SoapDiva

I use castor oil, for really thick lather (10%). Jojoba oil (5%) Coconut oil (30%) Olive oil Palm oil I have two different kinds, one where I use beer instead of water, and another with aloe juice. I like the tea idea! Then, I use EOs that help keep lice away. But also have other benefits, each type though has an EO that lice don't like. I have school aged kids, not taking chances! I also added silk and my customers (and ME!) don't bother with conditioner anymore.

This happened to me last year, cost me 440 to fix it via a programmer. It was some sort of spam injection that happened, and made a REAL mess. Thankfully they were not able to access the DB, so my customer information was secure.

Yeah, there is a website out there, http://notalwaysright.com/ that has stories like this from customers who are complaining just to get free stuff. If I were the recipient, I would want all the "w's" because maybe she did get a bad product, so I would always want to do my due diligence. I'd ask for her to mail the product back, to which I would refund the postage after I received it, and would offer free replacements (after investigation) or a refund. Its hard to tell the difference between the scammers and honestly POd.

Now I'm even more heartbroken....she opened up her website but isn't shipping to Canada. *cry* I haven't gotten a Pumpkin from daystar, but I've used her in the past and their scents are pretty damn fine. I just wonder if she tests them before hand, I get lots of soap on a stick and ricing with her scents. BUT when I get a winner, its a hands down winner.

Another option is Daystar, she may carry one. All the dupes I've gotten from her have been dead on.

Sorry, SS is Southern Soapers. She is selling the company and I get at least 6 of my top sellers from her. Scented - Who is AH/RE? Retro - I use Daystar for other scents, hers are pretty good. Have you used that pumpkin in CP before? The pumpkin that I get from her, smells like a hot pumpkin pie. It isn't really sweet, more a spicy pumpkin. Being that I'm in Canada, for me to order/ship/test then re-order larger amts for production I'll end up into the new year. *sigh* Which is why I'm looking for tried/true FOs, so I can cut out the re-ordering, I'll get larger orders now, and then test which will cut out some time. Ugh. I searched Natures Garden last night, and found *some* replacements that have some good reviews. I just wish SS's website was working. First, she was supposed to open the 2nd, then the 11th, then the 13th and now the 18th.

So, a big seller for me is the Pumpkin Brulee from SS, and with her closing (and the website being swamped and down for the last while) I haven't been able to place any orders at all. Apparelty it will be back up on the 18th, but with my wholesale customers placing orders, I'm going to be hurting really soon. Does anyone have a tried and true spicy pumpkin that they use in CP soap? I call mine "Pumpkin spice". It has that yummy, fresh pumpkin pie scent with some bottom notes of cinnamon, nutmeg and clove. Thanks!

Isn't that an awesome feeling! Congrats! I had a show the first week in August and my sales doubled from last year. I went with six totes of soap, came home with TWO! I *almost* sobbed when I loaded my bookshelves with what I had left. Then I got my butt in gear. Where did August go? Of course, now I'm worried that I might not have enough soap to last through the season! Its so hard to plan accordingly!

I do an L shape in my booth with the short table running down the side, and I give myself about 2 feet behind my 6 ft table. I find for indoor shows, having a space where a customer can step out of the crowd is a good thing, otherwise if it gets really busy they just get pushed along. I sell soaps though, so, I have a "A" frame stand for my soaps which I put in the corner (home made shelf that I call "the tank") and everything else flows around the table. So a section of just CP soaps, then glycerin on one side and the rest of my B&B on the opposite side. It allows for "stations" as some are only interested in one thing.

Awesome idea! My brain is fried from too much soaping over the last few months so I was at a complete loss as to what to say! Thanks! I was trying to write a reply without trying to offend her. All of my wholesale customers usually connect with me through trade shows, so I get to meet them face to face, get business cards etc and then I can follow up by googling their store etc to verify if I need too. Oh, and actually this works out well, next weekend is a big trade show, and if she is really starting a new basket business, she'd be interested in going there anyway, so I'll tell her about that. I'm just a little leery about handing out my wholesale info to just anyone. I've seen so many crafters get ripped off by other "crafters" that now I'm starting to get paranoid!

When you get inquiries online, how do you handle these? I've gotten an e-mail from a person who lives in my area, and she is starting a gift basket company and is interested in my wholesale information. Now, I don't know why I'm a little hesitant to give it to her. Well I do. This area is notorious for "stealing" ideas from other people. It's an economically depressed area so it isn't unusual for people to do sneaky things. My business is doing very very well here. There have been some start ups who have had the nerve to call me directly and ask me where I get my oils, where I get my packaging etc. So of course, I'm a little leery. Ideas on how to respond?

I use the cinnamon red from BB for an orangy/reddish hue, if I want a blood red I tend to blend the cinnamon and brick reds together. The best dragons blood that I've tried is the one from Southern Soapers, I'm using one currently from NG that I don't like as much, so I'll be switching back.

