New Body Butters from Soaperstar

Hi everyone... sorry I've been so lax about writing to the blog but I've just been up to my eyeballs and beyond with everything lately.  As you know I also work full-time and that job has times when it's extremely stressful, the last 2 months being one of those times.  On top of that, you may know that I am involved in a collaborative venture with some women friends, all of whom run their own businesses and have worked to get our Facebook and Twitter accounts up and running and, in the last week, set up a forum for people to join (if you're interested in joining, the link is http://www.creationcollaboration.myfastforum.org/).

Anyway, despite all that and some family issues, I spent last weekend making lots of body butters and I wanted to show you here. I've also redesigned my labels and I think they are clearer and fresher and, most importantly, more professional looking.  I've also redesigned my soap labels to match with these but they're not quite at final sign off stage as yet. 

So - to the Body Butters!

Geranium & Lavender - Essential Oil Blend

Citrus Sunshine - with a blend of Tangerine, Mandarin & May Chang Essential Oils

Summer Sunflower - a wonderfully summery fragrance

Raspberry Blonde - a sweet deep blend of juicy Raspberries & soft Vanilla

Sandalwood & Vetiver - deep sensual woody blend of fragrance, very unisex

I love each of them and I really enjoyed making them - I am moving towards developing my range into specific fragrance groups and these are the start towards that. Each of these butters contains Shea Butter and Coconut Oil and the Citrus Sunshine, Raspberry Blonde and Geranium & Lavender all contain exotic Illippe Butter.  For details on each of these butters including the benefits they give to your skin, check out our website. 

I really hope you enjoyed seeing these and sorry again for having been so quite lately.  If you're interested in purchasing any of this butters or any of our luxury handcrafted goatsmilk & glycerine soaps, then check out our website at http://www.soaperstar.com/ - you can join our Fan Page on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/soaperstar or you can follow me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/soaperstar.

Creation|Collaboration's 10th Blog Hop!

Welcome to Creation|Collaboration's 10th and last in this series; Women Wednesday blog roll, hosted by Beads & More by Lois, Soaperstar and Plans and Presents

Creation|Collaboration was set up by eight women, all existing friends, who run small businesses from their homes. We have started Women Wednesday blog roll to link up with other women in business, spread the word about Creation|Collaboration and basically just have fun visiting all of your interesting blogs!


We hope you have joined the weekly blog hops, we will be doing more of them in the future with a slight difference!

Heres how you can join in with Collaboration Women Wednesday:

• Link up your blog name and URL to your Women Wednesday blog post using the McKLinky below (you only need to add on one blog to be seen on all of the McKLinky blog roll's) Please note that it's for blogs only and not links to your websites or shops.
• Follow our Creation|Collaboration blog and the hostesses listed in the first 3 slots.
• Grab our Women Wednesday button and feature it on your blog or Women Wednesday blog post.
• Follow and comment saying you're from Women Wednesday on as many blogs as you likes listed in the McKlinky box.
• Follow back any new followers from Women Wednesday!

It's that easy and a fun way to discover new and interesting blogs and us women at Creation|Collaboration get to meet other women in business!

Last week Jacquie Swain from Soaphora was picked to be our 5th Blog Hop Feature!


Jacquie has incorperated Soaphora and A String of Beads to handcraft beautiful soaps, creams, balms and lampwork beads in her studio.

We asked Jacquie 5 questions so we could find out more about her and her business.

1. Tell us about yourself and your business.

I started my business in 2006 after a lengthy time off sick from my job, I started making jewellery, which, in turn, I started to sell. I then got more and more interested in where the beads came from (ethically) and so started to source British made lampwork beads. I loved them so much I started making them myself. I still make and sell beads and from time to time jewellery, but it's the beads that are my main passion. 

2. What do you love most about having your own business?

I love that each day is different, I love being able to lock myself into my studio and create when I want. I love the freedom of being my own boss and making the decisions!

3. What would you like to change?

What would I like to change, apart from the obvious, More sales, the only thing I would change at the moment is to perhaps streamline my range of fragrances a bit. There's always room for change though!

