Cashmere Silk

Well I have a little news! During the Christmas holidays, my fabulously kind safety assessor sent me my Safety Assessment for cold & hot process traditionally made soaps (if you're a regular reader, you'll know that those selling any form of cosmetics in the EU, need to hold safety assessments for all their products).  So now I can legally sell these!

I had a very lazy Christmas and did very little indeed but, in the last few days, the bug seems to have bitten again - starting with this soap, Cashmere Silk.  It contains Sweet Almond Oil and Golden Olive Oil along with a generous dose of Pure Silk (I've used this recipe before and it was recently reviewed on a forum I belong to by a very experienced soaper who raved about it... I was chuffed!). 

The soap in its mould

I've coloured the top layer with a camel coloured mica and a very light dusting of an irridescent glitter - I tried to get the impression of soft, warm cashmere. 

You can see the golden creaminess given by the Golden Olive Oil in the base colour and the glitter gently sparkles

This looks so delicious - like the best, golden, creamy fudge

I think I have captured the feel of cashmere in this soap

I just adore the gentle glisten given by the mica & glitter which really shows the gentle swirls on the top of the soap

The soap is fragranced with essences of Moroccan jasmine, lily of the valley and bergamot with warm undertones of sandalwood, amber and musk - it smells like a very top end perfume, not too floral with a warm basenote. 

The soap will need to cure for 6 weeks and so will be ready by 13 February - it's a limited edition and there will be 8 bars available for sale then. 



Customer Service - Is it THAT important?

I do find I ask this question a lot - actually, it's rhetorical for me because I completely believe that it's one of the most important aspects of any business but, most especially, for a business trying to keep afloat during a recession.

I was pondering this question today and, as I go about trying to organise things for my holidays, I found a perfect example of really bad customer service - so bad, I had to Tweet about it!

I'd been having a discussion with my husband as to how we should get to the airport - as my Dad is going with us, a coach was out of the question (he's 78) so we decided we'd get a taxi.  Great.  We happened to hear an ad on the radio for a cab company who offered discounts for each journey so I thought I'd give them a call.

I'm ringing and get put on hold immediately - ok fine, I'm thinking they're hugely busy, probably a good sign.  Then the call gets answered.

Me:  Hi, I was calling to see how much the taxi fare from my house (location named of course, I'm not that bad that I'd assume she'd know!) to the airport would be please?
Girl: It is whatever it is with a discount
Me: Emmm, ok but I don't know what it is even with a discount so could you possibly tell me?
Girl: *Sighs* Whatever the taxi meter says it is minus the discount (said in a way that clearly told me she thought I might need assistance to get through life).
Me: Emmm, ok then, thank you so much for your help.

Two seconds with Mr Google, and I found the taxi rate (huge!) and then got my calculator and worked out what 25% off would be (still huge).  Ok so you could say, well why didn't you Google that in the first place then? Because I wasn't aware that the company I'd like to purchase a service from wouldn't be able to quote me for the service they provide would be my answer.  I was left feeling like an idiot, like I'd wasted her time (and mine) and that I was a complete inconvenience.

Needless to say, I didn't book that taxi.

The whole episode got me thinking of examples of good service then which was easy to come up with.  One of my suppliers, Helen, is an excellent example - when you place an order with her, she responds back in less time that it can take to make a cup of tea, asking if everything was ok, telling you when she'll package up the order, when it'll be sent and when I can expect it to arrive.  Then she'll email to say it's sent off and always says to check back with her if there are any problems.  If I have a query on any of her products, she's always available to ask any questions or help in anyway.  Her products are second to none (which is why I use her as a Soaperstar supplier) too!

I find it incredible that, in these recessionary times, one company can be so unconcerned with what their customers think or what experience their customer has, one would have thought that they'd fall over themselves to gain new customers.

At Soaperstar, we are firmly of the opionion that our customers are our priority - in everything we do, we put the customers first ... so we buy the best quality ingredients, we comply with all current legislation, we follow good working practices, we test and research all our products until we're completely happy with them, we acknowledge receipt of orders and keep in contact with customers to tell them about delivery times, we're fully available on our site, email, Facebook and Twitter and communciate with and respond to our customers on a daily basis.  For us, there is no other way of running our business - nothing less is acceptable.

