“Artisan Soap Line”

The other day, I was talking to a young lady, Anita, who sells soap in one of our shops.  The week before, we had introduced our new “ARTISAN” SOAP LINE,  and Gary had created an exciting new window display.

I asked how the new soaps were doing, and Anita replied that they were going really well. People were noticing the window display, which “stopped them in their tracks,” and many came in to see the new line.

The soaps were a bit more expensive…because the cost
of our oils had gone up, shipping had gone up a lot, and we had added
organic oil to them….and used only 100% Pure Essential oils.
Would people pay $1 more for a good hand-made natural all-vegetable soap?

“If I don’t bring my lunch,” said Anita, “I go over to the cafe where

I can get natural and organic food, the coffee shop is great, too, andI notice more and more people are going there.”Then, she added a line which I thought was GREAT!! And so, I’m passing it along!

“People are killing themselves by making cheap choices,” she said.

What a perfect concept!  CHEAP CHOICES!!! The bookstores are full of books about ‘industrial food.’ Magazines are full of articles about organic foods
shipped from Chile, or China???? and where and how to ‘buy local.’

We’re not buying coffee in the big cheap 2# tin anymore, and we’re buying
local, organic eggs, and becoming “locavores” instead.  A loaf of bread
used to have four ingredients; wheat, salt, flour, and water.  Maybe the
water doesn’t count.  A recent book listed about 40 ingredients in a
manufactured bread.  Want to eat “azodicarbonamide?”

Now, it’s time to spend a little more on our personal care, right?  How
about a soap with four ingredients?? I thought of calling the new line,
“Local Soaps.”  If most people knew what was in the bar of ’soap’ they
showered with each a.m., they wouldn’t use it!  More about this next time.

Why use an “Artisan” soap?  It has just a few ingredients; a combination
of food-grade oils; coconut, palm, olive, soy, usually 2 or 3 essential
oils, and sometimes, for a little scrub, some crushed oats, bran or tea
leaves. Gary makes them all by hand, a small batch each day.  They are hand-cut the
next day…and after 3-4 weeks curing time, they are hand-wrapped by Claire
and Heather.

It’s our answer to ‘CHEAP CHOICES’ and you can buy some today!

Thanks, Anita….

By for now…

Linda Quiring

Where Are We Going?

---

August 20, 2008 by Linda Quiring

We are asked almost daily about the future….Specifically, we answer questions like,
“what new products are coming on stream?” and “in what direction is the company headed?”and, more simply,”What’s New??”Well, the last one is easy. We’ve been working diligently for months to
bring you not only fresh, handmade, bio-degradable artisan soaps as we have for decades……
but to make them organic as well.

We hit a snag.

We use only top quality ingredients…the ones French and Italian soapmakers have been using for generations; palm, coconut and olive. Why? They make the best soap; palm is bland with a high lauric content…means it moisturizes. Coconut for the best lather..and olive is healing. The combo can’t be beat. Canola, soya, even Crisco now find their way into handmade soaps…and many of them are actually detergent bars as many large chemical companies now manufacture soapmaking supplies.

We checked around, with our suppliers,,,with others…and found the organic oils we wanted…but, WOW!!
the price of our soaps would have soared!!”Well,” we thought, “this is what everyone wants.” So we began to order the organic oils. Guess what?? Not available..or, “we have a pallet coming in September…but it’s already spoken for.” In practical terms….we were simply unable to make the switch.

What was our competition doing?? Adding 1% organic oils and calling the soaps “Organic”?????
So, we’ve decided to add organic oils as they become available….although we won’t change our labelling
until we can guarantee ALL the oils are organic. Meanwhile…we are introducing our new line of six
botanical artisan soaps….all vegetable oils….all 100% pure essential oils, handmade, handcut and wrapped.

What else??

Making the Switch to Glass! Yes,,we plan to put most of our products into glass containers in the coming
year. Some, those for use in the shower, like shampoo, will likely stay in plastic for safety’s sake.
We will probably use some little tins, paper bags and whatever else we can find that looks great, works well,
and ISN’T PLASTIC!

And finally,,,we are reformulating and refining our product line…a new Spa Line, a new line of skin care,
new organic shampoo and conditioner….and lots more. We find it takes way more time than we thought to make the changes we want: new ingredients must be sourced…new suppliers found, and with all this…we try to keep prices reasonable..as we always have.

So, that’s where we’re headed……let us know what you think…and do as many of our regular customers do…
keep in touch and keep bugging us for things you want…like the new lip balm and solid shampoo bars on the way….these were the #1 and #2 requested items in the last year…but, they had to be not just new items,
but GREAT NEW PRODUCTS!

Linda Quiring,

Salt Spring Island

Tags: handmade soap, natural bodycare, Salt Spring Island, Saltspring Soapworks