4. What do you love most about blogging?

I love the sharing of information, seeing others creativity. Lovely photographs and always learning something new!

5. What is your most favourite thing you have made?

My favourite thing that I've made, hmm thats tricky. Over the years I have made somewhere in the region of 4000 silver core beads and many many sets and its hard to have favourites as I always see the technical flaws, I'm also a relatively new soap maker and my favourites are based on fragrance and how they feel to me when I use them ( I'm biased I know so am bound to say I love them all!) However I would say that that whatever you make your first should always be your favourite as its a constant reminder of how far you've come and what you've achieved. I still feel excited when I see the first soap I made and although it's not the best and it has no smell I'm still amazed that its soap!

Thank you Jacquie for being part of the blog hop and feature.

Make sure you check out her blog

You can buy her products from her Website

Creation|Collaboration 9th Women Wednesday Blog Roll - get involved!

Welcome to Creation|Collaboration's 9th Women Wednesday blog roll, hosted by Beads & More by Lois, Soaperstar and Plans and Presents

Creation|Collaboration was set up by eight women, all existing friends, who run small businesses from their homes. We have started Women Wednesday blog roll to link up with other women in business, spread the word about Creation|Collaboration and basically just have fun visiting all of your interesting blogs!

Join in each week and you could be the following weeks blog feature. Every Thursday we will use Randomness software to pick someone from that weeks blog hop and announce who will be the next blog feature.

Heres how you can join in with Collaboration Women Wednesday:

• Link up your blog name and URL to your Women Wednesday blog post using the McKLinky below (you only need to add on one blog to be seen on all of the McKLinky blog roll's) Please note that it's for blogs only and not links to your websites or shops.
• Follow our Creation|Collaboration blog and the hostesses listed in the first 3 slots.
• Grab our Women Wednesday button and feature it on your blog or Women Wednesday blog post.
• Follow and comment saying you're from Women Wednesday on as many blogs as you likes listed in the McKlinky box.
• Follow back any new followers from Women Wednesday!

It's that easy and a fun way to discover new and interesting blogs and us women at Creation|Collaboration get to meet other women in business!

Last week Polly from Miss Polly was picked to be our 4th Blog Hop Feature!

Miss Polly is a new bath and beauty company based in Ayrshire, Scotland. All their products are handmade with beautiful packaging that makes them stand out.

We asked Polly 5 questions so we could find out more about her and her business.

1. Tell us about yourself and your business.

Hello, my name is Polly and I live in Ayrshire with my husband and son Matthew. I started making soaps as a hobby and gave myself 3 years to start a business. Once I mastered soaps, I then turned to body butters and I will be launching body scrubs, bath salts, bath oils, and Cold Process soaps all before the end of the year. 

I had no idea how much I would enjoy making bath products, or how much I would want other people to enjoy Miss Polly soaps, so it has been a wonderful suprise that the business has taken off so much quicker and more successfully than I ever imagined. And with so much more products than I ever dreamed of making.

2. What do you love most about having your own business?

My business is just that, my business. I thought it, dreamed it, cried over it, have handmade every single product and that is a huge boost for me. I'm not quite my own boss, as the big decisions (e.g. the big financial outlays) are made jointly with my husband, but being the owner of my own business has forced me to find skills and confidence I never knew I had, to get out there, to networking events, to shop owners, and put me and Miss Polly into the public eye. The success of Miss Polly rests on my shoulders, which might sound daunting, but is actually quite empowering and is a great motivator!

3. What would you like to change?

The usual - time and money. I work 3 days a week in an office, and it's hard to craft the other 2 weekdays with a very inquisitive toddler on the loose, so I do most things in the evenings and weekends. It's tiring but worth it as I get a huge feeling of satisfaction when I see all those pretty tins lined up on the shelf. And all the practising, the abandoned projects, just getting to this stage has been costly, so more time and money would help take the business forward and allow me to work on the ideas I have spinning around in my head.

