No, soapmakers aren’t super heros.  At least not the ones I have met.  But, we do need to have a super weapon on hand against the dreaded oil stained shirts.  I know I am not alone in this when I say I have had to purchase my share of new shirts because I would get oil on my shirts from making soaps.  Now how you ask I allow this to happen.  I do know better after all I am the Handmade Soap Coach.

I should change my clothes or put on an apron. I teach my students that they should wear old clothes that they don’t mind getting stains on or be sure to wear an apron.  So why am I so hard headed?  Well, sometimes I go into the soap lab and get drawn into making soap.  It’s powers are strong!

But have no fear…a soapmaker’s super weapon is here! What you may ask is this super weapon?

A few years ago I came across a coupon for Spray and Wash Resolve Power  Stain Stick.  I thought I would give it a try and see if it could save the life of my shirts.  After treating the shirt where the oil stains took over into the wash it went.  Just like Houdini the stain was GONE!  For the most part you only need to treat it once but there are some stubborn oil stains and a second treatment may be needed.

Don’t give in to the oiled stained shirts and start buying new shirts.  Save your money and get the Spray and Wash Resolve Power Stain Stick super weapon as part of your artillery. I now make sure I keep one on hand.

Do you have a super weapon that you can’t live without for your soapmaking? Please share them so we too might add them and be well equipped.

On Saturday, January 14th at 1:30 pm EST Indies from all across the nation met at local restaurants, cafes and boutiques.  At the Northern NJ Indie Meetup up we met at the fabulous Pooka Boutique in Orange, NJ owned and operated by NJ Indie Dawn Fitch.

We had a great time in the company of 8 fabulous Indies from NJ, PA and NY.  Those in attendance were Dawn Fitch owner of Pooka Pure and Simple, Chelse Elam owner of Yum Yum Yum Candle, Brenda Foster owner of Bubs and Scrubs, Sandrine Valentin owner of Sandrine, Renee Marshall-McKinley owner of The Ads on Us, Celeste Munsford (plus her granddaughter, whom she is naming her business after) and Fai Walker who are both in the infancy stages of developing their Indie businesses.

During the event we shared our stories as we were getting acquainted with each other. Brenda Foster owner of Bubs and Scrubs shared how she was looking for an additional stream of income and how it all came to together when she began making soaps.  Which I might add smell and look fab-u-lous! Dawn Fitch, our venue host shared the excitement of trying new recipes and googling for about ingredient benefits.  How many of us can relate to that? I know my hand is raised!

In our mist we had one attendee, Renee Marshall McKinley who was not a beauty business but she has a service where she wears your t-shirt to help advertise your business called The Ads on Us.  What an awesome way to get the word out about your business.  A walking billboard!

We also had a time for show and tell.  Brenda Foster brought a variety of soaps for each one of us to take one home. Boy did we ooohh and aaahhh over them.  They smelled and looked awesome.  While showing us her soaps we helped her mastermind ideas about packaging options.  One of my students for the NY Open Center, Fai Walker brought a couple samples of her whipped body moisturizers and wanted our opinion on which one we preferred over the other and why.  We were very willing to be her guinea pigs.

Northern NJ Indie Meetup 01-14-12

The event eventually ended but not without taking many notes, sharing vendors, exchanging business cards, taking home some samples and taking a group photo.  The general consensus was that they were glad they came and it was definitely time well spent.  Photos of the event are uploaded on my Handmade Soap Coach fanpage for you to view.

We will do this again! Most likely on a quarterly basis.  I hope to see you at the next one!

Rancid Mango Butter

As I am writing this post I am making a batch of soap using rancid oils and I mean they STINK! I know you must think I am crazy. I would too if I didn’t know any better. You are reading the title of this blog and may think I have lost my mind but I haven’t. But please entertain me and read on.

Many of you may be doing your after the holidays or end of the year inventory and cleaning. I am sure you may have come across some oils you had all good intentions of using over the years and it is just taking up valuable space on your shelves without paying any rent. So, if you were like me you may have been trying to figure out how in the world will I dispose of the oils without creating a mess, clogging the drains, or it ending up in the landfill.

A couple of years ago while attending the Handcrafted Soapmakers Guild Conference they had an expects panel during one of the session. So I anonymously wrote my question to the panel of expects. I wanted to know how to properly dispose of rancid oils. The answer came from Linda Stevens the owner of Upland Soap Factory and well known large batch soapmaker. She yelled out “Make Soap!” At first I was a bit perplexed at then she went on to explain.

When you have rancid soapmaking oils don’t throw them out. Make soap and saponify at 100%. No lye discount should be taken. You want all the oil to be converted to soap leaving behind no excess oils. If there are no excess oils then there is no oils to continue going rancid. Of course you can scent it and you will want to so it may have a two fold purpose and you can use fragrance oils that you are not using in your line of  soaps you sell.  You shouldn’t sell this soap to the generally public as with any 100% saponified soap over time it will dry out the skin if used consistently.  This soap should be only used for home use.

Soap Shavings

I have done this periodically with oils I am no longer using and they are not smelling to nice. My family become the lucky recipients of those soaps. Now we don’t use them all in a row until they are done. I alternate them with fresher oils soaps so that my skin won’t dry out from consistent use.

