Teach Soap

Something about it is so frustrating! It's the people around me that make me crazy! Somewhere in a few peoples brains associate me making soap as either...

A. Oh so you make LUSH products?
B. Can I have this and this and this with more of everything?
Or my favorite... C. But Dove does the same thing for cheaper right?

I understand they aren't experts and know almost nothing of the process but it's mind blowing how "I make soap" turns into one of those 3 things 99.9% of the time. Please tell me it's just the people in my life and that doing craft shows are better. I might explode if I hear an "overpriced dove" comment. Murder is bad even if it can be justified with such comments!

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The Black Currant- Shipping within the US!

My shop: The Black Currant on Etsy!
My blog: http://www.theblackcurrantshop.wordpress.com
Also on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & YouTube!

A. Oh so you make LUSH products?
Lush is a brand that uses artificial ingredients and surfactants. I use natural oils and butters.

B. Can I have this and this and this with more of everything?
Yes, you can, but I require money up front.

Or my favorite... C. But Dove does the same thing for cheaper right?
Ivory and Dove as compared to handmade soap
Ivory soap has: sodium tallowate, sodium cocoate or sodium palm kernelate, water, sodium chloride, sodium silicate, magnesium sulfate, and fragrance.
It's soap with the glycerin removed and milled under high pressure in commercial machines. The product's slogan, "99.44 % Pure", was based on the results of an analysis by an independent laboratory the founder's son, Harley Procter, hired to demonstrate that Ivory was more pure than the castile soap then available. Yes they float, because air is mixed into them. The fragrance is citronella.
Dove Beauty Bar has: Sodium Lauroyl Isethionate, Stearic Acid, Sodium Tallowate, Sodium Palmitate, Lauric Acid, Sodium Isethionate, Water, Sodium Stearate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Cocoate, Sodium Palm Kernelate (Palm Kernel Oil), Sodium Chloride, Tetrasodium EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Maltol, Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891)
Or
Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Stearic Acid, Sodium Tallowate, Water, Sodium Isethionate, Coconut Acid, Sodium Stearate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Cocoate or Sodium Palm Kernelate, Sodium Chloride, Titanium Dioxide, Sweet Almond Oil, Rosewood Oil, Tetrasodium EDTA, Trisodium Etidronate, BHT, Cedarwood Oil, Rose Oil, Disodium Cocamido-MEA-Sulfosuccinate, Cetyl Alcohol, Tocopheryl Acetate.
Dove is a synthetic bar and not a true soap. It is, however made with beef fat and a masking fragrance.
In the commercial, the film on the glass they are talking about is from the natural glycerin in the soap (not soap scum) Glycerin helps retain your own body moisture and also draws moisture to you. However, commercial soaps, mostly detergents, strip your skin of all its oils. That is why you usually need to use a moisturizer after washing.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

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The Black Currant- Shipping within the US!

My shop: The Black Currant on Etsy!
My blog: http://www.theblackcurrantshop.wordpress.com
Also on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & YouTube!

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

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Pal

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The Black Currant- Shipping within the US!

My shop: The Black Currant on Etsy!
My blog: http://www.theblackcurrantshop.wordpress.com
Also on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & YouTube!

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Linda

I learn so much when I can't leave well enough alone!

Linda, you can tell her that the 1/4 cream is your superfat.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Good one! I tried telling her that the "cleansing cream" is not real cream but she just shook her head and refused to believe her beloved Dove was not what they make it out to be.

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Linda

I learn so much when I can't leave well enough alone!

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

Ivory floats because it's full of tiny bubbles. Did you know that it was an accident? Someone in the factory left the commercial mixer running far longer then he was suppose to. When that batch was made, it was found that the soap floats. It has nothing to do with how pure the soap is. That's creative advertising.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

At my most recent market I had someone going on and on about that stupid Dove commercial where they dip that paper into all those bowls of water & soap for an extended period of time and the paper falls apart, but then they quickly dip it in Dove & it the paper is miraculously fine Well this poor woman could only use Dove now because soap tears away at her skin.
I seriously hate that commercial and the stupidity it creates in people. Now people are running around thinking that their bodies are made of paper.

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Genny

We all have to help to educate our clients at times. While some will seek you out because you are educated, others will just think we are over-priced store soaps and products. That is where a smile and an in depth knowledge of our craft comes into play. EDUCATE yourself so that you can educate your clients! Patiently articulate the value of your product and what it provides that the store bought detergent bars cannot and your/our message will get out!

I was recently next to a soap maker that made everyone of us look bad. She would yell out that her soap didn't have alcohol or lye in it and that she used goat milk, the closest thing to our own body's ph. Well, a person commented to her that nobody used alcohol in their handmade soap and she argued with them. Then that same man told her that she had to use lye or else she wasn't making cp soap as she stated. Again, she argued with him. He finally got exasperated with her, threw his hands up and walked off, still muttering. Unfortunately, he absolutely refused to even step into my booth when his companion tried to lead him in. Even if she had been absolutely correct, the arguing drove him away. You have to gently inform and correct perceptions, which you can do best by knowing your facts and conversing with the client.
There was no talking to this woman, she didn't "share" her secrets. But in trying to discuss soaping with her, I ended up determining that she did not understand that potassium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide are both lye, just different names and types of it. In fact, I think she was using "pot ash" so she didn't think that was lye at all, but I couldn't be sure since she really didn't want to discuss it with me!

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Remember, it's not just that we weather the storm, but how we dance in the rain.

Tammy