4. What do you love most about Blogging?

For me, blogging isn't just about selling my products,  though that is important too, but it is a way of getting to know the people behing the brand, the individuals who are creating all these lovely products. I am interested to read about their thoughts and their lives, as we are all in similar positions and the community spirit among bloggers means that we all help and support each other, which is fantastic. I would not have been anywhere near this stage without fantastic feedback from networking sites. 

5. What is your most favourite thing you have made?

My favourite has to be my body butters because they work! I love that people will buy a Miss Polly body butter and within a week or 2 they will have lovely soft skin. I take enormous satisfaction from the knowledge that I've created something that has a direct beneficial effect on their skin. 

Thank you Polly for being part of the blog hop and feature.

You can buy Miss Polly products from their website

If you would like to be featured next week, make sure you join in this weeks blog hop, only 2 more left!

Creation|Collaboration 8th Women Wednesday Blog Roll

Welcome to Creation|Collaboration's 8th Women Wednesday blog roll, hosted by Beads & More by Lois, Soaperstar and Plans and Presents

Creation|Collaboration was set up by eight women, all existing friends, who run small businesses from their homes. We have started Women Wednesday blog roll to link up with other women in business, spread the word about Creation|Collaboration and basically just have fun visiting all of your interesting blogs!

Join in each week and you could be the following weeks blog feature. Every Thursday we will use Randomness software to pick someone from that weeks blog hop and announce who will be the next blog feature.

Heres how you can join in with Collaboration Women Wednesday:

• Link up your blog name and URL to your Women Wednesday blog post using the McKLinky below (you only need to add on one blog to be seen on all of the McKLinky blog roll's) Please note that it's for blogs only and not links to your websites or shops.
• Follow our Creation|Collaboration blog and the hostesses listed in the first 3 slots.
• Grab our Women Wednesday button and feature it on your blog or Women Wednesday blog post.
• Follow and comment saying you're from Women Wednesday on as many blogs as you likes listed in the McKlinky box.
• Follow back any new followers from Women Wednesday!

It's that easy and a fun way to discover new and interesting blogs and us women at Creation|Collaboration get to meet other women in business!

Last week Suzanne from Scent Trail was picked to be our 3rd Blog Hop Feature!

Suzanne is a soap maker living in the North West, her soaps are made using the hot process method and are all palm oil free. She also makes lovely bath salts and body butters, read more to find out more about Scent Trail.

  

We asked Suzanne 5 questions so we could find out more about her and her business.

1. Tell us more about yourself and your business.

My name is Suzanne Jones. I live in the north west of England, and work part time in a dog food company, run a small petsitting business which I have had for about four years, and more recently set up a bath and beauty company. Oh, and I make jewellery from time to time, using Fair Trade silver beads and findings which I get direct from Thailand.

Over the past ten years or so, I have become more concerned with what I eat, where the products I use come from and how they have been tested.  For a couple of years I played with the idea of making soap, something I wanted to do but found courage lacking. The support I received from one of the forums I am a member of gave me that courage, and  finally I found something that I am good at (I think) and that I love to do. It has taken me a long time to decide what I want to be when I grow up but this is it. I love it.

The company was started after foisting my soap on a number of guinea pigs, who came back for more!  I knew then that I had the recipe right, so one safety assessment later, I set up Scent Trail in February of this year.  Since then I have created and recently launched a body butter, and I am working on a foot balm and have ideas for more products than I have time to make.  I believe in the Fair Trade ethic and like to use Fair Trade ingredients if they are available.

2. What do you love most about having your own business?

I love being my own boss. There is something quite liberating about not having to answer to someone, having creative control, and being able to go off on a tangent and see where it leads. I love standing in the kitchen stirring my cauldron and experimenting with new ingredients.

3. What would you like to change?

More money would be nice, but mainly, I would love more time to devote to the business. It is frustrating to have an idea for a new product, or packaging idea and not be able to do anything about it for a couple of days because everything else gets in the way. I need to try to build the business and that takes time that at the moment I am struggling to find.

4. What do you love most about blogging?

I have always kept a diary and love using words, blogging is an extension of that and is such an immediate way of contacting people, and is a great way of networking and showcasing your products.

