# NY Times misinformative on soap



## grumpy_owl (Feb 9, 2017)

Has anyone seen this? Full of incomplete or downright misleading information.

I know a fluffy feature article isn't going to have the nuts and bolts of soapmaking, but I'd love to know how to send students home with a bar of just-poured CP. And as for, "You can use anything in your spice cabinet to scent your soap"...AY-YI-YI!

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/08/business/smallbusiness/soap-making.html


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## dixiedragon (Feb 9, 2017)

Bless their hearts. (eye roll)


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## snappyllama (Feb 9, 2017)

Well, at least they mention precise weighing and everyone in the class had on glasses and gloves. That lavender soap is going to look like mouse droppings in a  few days...

How many folks do you think we will get in here from New York asking why their basil soap doesn't smell like anything?


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## HowieRoll (Feb 9, 2017)

I have to admit, I was a little flabbergasted about the woman selling her 6oz bars for $18 each.  The few bars I looked at on her website indicate they are made with olive, coconut, castor, shea, and essential oils.  More power to her if she can get people to pay it, I suppose!


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## Soapprentice (Feb 9, 2017)

Well, in my opinion, the dyes and colours does not make soap any more "unnatural" than the soap actually is..


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## penelopejane (Feb 10, 2017)

HowieRoll said:


> I have to admit, I was a little flabbergasted about the woman selling her 6oz bars for $18 each.  The few bars I looked at on her website indicate they are made with olive, coconut, castor, shea, and essential oils.  More power to her if she can get people to pay it, I suppose!



We have a woman here selling her soap for $16 AUD a bar. It's a gift - wrapped nicely - you can't see the soap. It relies on fragrance.  

They push it for wedding favours. Apparently they market to young women with no dependants who have to have the latest trend regardless of quality and price is no object.  Actually they are suspicious of something that is cheap. Lesson is: Aim for trendy, obviously.


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## earlene (Feb 10, 2017)

Wish I could read the article, but I have reached my limit of 10 free articles per month.


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## randycoxclemson (Feb 10, 2017)

I just read it and it said she sells 6 oz bars for $8 apiece, which seems reasonable to me.

And it didn't say they took home a bar of soap, but rather "some soap" with instructions to let it cure.

At $168 for the three-hour session, maybe they go home with an entire loaf and are instructed to cut it the next day and let it cure.  That would make more sense.


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## penelopejane (Feb 10, 2017)

earlene said:


> Wish I could read the article, but I have reached my limit of 10 free articles per month.



I'll cut and paste and pm it to you earlene. Tomorrow when I am on the computer (6hrs or so).



randycoxclemson said:


> I just read it and it said she sells 6 oz bars for $8 apiece, which seems reasonable to me.
> 
> And it didn't say they took home a bar of soap, but rather "some soap" with instructions to let it cure.
> 
> At $168 for the three-hour session, maybe they go home with an entire loaf and are instructed to cut it the next day and let it cure.  That would make more sense.



Keep reding the $18 bars are sold by someone else later in the article.


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## cherrycoke216 (Feb 10, 2017)

penelopejane said:


> We have a woman here selling her soap for $16 AUD a bar. It's a gift - wrapped nicely - you can't see the soap. It relies on fragrance.
> 
> They push it for wedding favours. Apparently they market to young women with no dependants who have to have the latest trend regardless of quality and price is no object.  Actually they are suspicious of something that is cheap. Lesson is: Aim for trendy, obviously.




Pictures,please!?
I would like to know what trendy soap  packaging looks like.
( is it ok to ask for this particular company's trendy wrapping...?)  I'm just curious.


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## Dahila (Feb 10, 2017)

I had read it, and could not find anything wrong with it, I do believe the price included mold too.


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## cherrycoke216 (Feb 10, 2017)

HowieRoll said:


> I have to admit, I was a little flabbergasted about the woman selling her 6oz bars for $18 each.  The few bars I looked at on her website indicate they are made with olive, coconut, castor, shea, and essential oils.  More power to her if she can get people to pay it, I suppose!




