What supplies are and aren't necessary?

[Sudsandscrubs]

Hello all! I'm pretty new to soap making, I've been making my family's bar soap for about a year now. But I'm looking into expanding and selling my soap at craft fairs and such. I'm just really overwhelmed by all the fancy molds, scents, embeds, and other things that I know aren't needed but are things I'm really excited to try. So what are the supplies you think are necessary for a new business to be successful selling soap? How many fragrance oils should I have? What about colorents? Or are these just things I should hold off on until I'm more experienced? Thank you in advance!

* By supplies, I mean purely for the finished bar of soap so color, fragrance, designs, etc. I already have all the necessary supplies to make the soap.

 

[Carly B]

I think it's very much a personal thing--not only your preferences, but also your market and your budget. If you are excited to try things, try them. One of the reasons we do this is because it's fun. And you may find something you really like doing, or something that is quite popular that you wouldn't have expected.

 

[Anstarx]

I don't sell (yet) but whenever I post photos of my soap my friends always ask for the ones with interesting color and strong fragrances. I've gave them castiles before, while they like it, it's never their first choice.
Get to know your local market first, go to craft fairs and see what kind of soap they have. Do little surveys if you can with your friends and family, see what kind of soap interest them. However, it's most importantly that you are comfortable with your soap making.
If you are not familiar with colorant, fragrance, swirls, try them, start from basic. There are plenty of tutorials out there. If they don't interest you or you are not comfortable with them then don't force it. I have friends asking to do a custom batch for their party and I had to turn them down because I'm not comfortable with their idea. We found a middle ground eventually but don't force yourself on something you don't like.

 

[Arimara]

Depending on where in NY you are, you may want to think about what is popular in you part of it. You may also want to think about the types of people where you live. If there are a lot of vegans around you, you might have some work cut out for you and may benefit from sticking to more natural colorants and EOs (though you may want to use and EO/FO blend to keep costs down and nix potential waste of EOs). Hipster in your area- get creative.

 

[KiwiMoose]

I think it's best to use FOs that you have made before and know that they 'stick'. I've tried a few new ones in the past 8 months or so and found that they haven't lasted more than a couple months, so you don't want to sell a bunch and find that out after the fact. Stick to tried and true I say. Also - my best sellers are ones that have a strong fragrance.
As far as appearance goes - I have a few that look 'natural' but people seem drawn to my more artistic soaps. There are a lot of people selling 'natural' oatmeal looking soaps at my market, so the swirls and colours give me a point of difference.

 

[shunt2011]

I’ve been selling for 8 years. Fragrance is what sells first and foremost. My customers aren’t impressed with fancy soaps so I don’t pipe or do much in the way of embeds. I do use micas for colorants as it gives them a little extra oomph. Keeps it interesting while making too. As stated you need to have a feel for your area and potential customers. I don’t use much in the way of EO as many don’t last

 

[Sudsandscrubs]

Thank you all for your advice! I did end up interviewing different family members to get their input on what draws them in while looking to purchase soap and the biggest thing for them was fragrence. I'm from upstate and the majority of people wanted more natural or outdoor themed fragrences. I ended up getting some floral, woodsy, and fruit fragrence oils and they all seem to be a hit! They also liked colorants and embeds as long as it wasn't too 'flashy'. I decided to stick with using natural colorants but picked out some sample bags of mica to try out this summer. I started my business about a week ago now and it has taken off better than i could have imagined, so thank you all!

 

[rdc1978]

Thank you all for your advice! I did end up interviewing different family members to get their input on what draws them in while looking to purchase soap and the biggest thing for them was fragrence. I'm from upstate and the majority of people wanted more natural or outdoor themed fragrences. I ended up getting some floral, woodsy, and fruit fragrence oils and they all seem to be a hit! They also liked colorants and embeds as long as it wasn't too 'flashy'. I decided to stick with using natural colorants but picked out some sample bags of mica to try out this summer. I started my business about a week ago now and it has taken off better than i could have imagined, so thank you all!

I got the fresh grass frangrance from brambleberry and I wonder if your f and f would like that too? It's very light and it legitimately smells like cut grass. I put it with a pear scent, which I thought worked nicely but I wonder if people might not like grass frangrance by itself.

 

[Sudsandscrubs]

I got the fresh grass frangrance from brambleberry and I wonder if your f and f would like that too? It's very light and it legitimately smells like cut grass. I put it with a pear scent, which I thought worked nicely but I wonder if people might not like grass frangrance by itself.

Ooo pear and grass sound like a good combo! I actually had a request for a freshly mown law scent so thank you for the recommendation!