-kilter and absolutely stunning. The color choices are great. If you want to learn how to make Geometric Soap, the SoapQueen.TV video is here.

Also with the Geometric Inspiration, Kayla sent us this photo of her rainbow soap. The yellow is a great touch. She said, ‘This was so fun. I loved making it.‘

You can love making projects like this too. We try to make it easy for you with this blog (all the tutorials are tagged as ‘Tutorial‘ and ‘Soap Technique s‘ and ‘TeachSoap‘ and with SoapQueen.TV We’re starting on the scripts for Season Two of SoapQueen.TV and can’t wait to bring you even more in-depth crafting projects like lotion and bath fizzies. And in the meantime, happy soaping!

Totally Rad Soap Queen TV Episode!

August 6, 2009 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

This week I make these really cool retro soaps with an 80’s look. These are so fun and simple to make I keep thinking of different color combinations I want to try!

Episode 14: Geometric Soaps from Soap Queen on Vimeo.Here’s what you’ll need to make this soap:

Clear Melt & Pour base

Lemon cake fragrance (NEW!)

Vanilla color stabilizer

Liquid Green non-bleeding Colorant

Super Pearly White

Liquid Blue non-bleeding colorant

Apricot Blush mica

Aqua Pearl mica

Clear plastic loaf mold

molding clay

PS – Did you recognize the ‘totally rad’ for the ’80s throwback reference it was intended to be?

Lip Balm Tubes – The Rest of the Story

August 5, 2009 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Lip Products

Thank you for all the feedback on the previous post! Commenters SingingWolf and Maggie both mentioned that if you give the Lip Balm Tubes a little extra umph that you don’t need to trim. They totally beat me to the punch.

The lip balm on the left was pushed a little farther into the pour tray than the rest and requires no trimming (unless you’re super persnickety like me).

It’s easier to push the lip balm tubes in more deeply with the entire tray flipped over onto its back, like a helpless turtle.

I also wanted to remind everyone that cutting off the tops is a total personal preference. This is how I have always done it; plus I love the smooth finish. But feel free to pop on the cap (over the lip balm lip) and call it a day. After all, your time is money and that trim time adds to the unit cost per lip balm. But think (and rejoice) of all the time you saved filling 50 lip balm tubes at once (rather than that gosh darn individual dropper method). Now, go forth and make the most luscious, cost-effective lip butters on the planet. You’ll make a lot of lips soft and happy.

How To Fill 50 Lip Balm Tubes at Once

August 4, 2009 Filed Under: Lip Products

Lip Balm Pour Tray Directions
Try my Fun Summer Lip Balm Recipe

(It’s a small recipe so I had to multiply it by 10 to fill the entire tray)

Once you place all 50 lip balm tubes into the pouring tray (as far in as they can go), you have two pouring methods to choose from…

“The Massive Pour”: Fill up all 50 tubes with one giant pour. Then scrape off the excess lip balm and save it for another batch. If you choose this option you will need to do a “clean up” (see below).

“The Conservative Pour”: Fill each individual tube just below the rim so there is no extra lip balm sticking out. This Method does not require a clean up. Let the lip balm harden and release from the pouring tray. Just pop on the caps and they’re ready for your 50 closest friends!

“The Clean Up”: Once the lip balm has hardened release the tubes from the pouring tray. Take your knife and slice off the tops (which you can melt and use again). Once the tops are smooth (as a baby’s you-know-what) pop on the caps. You’re done!

PS – You can cut with the knife going away from you depending on your comfort level with knives. Having officially taken a real knife skills class (yes, there is such a thing in the wonderful town of Bellingham), I was just a wee bit confident but you don’t need to be. Cutting the other way works just as well.

Fun Summer Lip Balm

August 4, 2009 Filed Under: Lip Products

Summer Lip Balm Recipe
2 tsp Coconut Oil
2 ½ tsp Beeswax
2 1/8 tsp Sweet Almond Oil
2/3 tsp Avocado Oil
25-30 drops of Coconut Flavor Oil
Microwave safe dish
Stir spoonMy Favorite Lip Balm Colorants
(I love mixing these)
Red Mica
Super Pearly White Mica
Copper Sparkle Mica
Rose Pearl Mica

Candy & Soap Should Be Friends

August 3, 2009 Filed Under: Business Musings

http://www.flickr.com/photos/u-suke/ / CC BY 2.0

On my trip to NYC last week, I got a tip from SoapyLove that PapaBubble was the place to visit on my partial free day. I took the subway to Little Italy and Canal Street and proceeded to walk my way through the neighborhoods until I found this little gem of a candy store.

The PapaBubble ‘chain’ (is it a ‘chain’ if there’s only four stores?) started in Barcelona. In fact, the owners of the New York store originally were packers for the Barcelona store. They loved the concept so much that they started their own candy outpost in Manhattan. They formulate, make and package all of their candy at a bar in the store. If you’re lucky, you’ll get there when they’re making a batch.