So thanks, taxi company, but no thanks - today is a lesson learned ... to know that our customer service is a priority to us and that we're always trying to improve, every way we can.

The Importance of Doing it Right

I've been doing a little internet research this evening on various other soap/body product makers.  There are so many really excellent people out there doing really excellent work and producing beautiful products that should be applauded and bought by the truckload!

But, and I hate to say this, there are some who aren't ... who's products may look very nice in the pictures, but when you look at their ingredients listing, they aren't following EU regulations regarding cosmetics and sale of same.  Now, we may all laugh at EU regs at times (remember the straight bananas?) but cosmetic legislation is put in place in order to protect you, the consumer.  From ensuring that a manufacturer (and I mean the big boys like Lush etc to the small producer making everything themselves by hand, like me) is fully safety assessed, that all the ingredients are stated correctly using the full INCI* terminology (for instance, when water is stated as Aqua, it's not that we're trying to sound posh, that's the law) to being fully insured... all of this is hugely important. 

Tonight, I found some producers who aren't keeping to these regulations and I felt the need to clearly state to everyone that we at Soaperstar are very proud to say that we've worked long and hard to ensure that we fully abide by EU cosmetic regulation, are fully safety assessed for all our products, are fully insured and very aware of the importance of all of these things to our customers.  I would HATE for anyone to lump our company alongside the producers that I found this evening. 

We strive to ensure the highest quality of production and ingredients for all our products and we test, test, test and test some more all new ideas before we ever launch them on the market.  We want to only produce products that we love to make, that we feel are of the highest possible quality and that we truly believe in and can stand by.  We would feel like total frauds to pass off some ill tested, badly labelled and poorly performing products to our customers. 

It really upsets me that there are people out there who think it's ok to not list all the ingredients, to not list any potential allergens, to not disclose fully what goes into their products, to market only the "label appeal" ingredients but not list every single thing that goes into their products - what happens if someone buys something from them and is horribly allergic to it? If they'd been open and above board with their labelling in the first place, that customer could then make an educated decision to not purchase the product.  It annoys me that some producers are happy to put products out on the market to unsuspecting customers - the legislation is there for a reason, that reason being the protection of consumers. 

Soaperstar was the first non UK member of the Guild of Craft Soap and Toiletry Makers - the Guild's has two very specific aims:
(1) To raise awareness of the legislative standards that are in place that apply to craft soap and toiletry makers
(2) To register as members of the Guild crafters who work in compliance with this legislation and who hold relevant public liability insurance

In order to achieve membership, you have to produce written evidence that, as a producer, you are fully safety assessed and fully insured - without this, you cannot become a member. 

I would urge any consumer who loves to buy handmade products to keep buying them but please ensure that the ingredients in the products are fully and correctly listed (for instance, no label should list Cocoa Butter but should call it Theobroma Cacao, Coconut Oil should only be listed as Cocos Nucifera) - if not, ask why not.  Ask the producer are all the allergens present in Essential or Fragrance Oils listed.. if not, why not.  If you want to, ask are they full safety assessed, or fully insured... they should be.  If they're not, why not. 

It's so important to us at Soaperstar that the customer comes first, they are the whole reason we exist in the first place - we work so hard to ensure that everything we do, we do for our customers and we do it in the right way... and this includes extensive (and expensive!) research and development into new products, correct and full labelling (not just highlighting the ingredients you want to see and hiding those you don't!) and abiding by the rules laid down to protect the customer. 

I am sorry if this is a little ranty but I got so annoyed tonight - and then got to thinking that people would think that maybe we're like that too and I had to come here and talk about it. 

We are so passionate that we do the right thing, make our products in the right way, make our customers happy and safe that I don't want anyone to think that we're like other companies who don't care enough about their customers to help protect them. 

There are, of course, many many many producers out there who make fantastic products and the few that don't abide by the regulations are, thankfully, few and far between.  Consumer awareness though is so necessary and I felt it so important that people know what they should be looking for and what level of service they deserve to get.

End of rant!

* INCI means International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients - you can find more information here.  If you'd like to read more about EU cosmetic regulations, please click here (be aware, it's pretty dense reading!