Ok, I have used the Saipua soap in the article. It was like few years back, and cost like $13 USD ( I live in Taiwan, there's an "organic" handmade skin care shop carries the aforementioned Saipua soap. ) I think they have raise quite some price. Because I have check their site out back then.
And the soap is quite dry for me. I'm combination skin lives in subtropical area.  
They changed the gift wrapping, too. It was more like gift shop paper wrapping with a cigar band. On the cigar band, there's stamp indicating the soap name you are buying. 
I guess it's the NYC chic cost so much( and the imported gift paper from Italy and Nepal?)


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## HowieRoll (Feb 10, 2017)

cherrycoke216 said:


> Ok, I have used the Saipua soap in the article. It was like few years back, and cost like $13 USD ( I live in Taiwan, there's an "organic" handmade skin care shop carries the aforementioned Saipua soap. ) I think they have raise quite some price. Because I have check their site out back then.
> And the soap is quite dry for me. I'm combination skin lives in subtropical area.
> They changed the gift wrapping, too. It was more like gift shop paper wrapping with a cigar band. On the cigar band, there's stamp indicating the soap name you are buying.
> I guess it's the NYC chic cost so much( and the imported gift paper from Italy and Nepal?)



Yes, I suspect the imported wrapping paper and gold-stamped printing is driving up the cost scale, because it doesn't appear to be the ingredients used.


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## Millie (Feb 10, 2017)

The soaping craze has already hit my area (sorry to those of you who have mastered the craft and sell for a living). I visited a gift shop before christmas selling a book on soaping, and the soaps of every newbie in the area. Most were the usual trinity oils, many scented with citrus EOs, one was just coconut and castor oil (ouch) and the best: an 'all natural' MP soap called 'banana bread' with 'real chopped walnuts'. Bet that's fun to clean out of the drain!


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## snappyllama (Feb 10, 2017)

earlene said:


> Wish I could read the article, but I have reached my limit of 10 free articles per month.



Try opening it with an Incognito window (if you're using Chrome). Sometimes that will fool it..


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## earlene (Feb 10, 2017)

penelopejane said:


> I'll cut and paste and pm it to you earlene. Tomorrow when I am on the computer (6hrs or so).



Thank you, but thanks to snappyllama's suggestion,  I can now read it!



snappyllama said:


> Try opening it with an Incognito window (if you're using Chrome). Sometimes that will fool it..



I love learning new things!  Thank you!  I always wondered if I'd ever have a need or desire to use the incognito window.  It's so cool!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  ~ ~ ~  ~ ~

Edited to add:


I may have skimmed it too quickly, but I seem to be missing the loads of mis-information.

The journalist did a fine job of reporting the facts as he learned them, even included a quote from Leigh O'Donnell at the Hand Crafted Soap & Cosmetics Guild.  Sure the 'anything in your spice cabinet' for fragrance is a bit off, but he was using a direct quote, and who knows, maybe the instructor really only has things in her spice cabinet that give off fragrance in soap.  I know my spice cabinet is much more extensive than hers, if that is the case.  But there is no way the journalist would know that was questionable.  After all it wasn't an expose. 

For an entrepreneurial section piece, it was well done and included links to a few different successful artisanal soap makers, including the instructor whom he quoted several times.  Although I would take issue with the statement the instructor made that you can get into the soap making business on under $50, but I liked the caveat by the author 'presuming you don't pay for her class.'  Still, we all know that's not the case, not if you want to be successful at it, that's for sure.  But that doesn't mean there aren't people out there that do start selling their soaps with such a small investment.  

What I found most interesting about the article was that the instructor, whose business and home are in Boulder, Colorado, was teaching this workshop in New York.  Manhattan Island, to be exact.  That location is not cheap real estate.  No wonder the cost of the workshop was $56.00 per hour.  Still, I hope she has family or friends in Manhattan to make the trip worthwhile, or at least goes to theatre while she's in town.   But I have decided to visit this little spot where she does the workshop next time I'm in Manhattan.  It's only 2 blocks from Central Park and about a mile-and-a-half from the Metropolitan Museum.  It could be fun.