PapaBubble will do custom words for anything your heart desires. The minimum order is $330 and they can put words or shapes (or a combo) into little pillow candies to take your next bridal shower to a whole ‘nother level.

The whole ambiance of the shop is sterile, minimalist and a little goth (there’s a lot of black) and this decor makes the color in the candy stand out all the more. Each candy flavor has a unique design and look. They are attractively packaged in adorable (again, minimalist) black and white jars. Or you can buy refill bags for $2 off the jar price.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/meltingnoise/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0Like soap, there’s never any waste. The owners turn candy ends into works of edible sculptures, with them resembling giant vegetables or maybe vestigial body organs.

My favorite flavors were Chili Salt Watermelon & Lime Chili & a fizzy one that I think they called ‘Pop’ (or something that denoted its fizzy nature).

From a small business owners perspective, I took away three lessons:

1. Do one thing and do it very, very, very well. PapaBubbles doesn’t teach classes (which would seem to be a natural). They make candy with five ingredients (albeit very high end candy). And they make it extraordinarily well. They make candy into a rarefied, elevated art form – enough that my bill was $34 and I left with the equivalent of 2 M&M bags full of hard candy.

2. Turn it into an experience. Part of the PapaBubble magic is that they make candy in front of you, allowing you to be a part of the magic. It’s not just a candy store – it’s an imaginarium where dreams, colors and shapes come to life. We try to do this at Otion with our Soap Bar.

3. Be in a niche. PapaBubble is in a clear sweet spot and charge for that niche. They’re not the low cost provider of candy and they’re not trying to be. They’ve figured out the unique mix that makes it possible to charge quadruple to supermarket brands charge. As Donna Maria from Indie Beauty Network says, ‘The riches are in the niches.’

Next time I go to New York, I am headed to PapaBubble right away so that I won’t be without my Watermelon Chili Salt crack longer than I need to be.

I’ve posted a video below (for blog visitors) from CoolHunting.com that gives the full feel of the shop. And of course, the trendy and crafty Martha Stewart has been there as well. If you can’t get enough of PapaBubble NYC, you can click here to be taken to the Martha Stewart clip of her experience making Valentine’s Day Candies with the owners.

Papabubble Fruit Mix

August 3, 2009 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

Papabubble Fruit Mix, originally uploaded by mlcastle.

PapaBubble Blog Post

August 3, 2009 Filed Under: Business Musings

papabubble
Originally uploaded by hiroquita

I found this photo on Flickr and it shows the PapaBubble artistry much better than any of my photos did. I am in awe of their work and the care the artisans put into each and every candy.

Courtney and Amber in Customer Service just squealed in delight upon tasting their first Watermelon Chili Salt ‘pillow’ and said, ‘We give it two thumbs up!’

Sun Basil Garden Interview (Part 2)

August 1, 2009 Filed Under: Business Musings

Thanks for joining us again for part 2 of the interview with Lauren Miller from Sun Basil Garden Soap. If you missed the first part of the interview catch up here. Now, back to Sun Basil Garden...

Soap Queen: Your designs are flawless. How much time per week do you put into designing new soaps versus paid production time? For example, at Bramble Berry, 5% of our budget is devoted to research and development which is matched by 5% of staff time. I’m curious about how much time you spend furthering your designs.

Lauren Miller: I try and have fun with it all since soap is just down right fun. I never have a large block of time so I use every little pocket I can get and journal ideas as they come to me. And then when the time opens up – I soap! Perfection can be a big road block so even if I’m not 100% thrilled I give it a try. I would say new designs are about 30% of my time. I’m trying to think two holidays ahead so I can have designs made in time. Keeping on top of shipping and keeping supplies in stock is a big part of my focus.

Soap Queen: What’s your favorite Bramble Berry product?

Lauren Miller: Hands down your oxides! It’s the only colorant I will use. The texture and price are unbeatable. I also love Bramble Berry’s Non Bleeding Red. I cannot find that juicy, red color anywhere else nor do I care to look for it. I adore it and get nervous when I start running low.

My favorite Bramble Berry fragrance oil is Fresh Zucchini Flower– that scent is so incredibly unique and fresh.

Soap Queen: If you had another job, what would it be?

Lauren Miller: I do have another job. Full time, stay at home mom to the sweetest little boys. I worked in corporate America for 10 years before having children and I literally traded it all in and never looked back. This is the hardest job I have ever had but it continues to teach me so much about myself- how to love, patience, forgiveness, problem solving and not to take myself too seriously. And I never have trouble sleeping.

This September marks the beginning of both our boys being in school full time so I will begin a new phase of motherhood. I’m so grateful to have my little soap business waiting for me in the wings. I have plans galore and will finally have 8 hours without interruptions to see them through. I’m opening up for wholesale this September and a whole new packaging scheme just in time for holiday gift giving.

Soap Queen: You manage a great business and a family. Do you have any tips for those of us struggling with work/life balance?