5. What is your most favourite item you have made?


My favourite creation? That is difficult because they are all my babies. It is probably what I have done last, and in this case it is the body butter I made yesterday. It absorbs beautifully and makes the skin feel gorgeously soft.

Thank you Suzanne for being part of the blog hop and feature.

You can buy Scent Trail products from their website

If you would like to be featured next week, make sure you join in this weeks blog hop, only 3 more left!

The Silver Fox!

Well Mr Soaperstar and I had a talk last night and it turns out he'd love to get involved in Soaperstar much more than he does already (when you get a package delivered, he's the one that drops it to the Post Office!). 

So we decided that today, I'd train him in! We decided to jump right in and make a Body Butter together - this is designed to be anti-heat ... as our Body Butters are 100% butters/oils, obviously, in hot weather, they will tend to melt a little.  So, we've added a higher level of harder butters to reduce the "melty" effect (yes, that's a technical term!).

We decided to work with blend of Shea, Mango and Cocoa Butters along with Olive & Sunflower Seed oils as they are soooooo good for your skin.  Mr Soaperstar worked to the recipe perfectly and, under minimal instructions from me, made a perfect body butter... he choose a blend of Lime, Litsea, Orange Blossom on a woody/musky base to fragrance it (it's a beautiful, a perfect unisex, Summer scent). 

The base butter was a creamy colour but he wanted to colour it with a tinch of purple mica but that sort of turned it silver instead so we choose to call it The Silver Fox! It's very appropriate for Mr Soaperstar as he's a little bit of a silver fox himself! Hope you like the pictures and the story - I have to say it's a really excellent butter and it just smells fabulous!

Excellent Reviews for our Sheer Luxury Body Butter

Since their lauch on 1 April, our Sheer Luxury Body Butters have really gone down a treat with our customers.  I've received two absolutely fabulous reviews of them and our luxury handcrafted soap and thought I'd share them with you here.

Sinead recently ordered one of our very new (not yet even released!) Body Butters and said "I received my new Zesty Citrus Cream soap yesterday which smells fab and can't wait to open it (I know it will be amazing, the soaps always are!) but had to share about the bodybutter - I was sent an exclusive - Summer Sunflowers!! Opened it and the smell - pure sunshine - but it gets better, normally body butters are kind of thick? This is like a mousse - goes on the skin and becomes like a body oil that feels amazing and soaks right in! I'm converted totally and recommend this product to anyone - friends are sorted now with presents for ever! Well done Celine on an amazing product!!".  

And Felicity messaged me on Facebook to say "Hi Celine, I just wanted to post up about the products I received from you this week....the package was so beautifully wrapped that I took it into work to show the girls before I defaced it with my scissors. Well the excitement of the wrapping alone was tremendous and then came the two body butters that I ordered. The girls went mad for the citrus scented option and immediately wanted to try both out. they loved it, I loved it and I had to give up the business card and the little sticker on the front of the box so that they would know how to contact you. I am looking forward to my yummy hot bubble bath this evening where I will be doing eeeney meeeny miney mo on which option to smother myself in when I get out. To a job well done on both a professional as well as a fun level, I give you a big thumbs up. PS - Your packaging and branding is just excellent."

I was blown away by these reviews and wanted to thank both girls for taking the time to tell me how much they love the products! I really appreciate - feedback like this makes all the months of research so worth it!

Oddly enough, both girls are florists so know a thing or two about fabulous fragrances and excellent design!

If you'd like to check out our Sheer Luxury Body Butter selection (new fragrances being added next week, including the Summer Sunflowers) then check out our website at http://www.soaperstar.com/ - we also carry a wide range of luxury handcrafted goatsmilk & glycerine soaps.  

Welcome to Creation|Collaboration's 7th Women Wednesday blog roll, hosted by Beads & More by Lois, Soaperstar and Plans and Presents

Creation|Collaboration was set up by eight women, all existing friends, who run small businesses from their homes. We have started Women Wednesday blog roll to link up with other women in business, spread the word about Creation|Collaboration and basically just have fun visiting all of your interesting blogs!