This should be on-going, no? I'm always looking for ways to cut costs without it affecting my product. Every January I assess and see where I spent too much money, where I can cut, drop or add various markets etc. I would not be cutting packaging unless it's absolutely necessary. Packaging and labeling is a HUGE selling point. I am changing some packaging to give my customers better value (thats what I'm calling it), for instance I'm changing my bath salts from jars to coffee bags. However my customers will get a lot more product for the same price, or close to it. I'm also changing the way I sell bath truffles, instead of being individually wrapped like I've been doing for years, I've decided to move to a clam-shell to reduce my time in production. I really really really need to cut down the number of scents I offer. I'm such a freaking FOHO.

I've been getting them non stop, they really really REALLY want to sell my candles in their stores. Except I make soap. LMAO!

I've gotten those e-mails, but usually the person says that they don't feel comfortable placing the order over the internet. They give a reason why they want me to call them. I have no problem doing that as usually these orders are close to $100.00. Heck, I just had a repeat order from a customer that started out that way, now she just calls me when she wants to place another order. She will only call from her home even, because she doesn't want to read her CC# over the phone where her cubicle neighbors may hear her. Maybe just e-mail her/him and ask them if it was something that you could answer via email as you have a very busy work schedule and may not be able to call them during reasonable hours. I definitely would NOT ignore the request.

I keep mine high up in my work room. The girls (3 and 7) know to stay out of my workroom when they hear my stick blender going. They cannot reach my lye water pitchers which sit on a high workbench while cooling. My husband donated his old garage workbench to my soap room, so the table itself is quite high. It's funny, cause I wear blue nitrate workgloves while soaping, and they will come into my soaproom, look at my hands and go right out. Then they will stand at the door and ask me for what they need. They're well trained.

I usually respond something like "Every artist needs to discover what works best for them" and suggest a book or two, along with some of the more pricier suppliers that I don't order from. LOL! I actually had someone call me at home asking me where I get my packaging and my oils, and would I be interested in teaming up to buy them further in bulk. *face palm*

I would approach them to see what their official stand is on the issue and to see if it's in writing. Our farmers markets here have to have a certain percentage of "primary and secondary producers", you fall into the secondary category. From there, it further breaks down into divisions (cards, artwork, fabrics, bath and body, candles etc.). The big market that I like to do, is allowed to have three B&B makers. All of them are different, but the only time I can get in there is if one of them cancels. I've been going for 2 years, and still cannot get a permanent spot, nor likely will I any time soon. The reason why I think you should pursue it, is that this person may be a friend of the soaper currently there. I'd also go to the market, see what she has, and if what you carry IS very different, bring that to the persons attention.

I use a tablespoon per pound of my formulation. A goats milk base would likely be fine. You really really need to ensure that you grind up the charcoal well. I mean, I tell customers to make a lather, rub it on the affected area, wait for a moment or two then rinse. That way if there are any sharp chunks of charcoal in the bar it won't scratch them.

I make a fantastic one, I call it Burnt Goat, basically its a goats milk bar with the addition of activated charcoal. Works wonders, I get stalked for this bar.

It will be fine. Just ensure when it thaws that it is completely mixed/dissolved before adding it to your oils. What I normally do (when I'm making wine soap, my lye mix is very very cold/slushy even) is add the lye to the oils which are a touch higher than I'd normally work with (so, 120/125 instead of 115 or lower). The ONLY time I've had problems is when I don't ensure that the lye and wine is mixed thoroughly, or if the wine is too cold when adding the lye to it, then it may not blend correctly giving me undissolved crystals. It;s a learning curve.

WOW! What an awesome little store! That is one place that I could spend a good hour (child free) wandering around sniffing and deciding what to buy! Hope all your hard work pays off in spades!

Something like that would be more decorative, but yes you certainly can put sugar on top. The first time the bar is used (or 3 or 4) the sugar will be gone so it won't be much use as an exfoliating tool. Have you used stabilizers before? Some of them apparently add an "odour" to soaps. I don't use them myself. My PS, I just don't add FO to a certain amount, then add the pink to the unfragranced bit and layer it on top.

I actually just had this happen this morning. There are a few things that I always do when testing a new FO. 1) Add FO to the oils before the lye. 2) Make notes of what temps the oil/lye is before I start to blend together. Actually I make notes of EVERYTHING I do for that batch. 3) I mix manually with the stick blender (it's off), and see how the two react, if I can get it to look blended, then I may stick blend to see what happens. In todays case, I did the above, but it started to turn to applesauce right away, I beat the crap out of it with the stick blender for as long as I could as it was seizing. It didn't matter if the blender was on or off, it was seizing regardless. I smooshed it into the mold and covered it. I checked on it, and as I suspected it started separating (this was about 15 minutes later), so I threw it back into the pot and beat the crap out it some more. This time I got it completely blended, but then it started to look like mashed potatoes (dry ones). I smooshed everything into the mold and did not insulate as it had heated up really high. Someone feel free to critique my method and give pointers. Ahhhhh....the joy of soapmaking, perfect for adventurous spirits!!

Someone should sign her up on a free trial for a porn website. Spam the spammer! I got one of these e-mails from a woman in florida who had "heard awesome things about my products!!!!" (I live in Canada :rolleyes2) and really wanted to try something, but wanted a sample first. I told her I'd be happy to send her a sample of soap, she'd just have to send me a SASE. Never heard from her again.