This time around since I began selling soaps again via wholesale and private label. I have some soap scraps from when I shave my soaps. I will embed those wonderfully scented strips inside my 100% saponified soap.

So there, now you don’t have to worry about throwing your hard earned money away and trying to figure out how are you going to dispose of those oils in the most green way possible. The answer is simple. Just make soap!

If you make soap with rancid oils please share your experience and if you have any tips you can share we would love to hear them.

A few months ago I decided to read a book I had for well over 5 years. One day while on Facebook someone posted a quote from the book that resonated so I decided it’s time to actually blow the dust off the book and read it. The book was “The Four Agreements” by Don Miguel Ruiz.

The book goes over each of The Four Agreements we should model our daily living after. The Four Agreements when your read them are relatively simple when you look at them but my mind was having a hard time even remembering just four simple agreements. After reading the chapters sometimes more than once I began to fall in alignment with The Four Agreements.

The Four Agreements are:

Be Impeccable with Your Words: Sounds pretty easy eh? Well it isn’t. It is so easy to think or say something negative about others, situations and even about ourselves. Words are powerful. The Bible says “as a man thinketh so is he”. My goal for 2012 is to think and speak more impeccably. At least better than I did last year. There will be more positive thoughts and words spoken about my life and the world around me.

Don’t Take Things Personally: WHAT! How in the world do you expect me not to take things personally when someone has offended me.  Wow this is a hard one. But think about it. If you allow whatever someone did to you resonate with you it will begin to fester and it will be a weight that you are carrying around.  The other person is probably running around with no worries and you are still carrying around what that other person did to me 20 years ago or even last week.  My goal in 2012 is to not things bother me like they used to.  Now I am human so I may have a moment but I will try better to release things that others do to me.

Don’t Make Assumptions: Woo Hoo…now that is a doozy.  Our minds will take us through scenario after scenario of who, what, when, why and where.  If you need to know something just ask the person.  That way you won’t have to assume and most of the times when we assume we are making the wrong assumptions anyway.  Our minds will mess with us and that will continue to allow things that others do to us weight us down.  It is time to move forward and not get stuck and lost in the land of assumptions.

Always do Your Best! : Now this is easy right? Of course it is. When it comes to trying to implement the agreements into your lifestyle it will be hard. It won’t happen overnight.  You will make mistakes.  Just dust yourself off and say I will do better next time.  Purpose in your heart that you will always do your best in 2012! I am!

The Four Agreements can be applied to everything you do. How you treat your family, your friends and even your customers. It is not always easy to recondition our minds especially when we live in a negative imagery society. But what it has done for me even after I have thought or said something I begin to catch myself and say that is not impeccable or don’t you take that personally. It’s a process and I am going to embrace the journey as I know 2012 is the year of new beginnings and great things are going to happen!

Happy New Year! What are your plans for the New Year?

Over the course of last 6 years since I have been teaching classes on soapmaking and other natural beauty products I have heard different reasons for taking my classes. Some people come to my classes just out of plan curiosity. Others want to make gifts for the holidays. Then there are those who are looking for something fun to do with a spouse or a good friend. I have also had the pleasure of instructing those who want to start a handcrafted beauty business or they are looking to expand their product offerings.

What ever their reason is they all have one thing in common they enjoy creating! It brings joy to me when after class my students come to me and say they had a wonderful time whether it was for a two hour session or a full day intensive. They are proud of their creations and the time they had to themselves to have a creative outlet and even have some fun while doing it.

So, if you are looking for ideas for your next date night (see my post about soapmaking date night classes) or you know that the creative person in your life would truly enjoy one of the upcoming classes give them the gift of fun, creativity, inspiration and who knows maybe even a new career.

Happy Holidays!

Soapmaking Classes Make a Great Date Night!

This past Tuesday I taught part two of my basic soapmaking class at Ridgewood Community School.  I have been teaching at Ridgewood Community School for over 6 years.  In fact, they were the first place that I started teaching soapmaking classes.

Well this week while the students were customizing their individual batches of cold process soap I heard the married couple (the two in the front of the picture) that attended state that this was their date night.  The wife goes to school all the other nights of the week and Tuesday’s were the only night they have together and the wife signed them up for soapmaking classes.

Now I know what you are thinking that the husband was dragged into this but low and behold he commented that this sure beat going to the gym for date night.  So there you have it! If you are looking for something fun, unique and practical to do with your spouse or mate and want to keep the spark in your relationship then why not try a soapmaking class for date night? It sure beats the gym!!

This month is breast cancer awareness month.  All around the focus has been on the pink ribbon and supporting those who have breast cancer and educating those who don’t about awareness.   I am sure we all know someone who has been affected by breast cancer whether they are a survivor, their family member is a survivor or they loss someone to breast cancer.  This disease not only affect women it also affects men; so men, don’t think you are in the clear.  If you are a woman 40 years old and up you should have an annual mammogram unless your family has a history of breast cancer your physician may advise you to be screened earlier.  I encourage all women to have a breast cancer screening.

