Why I Love My Soap Business, “Sonoran Scents from the Heart”

I’ve always loved to help people. That is why I chose to be in the nursing field when I needed to learn to support myself and three dependent children. After years of working as a nurse, walking more than 5 miles/day, every day (I used a pedometer one day to check!), my feet began to give out. Very painful osteoarthritis began to grab hold in my large toe joints. About this time, I met my wonderful husband, who although disabled, was working as a Paramedic. I worked for 6 more months as a nurse, but my feet were in so much pain the whole time. I took the necessary training for EMT-B, then EMT-P and joined him in this exciting pre-hospital volunteer work.

We live on my husband’s VA disability payments he receives and soon found out it barely covered the expenses. I revived some of the fun hobbies and skills I’d learned over the years. One of them was soap-making. When I discovered all the new, fun things to be done with soap-making, I became hooked!! Previously I’d made homemade soap with lard, lye, & water. Now, I experimented and researched many, many hours until I’d perfected the perfect method and recipe using Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Olive Oil, Castor Oil, Shea Butter, Water, Lye, Earth Micas (for color), and Fragrance Oils. Always artistic, this really appealed to me! How fun to make a soap so healthy for cleansing the skin, but alive with vibrant colors and designs!!

Trying many avenues to market my product, I settled on Etsy. I found a niche in making customized soap favors for any type of event … bridal showers, baby showers, girl’s get-aways, birthday parties, Bed & Breakfasts, church retreats, business promotions, etc. It was so lovely to communicate with customers and get an idea of exactly what they were looking for and to match the cigar band around each soap favor to their colors and theme! I’ve met the nicest people over Etsy!

So, now, I can be at home “on-call” as a volunteer Paramedic and also run my business online. I’m so happy creating specialized soap favors for my customers! No order is ever exactly the same. The income coming in has perfectly filled expenses we never would’ve been able to cover on my husband’s disability income alone. I’ve been able to fly to visit grandchildren, fix my teeth, pay unexpected bills, get reflexology treatments for my arthritis pain, have money for gifts for my family, and the ability to help others in need. 

For all of this I give our loving Father in Heaven all the glory! He knew our needs and continues to bless us so much through this little online business that I love!

Stuffing Stockings and Giving Gifts

Lovely holidays await us! A time for giving thanks for our bountiful blessings and a time to show appreciation and honor to our Savior who came to this earth as a baby to save mankind from their sins! It's a fun, family time of gathering together and giving gifts.

It can remove the hassle and stress from the holidays if part of the gift-giving is a bulk order of customized guest-sized soaps, prettily wrapped in cigar bands, cellophane bags, and colored curly ribbons. At only $1.30 each, it's so easy to give a thoughtful gift to all those you care about without breaking the bank. 

 Bulk Guest-Sized Soap Favors 15/$20.00 on Etsy

These little artisan soap bars are the perfect size to place by the sink for your guests, in stockings by the hearth, in care packages, as part of a bath & beauty basket, or to give away to co-workers and friends.
 

They are such a loving, personal gift with beautiful essences, made of healthful, natural ingredients, and so very useful! 

Are You Getting the Quality You Paid For?

I am a lover of chocolate! Everything about it (except for the calories) is a delight to me! I love the creaminess, the svelte smoothness, the richness of the taste, and the way it makes me feel when I eat it. I will not be satisfied by cheap, waxy imitations! I even tried carob candy once, but it was no comparison to the real chocolate.

When I heard that a famous chocolate candy-maker was going to substitute vegetable oil for cocoa butter, I was aghast! How dare they mess with my luxurious treat!! One of the representatives for the company said that this change would save the company a lot of money as cocoa butter is much more costly than vegetable oil. He went on the explain that the consumer wouldn't know the difference. Hmmm.... does that make it OK to substitute an inferior ingredient to save them money... when the consumer can't tell the difference? I think not! By the way, I never noticed a reduction of price after this occurred.

What does this have to do with soap-making? Plenty! We soap-makers pride ourselves in choosing and buying very quality ingredients to make our beautiful soaps with. We know the difference in making a soap with the very cheapest oil/shortening and luxurious oils and butters such as coconut oil, palm oil, shea butter, cocoa butter, sweet almond oil, avocado oil, aloe oil, olive oil, and such like. We know that the more expensive oils/butters produce better lather, have more healing qualities, and last longer than cheap vegetable oils.