Lauren Miller: Define your focus first. For me, my family is my first focus. I’m lucky to have a husband who helps me identify when work begins to take over. Boundaries are incredibly necessary. Learn to say no, even if your ego wants to say yes. When I first started soaping, I would literally stay up every night till 2 am working in the kitchen on new designs but this lead to an impatient mom the next day. I now have set hours for soaping and stick to a set bedtime during the week. Exercise and eat well. It really does help.

Soap Queen: What did I miss that you want Soap Queen readers to know?

Lauren Miller: Thank you so much for the opportunity, Anne-Marie. And I’m dreaming of getting a matching orange microwave as seen on Soap Queen TV in my new soap kitchen. I adore your company and products and continue to refer customers to you when asked how to get started.

Soap Queen: Thank YOU so much giving us a little glimpse into you life. You are an amazing artist and it sounds like you’ve mastered the work/life balance- something I think we’re all striving to achieve. Good luck with your new soaping adventures and keep us posted!

Awww, the simplicity of Milk and Cookies- a peanut butter cookie that is! Grab your guilty pleasure soap here (with out the calories).

Gotta love these modern little flowers, too. I bought my own set a few months ago and was delighted to see that the design went almost all the way through the entire bar. See all of Lauren’s garden flower soaps here.

Sun Basil Garden Interview

July 31, 2009 Filed Under: Business Musings

It’s time for another Soap Queen Interview! Woohoo!

Today I’ll be sharing an interview with Lauren Miller, the owner of Sun Basil Garden SoapCompany. Her handcrafted soaps are designed to bring a smile to your face and leave your skin feeling juicy clean. Lauren takes pride in using top of the line, quality and all natural ingredients.Let’s find out a little bit more about Lauren, shall we?

Soap-Queen: Lauren, your soaps are so creative with a clean and modern look. I’ve already gushed about how much I love them. So tell us…why Soap?

Lauren Miller: I have always adored bath and beauty products. Something about the feeling and the scent just makes me feel like I’m taking care of myself. But after becoming a full time mom, bath time became my only real alone time. Ten minute showers, in those early days with toddlers, was all I could fit in. So about a year ago over breakfast, I declared I was going to start making soap- And that was it! I did a Google search and luckily found Bramble Berry. I got my first delivery and have not stopped since.

Soap is such a fascinating medium. It’s a practical way to express your creativity since everyone needs to use it. There is so little waste. If you make a mistake it’s still something you can use. I love that. Using your imagination and a few basic supplies, the possibilities are endless.

Soap-Queen: I couldn’t agree more! I like to call soapmaking a consumable art form. OK, next question: Your soap is cutting edge design; before you came on the scene, I had not seen anyone focus primarily on cut outs as their main design. How did you come up with this focus?

Lauren Miller: I love to challenge myself and began with very few supplies. I’m always thinking about using what I already have which often becomes like a game. I started pouring color boards from soap and using what I had around the house. I favor bold colors, simplicity and clean lines so the cut outs match my personal style. I discovered this inlayed process guaranteed my design to last more than one use and not rub off as more traditional molded soaps. The challenge and the practicality hooked me.

Soap-Queen: As a current customer (of Sun Basil Garden), I can attest that your designs can get truly intricate. How long do you spend on your most difficult soap?

Lauren Miller: I grew up in a creative family and learned early how to work well with my hands. I’m pretty practiced and can work fast once I’m happy with my finished product.
Now, I’m a still a full time Mom, so interruptions are coming at me constantly. But because soap needs to harden it lends it self well to pouring in stages. I often have trays of bacon and eggs drying while I‘m also making our real breakfast. I never have a long stretch of time but 10 minutes here and there lends itself well to my schedule. I once made a pizza soap that I have not repeated in awhile as it almost broke me.

Soap-Queen: You have an Etsy shop. Do you sell anywhere else? If you do, what are the pros/cons of keeping the Etsy shop in conjunction with the other sales outlets?

Lauren Miller: Right now, as a Mom, Etsy works best for me. I can spend weekends living life with my kids and husband and have control over my inventory. If I’m out of a fragrance oil, I can hold off on listing that line until I reorder and have time to recreate the soap. If school demands take off, I can put my shop on vacation. Not to mention I love the community and the worldwide audience Etsy pulls. I recently opened a shop on Art Fire and have done a few craft shows. I’m launching into wholesale this September and getting ready for the Holiday season.

Soap-Queen: Oh boy! I can’t wait to see what you come up with for the Holiday season! On that note, let’s take a little break. Stay tuned for part 2 of the Sun Basil Garden Interview. We’ll be back tomorrow!

Above is Lauren’s famous Full Breakfast Soap Package including coffee, toast with butter, bacon & eggs (and a lemon square for desert). What a great way to wake up in the morning! Grab your breakfast soap here. I purchased the Toast with Butter Soap. It smells like fresh baked bread. You won’t be disappointed. YUM!

Yup. You guessed it! My other favorite soap from Sun Basil Garden: A cupcake, of course!