Just joined

[pjamm]

I made my first lotions, candles, soaps about 5 years ago just as a hobby for people I knew, was super excited about it, but life got in the way. Have renewed my interest in the past year, and have signed up for a local craft fair for early April. Unless I push myself off the cliff, I am going to forever hide under a safe rock!

I don't know any "soapers" in real life, but look forward to this forum for what looks like a wealth of knowledge. Some of the things I am concerned about - colorants, fragrance load (and panic about accelerated trace), what's popular in soaps that sell at fairs? I try to keep my formulas as natural as possible, but using mica's and fragrance oils definitely adds the wow factor. Being a quintessential Virgo, I never feel like my products are "good enough", so that adds a lot of pressure, lol.

Pamela

 

[lsg]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Being a quintessential Virgo, I never feel like my products are "good enough", so that adds a lot of pressure, lol.

Hey "Perfectionist Pamela", I hear that. As a recovering perfectionist, and a soaper to boot, my advice is to shoot for "100%" but settle for 50%-80% and move on. This especially applies when adding fragrance and color to your already "perfect" but plain bars.

Here' a fun thread for you to read for the stage you're at:

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO YOUR BEGINNING SOAPING SELF?

 

[pjamm]

Thanks for the advice Zany - I looked over that thread - definitely worth the read.

I am curious - question for members at large - how much market there is for either truly unscented soaps or "lightly" scented ones? I have a super sensitive nose, so what seams strong to me, could be not so much with others. As others pointed out, I got into this because of allergies and skin sensitivities, so I do not want to put a bunch of over processed products into the world.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Thanks for the advice Zany

You're welcome.

how much market there is for either truly unscented soaps or "lightly" scented ones?

Minimal. I made soap for a wholesale customer on a regular basis for 10 years. We did 3 fragrances plus a few limited editions depending on the season, like "Blooming Tulips" for the month of April. The three standard scents were Lavender EO, Ginger Essence FO and unscented. Lavender was the top seller, then Ginger. Those two outsold the unscented by about 10 to one. The market for unscented is small.

what seams strong to me, could be not so much with others.

I use MMS (Majestic Mountain Sage) Fragrance Calc to determine how much fragrance to use. They have usage rates for EOs and FOs but the selection is limited to what they sell. They have all the most popular EOs but for FOs, I just find something similar on the drop down menu if I'm not using theirs... which are quite good, actually. Here's a printout.

 

[IrishLass]

Welcome, Pamela!



IrishLass

 

[AliOop]

Welcome!