Join in each week and you could be the following weeks blog feature. Every Thursday we will use Randomness software to pick someone from that weeks blog hop and announce who will be the next blog feature.

Heres how you can join in with Collaboration Women Wednesday:

• Link up your blog name and URL to your Women Wednesday blog post using the McKLinky below (you only need to add on one blog to be seen on all of the McKLinky blog roll's) Please note that it's for blogs only and not links to your websites or shops.
• Follow our Creation|Collaboration blog and the hostesses listed in the first 3 slots.
• Grab our Women Wednesday button and feature it on your blog or Women Wednesday blog post.
• Follow and comment saying you're from Women Wednesday on as many blogs as you likes listed in the McKlinky box.
• Follow back any new followers from Women Wednesday!

It's that easy and a fun way to discover new and interesting blogs and us women at Creation|Collaboration get to meet other women in business!

Last week Michelle Wyatt from Melusine Soap was picked to be our 2nd Blog Hop Feature!

Michelle is a lovely soaper based in Somerset, she handcrafts all of her Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) free, glycerin soaps at home, she sells them online and at fairs. Read more to find out more about Melusine Soap!

 

We asked Michelle 5 questions so we could find out more about her and her business.

1. Tell us more about yourself and your business.

Hello, my name is Michelle, I live in the beautiful county of Somerset and I'm a mum to my 1 year old daughter, Mathilda. I've been making glycerine soaps for about 10 months now.  It started off as a little hobby to do while I was on maternity leave, making soaps as gifts for friends and family and then it just snowballed from there!  I was very fortunate to be subject to a random act of kindness from a lady I met through a soap making forum and she basically helped pay for my Safety Assessment for me to start selling soaps to customers.  From then on I've been gradually building up my collection, which is heavily inspired by my surroundings, nature and folklore.  I also set up a shop on Folksy and I had my first ever craft fair at the beginning of May.  It went so well that it helped me to decide to not return to my 9-5, well-paid job as a buyer for a helicopter manufacturer, and to focus on bringing up my daughter and making and selling soaps from home!

2. What do you love most about having your own business?

I love the creativity.  That is definitely my favourite part as there's nothing more satisfying then creating something beautiful that people also enjoy and get pleasure from.  I also love belonging to such a lovely community of fellow crafters.  Virtually everyone I've met, either on Twitter, social networking sites, or at craft fairs, have been very supportive and helpful, which is something I never noticed while working for a large company.

3. What would you like to change?

I have a list as long as my arm at the moment regarding things I'd like to change!  My business has only just started, and I'm completely learning everything from scratch.  My main priority at the moment is to clarify my brand and my logo, it's something that has been put on the back burner for far too long while I've been busy experimenting with soap making!  I'll then be working on a website which I aim to be up and running by the end of the year.

4. What do you love most about blogging?

I'm also very new to blogging, but I'm enjoying it very much.  It's a very important part of networking and I love how it can be great exposure for my business and I'm enjoying the the Folksy Friday and Creation Collaboration Women Wednesday blog hops.  Again it's like being part of a great community of crafters, who all support and learn from each other.  Taking part in blog hops means that I can meet even more crafters and keep my finger on the pulse.

5. What is your most favourite item you have made?

I'm very proud of my Oats, Milk and Somerset Honey soap.  It took a lot of planning because I really wanted to make something using local produce and to try and make it unique in some way as Oat, Milk and Honey soaps are very popular among other soapers.  It was interesting to make because it involved several different ingredients and techniques (including the bubble wrap technique to create a honeycomb effect for the honey layer) so I felt like it tested the skills I had developed over the last few months.  It's a popular seller at local craft fairs and was even ordered by someone in Alabama recently, which was an amazing complement to me and my work!

Thank you Michelle for being part of the blog hop and feature.

Buy Melusine Soaps through her Folksy Shop or you can catch Melusine Soap on Facebook.

If you would like to be featured next week, make sure you join in on this weeks blog hop!