Have Faith, New Soapers. There are Angels out there. I’ve seen one!

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hungryhawaiian

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I wasn’t gonna post this, for fear that people would think I’m just bragging, but I decided that it’s a feel good story that, if anything, should give hope, inspiration and happiness to all new soapers like myself:

About a week ago I responded to an post on Reddit, by an ex-soapmaker. She was asked if anyone was interested in buying supplies from her soapmaking business. I responded and told her that I’m near her area and would love to check out what she has and maybe buy a few things, within my budget.

To my surprise, she messaged me privately and said that she’s decided to split up all her stuff between another redditor and I, completely free! I thought it was a joke or something but nope, she and I swapped numbers and she texted me her addy and a date that the other redditor and I would be able to both meet up and divvy out all her supplies.

Fast forward to the meetup day. I get off work early and my gf and I drive an hour north to see if this is legit happening. I’m a big dude, 6’4” & 300+ lbs (solid muscle, I promise lol), so I’m not worried about getting robbed or murdered or anything, but I am cautious about things that seem too good to be true.

Well, we pull up to the house and park. It’s kind of a dark neighborhood with a mix of industrial businesses and old school homes. I ring the doorbell and wait. Door opens and I finally meet this kind stranger! She’s a super chill woman, probably in her late 20’s, early 30’s. She lets us in and leads us to a room where the other redditor is there and already has a head start at seeing what’s up for grabs.

We ended up splitting things almost draft style. She picks one, I pick one, and so on. As it turns out, the other person is a noob like me so we had a blast talking with each other while sorting through everything.

There were many things that I didn’t want and she wanted, and vice versa. Some things we were able to split down the middle, so it all worked out perfect! Then there were things that I already had and she didn’t, so I told her to take it. Same thing for things she had already and I didn’t.

After divvying up everything, we chatted with our gracious gifter, who refused to take any payment no matter what we tried. She even gave us a bunch of her handcrafted soaps, which looked and smelled amazing, and gave us her recipes!

It’s been about a week now and I’m still in shock! The sheer amount and quality of the things she gave me alone is just beyond words. I won’t list all the things individually but let’s just say I have at least 30 bottles of 8oz fragrance oils, 5 large wooden loaf molds, 3 silicone loaf molds, 25#’s of coconut oil, a large ziplock of tussah silk, Oleic and Myristic Acid, Kaolin Clay, 5# Palm Oil, and many many more things for labeling and packaging and more...

I am beyond thankful for what she has bestowed upon me. I hope only to put it all to good use and not waste this gift.

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P.S. Without going into too much details and for her own privacy, she got out of soaping for good reasons. Her soap business was successful and she loved it, but she chose to move on to her real passion, which she is going back to school for and currently working in the general field of.
 
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Wow!! When something is meant to be, it will be. You were, obviously, in the right place at the right time. I'm a little jealous... but just a little.

I’m a firm believer that people can choose to be in the right place at the right time, in other words make their own luck, but this situation goes beyond that.
 
Yes, we even have some of those angels here on SMF.

How wonderful for you, HH and for the other newbie who also benefited.

So, are you enlisting your gf's help in the soapmaking projects as well? My husband learned so much about soapmaking when I started, that his co-workers call him the 'soap expert' at work.
 
Yes, we even have some of those angels here on SMF.

How wonderful for you, HH and for the other newbie who also benefited.

So, are you enlisting your gf's help in the soapmaking projects as well? My husband learned so much about soapmaking when I started, that his co-workers call him the 'soap expert' at work.

My gf and I do a lot of random hobbies together, and she’s really active in most crafts, but for some reason she has absolutely zero interest in soapmaking. Maybe if I start doing pretty swirled soaps she’ll take notice? lol Kinda works out though, because I get my alone time.


so jealous! What are the FOs?

There are way too many to list. Let’s just say I can almost make any scent I want lol.
 
That's awesome. I was fortunate enough to get a load of stuff from another soapmaker closing down her business a got a great deal (not free but a steal). That's how I got the Bud Cutter single for 20.00.

There are nice folks out there.
 
This is beyond uplifting. Remember to pass it on sometime in your life even if it is only a act of kindness.

Definitely. I always try to pay it forward whenever I can, but I’ve never been able to pay it forward this grand. Someday I hope to be able to.

Also, I found out she likes pens, and since my other hobby is penmaking, I decided to make her a pen. She had mentioned she likes pink, green and purple, similar colors to the Northern Lights. I found a pen blank that matches what she wants and it’s currently being shipped to me.


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So happy for you!

Can wait to see you break into the big time.

I see a commercial featuring a tall hunk with long flowing locks and surf behind him ..... upon second glance the surf is bubbles from his bespoke silk surf soap (patent pending)

AN INSTANT HIT

lol.... your expectation vs my reality:
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Thank you SO much for sharing such a beautiful story, HH! I have NO doubt someone needed to read this today. You never know (and oftentimes won't ever know) when you pass on an uplifting story and it changes an attitude, a belief, a decision, etc, from bad to good. I'm thankful for her generosity and your decision to share the story!
 

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