marketing m&p is it hand crafted?

[country bee]

So confused! when selling your m&p,how do you label it and on the web,do you market it as hand crafted-handmade or other options.With all the butters,oils and other additives in the recipes-is it just m&p?I know it is different than cp &hp soaps-that is hand made.

This can be so confusing!?Thanks alot.

[SuzyK]

I do market mine as handmade/handcrafted. I don't market it as "from scratch" though like I can with my lip balm. It's definitely not just "melt and pour" for me. I haven't tried adding anything to it yet. If I did, I would market those a little differently.

[justajesuschick]

Of course it is handcrafted. You made it with raw materials rather than buying and repackaging something someone else made.

My only issue is when I see B&B products marketed as "All Natural" and it clearly is made with FO's, not EO's. Last I checked there was no Pink Sugar Toasted Zucchini Bread essential oil that occurred in nature. haha!

[Candybee]

Handcrafted is just fine. When I made M&P soaps I chose to call them handmade. I created my own recipes, color schemes, techniques, and molded them into new soaps from a lump of soap base. I considered that handmade as the finished product was my creation.

Its when you start getting into the regulations that govern bath and body products that you really have to be careful. Technically M&P soap is considered a 'cosmetic' and handmade soap from lye is 'soap'. As a cosmetic, you are required to list all the ingredients on the label. This is not required for handmade lye soaps. Go figure. But there are very explicit regulations for each. Go read a box of Dove soap and see they don't call it soap but "Beauty Bar" I think.

[country bee]

I agree with hand made too ,I wanted to be sure when I make my labels.Thanks everyone!

[Guest OldGlory]

I haven't seen anything in a store labeled SOAP in a long time. Boggles the mind that people still call it soap.

[ProudMarineMom]

With some of the beautiful soaps I have seen posted here of M&P, I definitely consider it handmade. I never had the talent, or the patience, to make M&P soap with the embeds and layers and other creative ideas. It can be a wonderful medium.

[HayCreekCandles]

Same here. I label mine handcrafted just like I label my candles handcrafted - I pour soap the exact same way I pour candles, from a base. It's no different.

[country bee]

Thanks,I am going to do that.I feel it is right.

[Candybee]

For what its worth to me "handcrafted" means something entirely different than handmade. Handcrafted to me means you glued glitter on a store bought card. Handmade to me means you created the card, designed it, put text on it, and added the glitter.

So if you buy a M&P soap base, melt it down, use a recipe for goats milk soap you created, color it, put additives in it, pour it into a mold, and put your own labels on it-- to me thats handmade. Handcrafted to me would mean I cut the base into pieces, labeled them, and sold them. Not the same.

[country bee]

That is a great way to explain it.Yes,I see your point.I agree.

[DMS]

Because there seems to be confusion about the Melt & Pour method and the Cold/Hot process method of making soap bars, I went ahead and had a stamp made to say handcrafted.  Referring to the Melt & Pour soap bars I make.  I don’t want to be confronted and be accused of not being a “soap maker”.  
 

The comments stating that when you make it your own recipe by adding fragrance and color, that it is your own recipe therefore homemade, I totally agree with you, it is a unique recipe.

 

The way I see it is like melting chocolate and adding sprinkles, etc.  You made it even though you didn’t make the chocolate from scratch.  

Reminds me of Chefs saying that non gourmet cooking at home isn’t really cooking.  It’s cooking, just made differently.