The cocoa Bean

Maybe we could make a soap to sell to the consumer made from inexpensive, poor quality vegetable oil. Huge soap companies get by with  it, after all, by extracting the glycerin from their soaps made mostly from questionable chemicals and ingredients that are drying to the skin. The soap-makers I know and I could never defraud the consumer that way!

Our handcrafted, artisan soaps may seem a little over-priced to some, but when you look into the skilled craftsmanship, artistry, scrupulous oversight of all ingredients purchased, research going into making very healthy skin-loving products, careful & precise blending of these ingredients, and all the beautiful wrapping that goes into making just one batch of soap, it's easier to understand.

Victorian Rose, handcrafted artisan soap

When you purchase artisan, natural, handcrafted soap made by a soap-maker who truly loves their business, you have purchased true quality and will not be disappointed as I am not when biting into a quality bar of great chocolate! :)

The Copper Corridor

I live in an area of southern Arizona referred to as "The Copper Corridor". This is an area along US Hwy 77 which winds around through canyons and rugged mountains north from Oracle to Globe, Arizona. It's a breath-taking drive taking in all the natural Sonoran desert cacti, wildlife, and mountain scenery. I don't think there are more Saguaro cacti anywhere else in the world. It's especially gorgeous if your drive takes you back through as the sun is setting. Then, you'll witness the bright amber, fuchsia, and purple colors reflected from the waning sunlight against the neighboring mountain ranges.
 

In the midst of this scenic drive are several copper mines. Some are no longer in production, but the ones that are, pull the strongest, toughest people with the greatest work ethic from small, surrounding communities every single day. It's a hard, gruesome work but it provides an income to support their families. The history of mining in SE Pinal County is focused on the development of two mines - the Mammoth which produced mainly gold and for a short time, molybdenum, - and the San Manuel which was copper. The first claims were located in the district in 1879. Arizona has led copper production in the U.S. since 1910 and still enjoys that distinction, producing approximately 64% of domestic copper.

To commemorate the rich history of copper and gold mining within "The Copper Corridor", I made a soap with the colors of bronze, copper, and gold. This soap, like the nature around us here, is natural, made with pure coconut oil, cocoa butter, olive oil, and vegetable oils. The mica colors are layered like the rustic landscape around the mines. It's scented with a lovely fragrance oil both men and women will enjoy, called Twilight Woods. I chose to call this particular soap with its color and design, "Copper Corridor".

The Making of Prickly Pear Soap

When I told a friend that I had made some Prickly Pear Soap, he said, "Ooooh!, That would be painful to wash with!" Silly man! No stickers go in my soap, only the rich juice of the beautiful red tuna (fruit) of the plant. 

I'm going to share with you just how I make my Prickly Pear soap. First, is to wait until the fruit of the Prickly Pear plant is ripe. In the Spring in southern Arizona, this plant is covered with the most gorgeous golden flowers! As the season progresses, fruit replaces the flowers and begins turning a beautiful crimson red color. Around the first week of September, the fruit is ready to be harvested for juices, jellies, and many other purposes ... including soap!

As luscious as these fruits look, they DO have tiny, hair-like stickers all over them and must be plucked with tongs. The next step is to singe off the tiny stickers.

Now that the stickers are gone, they can be popped into a pot to boil for about 20 minutes. 

Next, I smash them up pretty good to extract as much of the rich juices as I can, then strain the juices from the fruit with a nut bag.

Now, I'm ready to make soap! This video that I posted on YouTube shows me making Prickly Pear Soap. I've decreased the amount of water I used to dissolve the lye and replaced it with the same amount of Prickly Pear juice at trace.

Video of Making Prickly Pear Soap

Prickly Pear Soap

The finished product is a silky, smooth bar of soap, made with natural luxury oils and scented very delicately with my own fragrance blend. It has a rich lather and special nutrients to nourish and pamper your skin!

Is It Necessary To Put Drugs In Soaps?

 
It's important to our health and well-being to keep ourselves clean. About a hundred years ago, cleanliness was a large tub filled with hot water which was heated over a wood-burning stove. Father washed first with a bar of lye soap, then each member of the family, successively. Can you imagine the color/temperature of the water by the time the youngest of a large family plunged in for their bath? Women had very long hair and washed it once, maybe twice a month.

