It’s exciting to start the year 2009 - new possibilities, resolutions, fresh beginnings and best of all - new soap!  My list is smaller than a few months ago, but longer than last year!  The great thing about the creative aspect is that there are endless options for soap! I know not everyone understands this, but hopefully will enjoy the use of it as much as I enjoy making it!

Since my life is complicated enough as it is, trying to decide what is natural only makes me frustrated and drained of energy.  Long ago, there were only a few choices when it came to food and it was easy to make a grocery list - just get flour, milk, eggs, sugar and the butcher would cut the meat you needed or else it came from your own animals.  Vegetables were grown on your own land and meals were simple - a cake was a cake, water was what you drank if you were thirsty. 

Natural was taken for granted - it was not an issue.  In fact, asking someone, “is this a natural soap here?” would have been the cause for a great deal of talk and gossip.   

 Now, a person feels like they are not doing their job if they do not question what is actually in this food we are eating, or this soap we are using, or the lotion we are using.  

Speaking of soap then, the soap sold commercially usually has been made with detergent additives.  They lather, they get you squeaky clean, and they strip your skin of protective oils and good bacteria.  They are not true soap, or pure soap, or even natural soap. 

Not everyone has jumped on this bandwagon, but I think that eventually, everyone will be clamoring to know “what is IN this..?”  Reading labels is a time consuming habit that I have formed.  I do not claim to know what everything is either, or what is in those little wheat crackers my children love, but I sure do know what is in the soap that they are using.  I read the labels because I am supposed to, aren’t I?  And since I am a soapmaker, and I know what real soap is, it has become an issue with me simply because it seems that everything has gotten out of hand as far as what is IN ”it”? 

Will things ever go back to a gentler time and slower paced days?  I do not have an answer for that and we are no smarter now than our grandparents and great grandparents were.  At least they knew what was in the food they were eating as well as their soap.  It would not have occured to them to question ingredients because they did not have to.  And natural was not in their vocabulary - “natural - what’s that?

Soap was soap, not natural soap or even handmade, because everything was already natural and handmade.  Splitting hairs, I say, and this does not make us more educated or knowledgeable, only more confused and bogged down by a contradiction in terms. 
 

I realized that I have quite a few soap fragrances that I have never used or some that a bit is left in the bottle, but there is not enough for a full batch.  What better way to use those up than making small batches of soap with them?  So, I decided on the goat head soap molds for this project since they are well..goats.  The current batch is made with red velvet cake fragrance.  Next batch, who knows?  This is so much fun for me because it is a chance to make a small batch of soap and use something new, different, or just know that I am putting my supplies into my product and they are not just sitting unused on a shelf! 

I have a number of soap molds from my early days of soap making, but the goat head is probably the most appropriate one I own.  My kids love the shaped soap - it is not so boring to them as just a rectangular shaped soap.  Grownups do not have to be so amused hopefully, but for kids the shaped soap is great fun.  Kids also like colored soap, but I do not like to put too much color in my soap unless it is natural. 

And I guess the point I am making here is have some fun in whatever you are doing.  Make your own fun, if need be.  It is very healthy and leads to other ideas as well.  The goat head soap may become a best seller and it may not.  If I have to, I’ll just give it away (that is fun too!).  I sometimes forget to have fun and everything becomes such a serious matter.  I am taking small steps and learning to have a bit of fun again.  It’s ok to do that, and everyone profits, especially those around you!  

The definition of handmade, according to the MSN encarta dictionary, is “made by hand, not by machine”.  The word handmade is an adjective.  An adjective in grammar is a word that describes which, what kind of, or how many.  But for me, the word handmade means so much more.

Anyone who crafts knows what I mean, I think.  Before I started making my handmade soap, I only knew this by intuition.  I fumbled at anything craft related and I could not even color with crayons very well.  One day, I bought some handmade soap at a craft show and just knew.  But I really did not know the scope of this endeavor, not yet.    

Many years later, I have learned bunches.  One thing I have learned is that making handmade soap has also been described as an art, once almost lost, but in recent years, it has made quite a comeback.  Soap is soap-the result of a chemical reaction and it can be very fancy with colors and designs, but the true art form is in the making of it.  That is why is also gives the owner of it the sense of something valuable and worthy of respect.

This came home to me one day when I sat at an outdoor show a few years into my business, hoping to sell my soap on a day that was so hot it was hard to breathe.  The man next to me made beautiful wooden Christmas ornaments.  He traded one with me for a bar of soap.  To him, my soap was just as valuable as his handmade ornaments.  And that was a surprise to me. 

I have always cherished that ornament and the serindipity of that moment because of what it represented and the lesson it taught me-the person who made that handmade ornament truly wanted to make it and it was valuable because he made it with his hands, not a machine.  I thought it was beautiful and I still do.

I have never lost the passion or desire for making handmade soap, even though from a business aspect, there are headahes that come with it.  Just ask my webmaster!  Also, it is very hard to convince some people that the store bought soap they purchased for .98 is really a detergent and he is not being kind to his skin and that handmade is best!   

Handmade soap is always desireable, even in a sluggish economy.  It is probably right up there with lipstick for most women, and even some men certainly deem it necessary over the store bought kind of soap.  It cannot be stressed enough how much better handmade soap is for the skin since it is pure soap - commercial “soap” is really detergent.  

Taking this a step further, buying wholesale handmade soap as a usable commodity, and as a gift item makes sense for any store owner or website.  It is not very expensive, in spite of its ingredients list.  Ingredients such as goat milk and olive oil are among the oldest skin care ingredients around.

Carrying soap in a store or webstore, such as a gift store, antique store, tea shop, natural food store, clothing store, etc., is a very good marketing move for any store owner.  Imagine your or your customer entering a gift store, looking for a special item or something for herself.  She spots the handmade soap display on the counter with its rustic wrapping, and delicious aroma.  She picks it up, sniffs it, and decides to purchase it.  All the while, she is wondering about the person who made the soap and thinking how nice it would be to be able to make soap.  She knows that she will be back for more of the mysterious soap that sits on the counter. 

Reality check:  the best part about buying and reselling wholesale handmade soap is that it will bring back customers who want more and who will likely buy other items as well.  Repeat customers  are like a life line being tossed out to you in the ocean.  You can hang on during the slow times becuase everyone needs soap! 

If you need another reason to carry wholesale soap in your business establishment, just do a search on the internet.  The natural soap and cosmetic industry is growing by leaps and bounds.  It is estimated that one third of the natural cosmetics market today is now cornered by small businesses who are producing and selling their own handmade products.

So, from a business aspect, wholesale handmade soap makes sense - it has so much more intrinsic value contained in one small bar than just the price tag, making it more worthwhile to buy and to use.  It is something real in today’s world of synthetics and with it comes a promise of more and better things to come.

If you have visited our website lately, you might have noticed a few changes, namely, there are label options and slightly lower pricing on the retail side.  There is also a lower price on the wholesale side as well.  There’s no catch to this and the reason for doing it is not very complicated.  Since soap does not have to be labeled as long as it is pure soap, not detergent derived, and no cosmetic claims are made (which we are making no claims about our soap), soap does not have to be labeled.  Not packaging soap will save us time, help the environment and your pocketbook.