Soap Queen

Tutorials on soapmaking, bath fizzies, lotions and more

Tutorials by difficulty level:

Guest Post: From Gel Phase to Sell Phase

Filed Under: Business Musings

It’s many soapers’ dreams to be able to open up a real storefront. Our guest blogger Dawn gives us an excellent recap of a 2014 Soap Guild session by Charlene Simon, a small business owner who has opened up three storefronts (!!!) in 6 years. Read on for some small business tips from an expert! — A.M.

How do you take your best bath and body products and turn that into a successful business?  That is what Charlene Simon presented to us in a fun, inspiring session.

In under 6 years, Charlene Simon has successfully brought to life three retail storefronts, Bathhouse Soapery, Fat Bottomed Girl’s Cupcake Shoppe (as seen on Food Network’s “Cupcake Wars”), and evilO Oils & Vinegars.  Charlene shared her experiences of making these hobbies into income producers.

Charlene Simon has successfully brought to life three retail storefronts in 6 years.

Charlene explained that in her storefront, customers get to physically see the products and she showed us a great shot of her storefront where she showed how she displayed her products.

Earlier this year we interviewed Kensico Soap Bar, which also opened up their own storefront. Click here to read about how they opened their beautiful shop.

[Read more…]

Guest Post: Formulating Scrubs and Body Butters

Filed Under: Tips & Tricks

Who doesn’t love a luxurious, skin-loving body butter? Butters and lotions are great because there a whole range of skin-loving ingredients to use. Want a whipped shea body butter, avocado salve or rose water lotion? You got it! This post is a wrap up from a HSCG 2014 session by Marla Bosworth, of Back Porch Soap Co. and Bath & Body University. It’s all about formulating your own luxurious butters and lotions. Happy lotion making! — A.M.

Have you ever wanted to make a luxurious body butter or sugar scrub, but weren’t sure where to begin?  Marla Bosworth, of Back Porch Soap Co. and Bath & Body University, presented us with some stellar advice for making scrumptious scrubs & butters.  She had her lovely daughter demonstrate the process while she explained the recipes, too!

We learned some great tips for formulating salt and sugar scrubs.  For example, Marla reminded us to consider the rinse-off factor of the oils we choose to include in our recipes.  Light oils rinse off much easier than a heavy oil or solid butter, and leave skin feeling soft and hydrated, whereas heavier oils will probably leave a greasy layer behind.  If you do use a heavier oil (such as coconut or olive oil), blending with some lighter oils is probably a good idea.

[Read more…]

Guest Post: Exfoliants in Soap

Filed Under: Tips & Tricks

In addition to beautiful colors and fantastic fragrances, exfoliants can add a touch of interest to soap to make it extra special. Bramble Berry carries 19 exfoliants, from Bamboo Powder to Walnut Shells. Talk about choices! Our guest blogger Jean Horn did an excllent re-cap of a Soap & Cosmetic Guild Conference session about navigating the wide world of scrubby possibilities, as well as how to choose the best exfoliants for your bars. Scrub up! — A.M.

Here’s what I saw when I walked into this session:

[Read more…]

Guest Post: Testing Natural Colorants in Cold Process

Filed Under: Cold Process Soap

We’re taking today off from our normally scheduled cold process tutorial to show you this fantastically thorough recap of a session at the 2014 Soap Guild. Our guest blogger Jean Horn attended Ruth Esteves’ session on natural colorant testing in cold process. Natural colorants are a beautiful option for cold process soaping, but it’s important to know how they behave and which ones will stand the test of time. Read Jean’s excellent recap of the session, and then give natural colorants a try. — A.M.

Ruth was fighting a cold the day she presented, but she was happy to let me snap a picture of her anyway. She did an excellent job on her presentation, and she is co-owner of The Nova Studio in California.

Have you ever thought about moving toward using mostly natural colorants? Is this something your customers are asking for? If so, the information presented in this session will be extremely helpful to you.

Which natural additives will withstand the rigors of cold process? What is a natural colorant? Ruth’s presentation on testing natural colorants contained some great information addressing both of these issues.

Some natural ingredients that can add color to CP soap include plants, spices, Herbs and Botanicals, Clays, vegetables, and fruits. This Brazilian Clay Sampler from Bramble Berry is an example of the beautiful colors that clays lend to Cold Process Soap.  Wow. Aren’t those soaps gorgeous?

[Read more…]

Guest Post: Pricing Your Products

Filed Under: Business Musings

Making soap is the fun part, but developing a pricing strategy to sell your soap is often the not-so-fun-part. Our guest blogger Dawn Cabral-Quimby came back from Soap Guild 2014 with an excellent run down on Lela Barker’s strategy on product pricing, and it’s a must-read for any soapy business owner. — A.M.

Do you have accurate product pricing?  Are you accounting for your labor?  Overhead?  Factoring in your paper towels used?  What!?

Ten years ago, Lela Barker was a broke single mother living in her parents’ spare bedroom.  Today, she is the creator and CEO of Bella Lucce (an award-winning, international  beauty company), the executive director of a Moroccan-based nonprofit and president of Lucky Break, a small business consulting firm serving the creative community.

Looking for more help starting a soap business? Check out the posts represented above!

[Read more…]