Things have improved so much over the years! How delightful to run clean water from a shower at whatever temperature you desire! We have every kind of body wash or soap in every style, scent, color, design, or substance! We have hand dispensers of soap at every sink in the house. There are antibiotic gels to keep in your purse in case you touch something germie. Even when you go to the department store, there are antibiotic wipes to keep everything nice and sanitary. 

I'm sure everyone remembers when we realized that too many antibiotics may not be a good thing. Doctors realized that prescribing antibiotics or injecting antibiotics for viruses or colds over and over again was producing "Super Bugs" ... diseases which were resistant to antibiotics. 

Is the same thing becoming true of antibiotic soaps? A very common antibiotic, Triclosan, is added to hand soaps, toothpastes, lipsticks, deodorants, mouth washes, toothbrushes, body wash, etc. Meant to kill off the bad germs which can cause serious skin infections, Scientists are discovering more serious implications to frequent use. Some dangerous bacteria on skin have adapted to the antibiotics in the product and have become antibiotic-resistant. In studies with animals, Triclosan has shown problems with hormonal balances, sperm production, and most alarming ... causing muscle impairment, including heart problems! 

Do we even need antibiotics in our soaps at all? The whole objective of cleansing is to remove the grime/bacteria from our skin ... not to kill it. When we apply something dangerous enough to kill the nasties on our skin, we are also killing the very beneficial good, protective bacteria in the natural flora of our skin.

The best option is to totally avoid any skin product containing antibiotics (unless prescribed by your doctor). Natural, handcrafted soaps are the healthiest way possible to gently cleanse your skin and build up the skin's defenses with the rich nutrients we soap-makers include in our recipes. Coconut oil, Jojoba Oil, Olive Oil, and such makes for the best possible skin-loving cleansers to be found! 

Men's 'Cool Water', Handcrafted, Natural Soap

For more information about Triclosan, please read the following:

1.  http://foxnewsinsider.com/2013/05/03/studies-show-links-between-lipstick-antibacterial-soaps-and-health-issues

2.  http://www.logan.edu/mm/files/lrc/senior-research/2005-dec-38.pdf

3. http://www.drozner.com/uploads/3/0/1/1/3011688/hap_-_health_radar_nov_2012.pdf

Contests!

It is so much fun to enter contests that showcase your talent and abilities! I entered my handcrafted soap business,  Sonoran Scents from the Heart, in a contest put on by Lion & Rose Handmade Soaps. I was so hoping to win the first prize which was a copy of the new book by Anne Marie Faiola of Brambleberry, titled, "Soap Crafting". I did win 3rd prize, however, which was a Calendula Cleansing Bar, created using a soap recipe in the book! I may just have to order my own book! :) It sounds really helpful in that it has all the tips, techniques, recipes, calculations, and everything a soapmaker would ever want, wrapped up into one book!

Lovely Calendula Cleansing Bars made by Lion & Rose Handmade Soap, my 3rd prize!!

Another contest I've entered is the "American Made Contest", put on by Martha Stewart. It's a fantastic way to award the entrepreneurship of American artisans and small businesses. The top award is $10,000 to further their business and a free trip for two to New York City for an American Made workshop! Their business will also be featured on MarthaStewart.com. I would really like to win this! Starting up a home business is very expensive and a bit of a gamble that others will like what you've produced well enough to buy it. 

To vote for "Sonoran Scents from the Heart", please click on this link: Martha Stewart's American Made Contest.  Anyone can vote up to six times each day until September 22, 2013. You can also see all the details about the contest and vote for other crafters as well. 

It is very difficult to sell handmade crafts from your home. Many times, you are the owner, purchaser, secretary, producer, business promoter, and seller. You make daily choices that you hope others will appreciate well enough to purchase your artistic creation for their own. Many times, the handcrafted item is much more unique, creative, beautiful, and healthy than anything you could quickly buy at a lesser price at a discount store. We just hope people can see and appreciate the difference. 

Handmade (Prickly Pear Soap)

VS.

Commercially, mass-produced Soap

The contests are so fun to enter and its very wonderful to know that there are awards for making things by hand! The biggest awards, however, are all of the personal letters written by customers, telling me how much they love my soaps, shower soap favors, and gift baskets!