Some of the things that hindered me for a couple of years and may be hindering you are:

No Health Insurance – this is a biggie (especially if you are self employed) but don’t let this stop you from being screened.  There are many free screenings that are available.  Just keep you eye out and you will find where free screenings are being made available.  Not only will they screen you with a mammography they may also offer you a pelvic exam, colorectal and pap smear.  Don’t forget cervical cancer can be helped if detected early.  Also know that many hospitals have care programs that you may be eligible for if further care is needed.

Fear – Oh boy! Who wants to find out if they have any type of disease! No one! But living in fear is not going to help you live.  Do like I did, take a friend.  There is nothing more comforting to have someone you can talk to while you wait so that the seconds don’t feel like hours.

I have to say it feels liberating.  Take control of your life and live it to the max.  Know who you are….all of you! Here’s to good health! Cheers!

Back in February of this year I had an amazing opportunity to be apart of a book with 98 other contributors who were just like me, a women in business.  It was a New Year and I was ready for new things so even though I had some fears I took the leap of faith and submitted my submission to SheEO Rock’s owner, Saideh Browne.  Within a few months the book was compiled and published!

I am so supped that I can now add author to my resume.  My contribution is “Don’t be Afraid to Shift” on page 77 to be exact and yes, you can get a copy of this awesome book featuring some awesome business women available on my website.

Though, I can now add author to my credentials what I am most excited about is that a women who may be ready to start of business or already in business purchases this book will read my contribution and one day if her situation presents to her what it presented to me she will able to better handle that situation because of my story.

I never had author on my list of to-do’s for the New Year but I was ready for new opportunities and I’m glad I didn’t hesitate to move forward (well actually I did hesitate but it was a short one.)  I hope as we are in the 4th quarter of this year and as we begin to start planning for the great things the 2012 will hold, that you be ready to move and take action if you have to.

Things don’t’ always happen to you the way you think they should.  You don’t want to say I wish I had done that.  Once it is over that particular opportunity is gone.  But the great thing about life is that we should learn from each of our experiences and the next time you will be able to recognize an opportunity and not hesitate.

Did you have something this year that you almost hesitated on and you are so glad you didn’t but acted on it instead? Please share.

We are all familiar with the organization Goodwill.  We all know them for their thrift stores in which they are able to help the community helping them eliminate barriers so they can reach their fullest potential.  But did you know they also have a division called Goodwill Works in which they help displaced homemakers for whatever reason re-enter the workplace.

I had the opportunity along with my graphic design mentor and friend to speak to three women who are planning to start a business.  To be totally honest I wanted to do this but it came so fast that it was hard to add to my work week.  Instead of putting it off we decided to go with the date requested and talk to the ladies about branding their business.

Each person had to present to us their business plan pitch so we could be acquainted with their business.  After hearing each pitch (felt like I was Barbara Corcoran with out the venture capital of Shark Tank), we both shared with the women how we felt about their business ideas and things to think about in terms of branding and marketing their business.

For me there was one lady who had lost her drive to start her business. She couldn’t even complete her presentation.  Someone came in to speak with the women and burst her spirit about her vision.  Now I am down with telling people the truth but I had to tell her when you are an entrepreneur things are not all going to go as you have planned them.  Everyone is not going to see your dream or vision as you see it.  There will be moments in which you will want to throw in the towel and give up on your dream.  But when those things happen look to those who are in your corner.  I know I have a few people who are just a phone call away who will hear me out and will help me iron out or “talk me off the ledge” until the next crisis appears.

I know I have wanted to throw in the towel with my businesses and go back to ‘ole reliable corporate America but there are those things about corporate America I just don’t like.  Plus I have had the drive and desire to be an entrepreneur since the early 1990′s.

Being an entrepreneur is in no way easy.  It definitely has it challenges but they are far outweighed by the rewards.  I am glad that we ended up going to speak to the women who will be graduating from the program on Oct. 7th.  I hope that we were able to make a difference in their lives and offer them some guidance to make their dreams come true.

Have you ever felt like throwing in the towel with your business?  What helped you not give up?

I am amazed that it has been 3 months since I have posted to my blog.  I can’t believe how fast 3 months go by.  It seems like yesterday that I posted that last post that you see there….tee hee.  Where have I been?

This summer has definitely gone by so fast.  I have been busy with classes, making soaps to sell exclusively at the Pooka Boutique, a cruise (okay I did fit some fun in there), training instructors/assistants for a project soon to be release by Dawn Fitch and I, operating my graphic design business as well as my bookkeeping client ( I was an accountant in my past life)……whew I am tired just typing all the stuff I have been busy doing.  But that is no excuse.  I should have  continued to blog!

I won’t cry over spilled milk.  I have dusted myself off and I am back and hopefully on track (fingers are crossed-really hard to do while typing).  I will try my best to blog at least once a week like I was doing since February of this year.  I look forward getting back into the swing of things and connecting with you.

It’s so easy to fall from doing a good thing.  I don’t think the problem is in falling but in not getting back up.  Have you fallen and gotten back up without beating yourself up for falling? We can be our worst critiques, can’t we?