A. In 1997, while
visiting my youngest sister in Oakland, CA, I spied a crafts newspaper
on one of her tables. The paper is called, "By Hand." I'm always
on the lookout for easy-to-make, yet unique Christmas gifts. The article
on the front page of that paper introduced me to the world of MP.
The author of the article suggested melting down a bar of store-bought
glycerin soap and adding all kinds of nifty stuff to create a one-of-a-kind
When I'm asked by customers if I have a shop, I always adopt a dead serious expression and dramatically inform them, "My soap is manufactured in an EXTREMELY high-tech laboratory -- my kitchen. And my soap is tested under ONLY the MOST EXTREME conditions to determine it worthiness for public use -- 3 boys and 1 Labrador who play soccer. Yes, my dog plays soccer (doesn't everybody's?). Q. Tell us about your soap name and how it came about. A. Funny thing is, I didn't have to mull very long over what name to use because almost as soon as I decided to register, the name "Kith-Kath" popped into my head. It's the nickname my Grandfather used to call me. I'll admit, I wasn't that enthused at first about using the name. I'm not into psychic stuff, but strange as it may sound, it was almost as if I were being "told" to use my old nickname. Q. How long have you been selling soap and tell us a bit about how you got into the business of soap selling. A. Kith-Kath Bath was officially "born" on March 19, 1998, but my first actual sale was in late 1997. That first paying customer was and still is a clerk at a liquor store I go to. Come to think of it, my first "show" (someone's office and their fellow employees) was with another customer, who also goes to that same liquor store. Guess there's something to be said about hanging out in liquor stores (LOL). Q. Can you offer any tips for soapmakers who want to sell or start a business? What are some major no-no's, mistakes you learned from in your soap business? A. My IMPATIENCE, IMPATIENCE, IMPATIENCE!!! That is the one thing I find difficult to keep a tight reign on. I want to MAKE IT ALL and DO IT ALL! I love equally, doing ceramics, sewing, and making bath products. That's not true! Soap is really my first love, then comes ceramics and sewing. I combine all three on occasion, but I tend to burn myself out occasionally, what with working a regular job (Technical Writer), husband and family, house, and trying to get my business off the ground. I have forbidden myself from going into any more bath & body shops for now because for a while, every time I went into one of those places, I would see something that I knew I could go home and make and add to my line of products. The reality is that customers really don't care how tired you are at the end of your regular workday. They want their products that you promised and when you promised. I'm a baby boomer and the one thing I've noticed about people of my generation (especially the women) is that we are STIIIIIIIILL trying to be our mothers and ourselves. I would suggest, even to the pros, keep a check on how much you bite off to do. Q. How did you get your soap biz off the ground as far as advertising, etc.?
Q. If you have a website, do you think it has helped your sales or have they stayed the same? If you don't have a website, do you think it would be a good investment? A. I've "hired" my oldest son to create my website. I believe it will be a good investment. I have a lot of inventory, and my sewing and ceramic products will be advertised, either to be sold with the bath products or separately. Q. How do you create such neat blends, like your Voodoo berry, that everybody goes nuts over? A. You know, the popularity
of the Voodoo Berry soap surprised me. The name was suggested by
a friend from Louisiana. I had just made some mulberry soap for a
customer. My first Soapnut Soap Swap was coming up, and I wanted
to "create" something unusual. I liked the mulberry soap, but felt it needed
some beefing up, so I lined up all my bottles of oils on the counter and
randomly picked. Then, of course, there
But to get back to the original question.
The Voodoo Berry scent turned out to be a successful fluke and is still
my best seller, but now I usually read up on what fragrances are complimentary
to each other before haphazardly throwing fragrances together. I
have three new fragrances that I've come up with for future swaps.
For now, I'll just tell the names, then depending on if the Soapnuts who
try the soaps like or hate them, will
Q. Do you have a basic soap recipe you use for most of your soaps or do you use several? A. I usually use the standard vegetable shortening, coconut oil, olive oil recipe. Up until the Texas Soap Gathering, where I met Glinda and Tom of Starrville, my superfatting consisted of castor oil. Now, I've branched out into the world of Cocoa Butter, Shea Butter, and that much discussed Monoi de Tahiti. Q. What is one soap ingredient that you couldn't do without? A. It's called, "My Glass of Wine." No joke. I have undercounter lighting in my kitchen. After everybody has disappeared out of the kitchen for the evening and I'm making CP, I turn on the undercounter lighting, go get "My Glass of Wine", slowly stir that beautiful mixture in the kettle, and who needs a man? LOL! I'm laughing, but I seriously hope I don't offend any of our male Soapnuts, who are really some neat guys. Let me just say that the above answer is meant to be for the older, married women like myself (22 years). Q. What is your favorite skin-loving additive for soaps? A. Do I sound like my mother when I say castor oil? A lot of us baby boomers grew up in households where castor oil was good for whatever ailed you inside (Yuuuuuush!). My "FONDEST" memories are of 2 tablespoons of castor oil with an orange juice chaser (Yuuuuuuuush!). Now, though, I like using castor oil only for the outside. Q. Can you tell us about someone who's skin your soap has really helped? We love to hear people brag on homemade soap!!! A. A couple of interesting incidents: First, I am a big believer in the use of and customers being able to see herbs in my soaps. I had a call last week from a Voodoo Berry customer. In addition to ordering more soap, she shared with me that a rash on the arm of her daughter seems to have stopped since using my soap. I IMMEDIATELY let her know (just in case she wasn't aware) that voodoo had NOTHING to do with the disappearance of the rash. The soap is only for cleansing and PERHAPS the herbs I used were the reason for the rash going away. Secondly, a lady, who uses my oatmeal soap loves the smoothness of her skin. Another lady, who uses my Patchouli, says it has really helped her acne. (Patchouli???) Q. How do you feel about using all natural additives (EO's, herbs, etc.) versus synthetic additives (Fragrance oils, colorants, etc.)? A. When I first got into this "business," I was real big on all of the ingredients coming from Mother Nature. Needless to say, that got a beard on it real quick, with regard to certain fragrances and colours. One area where I will not use unnatural anything is my medicinal MPs. I have customers who are not from the U.S. Medicinal soaps (more so than luxury soaps) are what they request. Q. What advice would you give to people who want to make CP soap but haven't made the plunge yet? A. GET OVER THIS FEAR OF LYE THING!!!!!!! Get the Rug Rats outta the kitchen and put on rubber gloves and VOILA! I'm not even go to share how many times I've made soap without gloves (a throwback to my ancestry). |
A.
Simple. I'm a Leo (i.e., overly confident attitude ad nauseum LOL)
with a big mouth, and I like talking about soap. I always have business
cards in my wallet to hand out to anybody and everybody, and I usually
carry several "hotel-sized" samples of soaps in zip-lock snack bags with
labels and an attached card. It's common for me to be standing in
a line, and I'll just happen to ask someone in the line if they've ever
tried homemade soap, then I hand them a card or sample. Or I'll hand
one of the samples to a clerk, along with my payment. Sometimes,
I'll just ask a person what is their favorite fragrance, and the conversation
progresses from there. My big mouth has enabled me to network with so many
people and opened up a lot of doors, which sometimes strikes me (and I'm
sure many in my family) as curious because, you see, I have a speech defect.
I'm a stutterer. That's right, James Earl Jones and I have a thing
in common, and if there is anybody I don't mind having a thing in common
with, it's James Earl Jones.