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## Arimara (Feb 10, 2017)

cherrycoke216 said:


> Ok, I have used the Saipua soap in the article. It was like few years back, and cost like $13 USD ( I live in Taiwan, there's an "organic" handmade skin care shop carries the aforementioned Saipua soap. ) I think they have raise quite some price. Because I have check their site out back then.
> And the soap is quite dry for me. I'm combination skin lives in subtropical area.
> They changed the gift wrapping, too. It was more like gift shop paper wrapping with a cigar band. On the cigar band, there's stamp indicating the soap name you are buying.
> *I guess it's the NYC chic cost so much( and the imported gift paper from Italy and Nepal?)*



No, it's the cost of living. Everything is pricey there. That said, paying $168 is a reasonable price for the classes considering what you get. $18 for soap is robbery though. You can go to Union Square and pay at the least $6 for soap at the farmer's market.


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## SunRiseArts (Feb 10, 2017)

Lots of misinformation there indeed.  But I am not surprised.  The NY times.  Is not what it used to be.  I lived in NY in the 80s, and always used to read it.  Maybe they changed owners or something.


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## cherrycoke216 (Feb 11, 2017)

randycoxclemson said:


> I just read it and it said she sells 6 oz bars for $8 apiece, which seems reasonable to me.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Yes, the work shop site says you take home with 10 bars of soap ( retail price $80 ).

And she asks for $2498 a half day consulting ( soap business ).
Her price at Denver is pretty much like NYC. Location rental fee does not seem to play a role here, I wonder  why?

This woman said she's been in soap business for like 20 years but her site sells nothing but classes. Online or in-person.


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## cherrycoke216 (Feb 11, 2017)

earlene said:


> What I found most interesting about the article was that the instructor, whose business and home are in Boulder, Colorado, was teaching this workshop in New York.  Manhattan Island, to be exact.  That location is not cheap real estate.  No wonder the cost of the workshop was $56.00 per hour.  Still, I hope she has family or friends in Manhattan to make the trip worthwhile, or at least goes to theatre while she's in town.   But I have decided to visit this little spot where she does the workshop next time I'm in Manhattan.  It's only 2 blocks from Central Park and about a mile-and-a-half from the Metropolitan Museum.  It could be fun.



The work shop is a rental place for crafts & any parties.
So you might check out their site before you just pop in some kiddie or adult party. 
But there's complimentary wine every Wed, Thurs,Fri, Sat. Pm 6:30-10:00.


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## cherrycoke216 (Feb 11, 2017)

Arimara said:


> No, it's the cost of living. Everything is pricey there. That said, paying $168 is a reasonable price for the classes considering what you get. $18 for soap is robbery though. You can go to Union Square and pay at the least $6 for soap at the farmer's market.




Yup, I know. I'm just being boring. Been to NYC once and a parking lot is asking $20 something per hour... We returned the rental car and spent the days in museums and Central Park. And some bad tasting ramen near fifth Avenue cost $20. But the interior design looks great. Wish I had known to find better cuisines in "not-so-prime" area or quieter alley.


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## Arimara (Feb 11, 2017)

cherrycoke216 said:


> Yup, I know. I'm just being boring. Been to NYC once and a parking lot is asking $20 something per hour... We returned the rental car and spent the days in museums and Central Park. And some bad tasting ramen near fifth Avenue cost $20. But the interior design looks great. Wish I had known to find better cuisines in "not-so-prime" area or quieter alley.



Momofuko? Ippudo? LOL, I was a local and I avoided prime spots like the plague.:mrgreen:


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## Arimara (Feb 13, 2017)

cherrycoke216 said:


> Sadly none of the above. I think it's owned by Caucasian and cooked by Caucasian local brand. ( see-through kitchen ) I hope I don't sound like a racist in this phrase. :mrgreen: Anyhoo, we had no choices because our legs don't belong to us anymore at the time being.
> 
> Wow! Talking about branding! Ippudo & momofuko got Caucasian to memorize their name... The owner should be so proud of themselves.



That's not my race so I can't be offended. It's in Brooklyn but there's a ramen shop that is pretty good and right next to a solid burger joint I sometimes order from when I visit my mom. Note, I say it's pretty good because other people, my ex and sister included, have said it was good. I did not like them solely because I could not get past the fish flavor of my broth, which only I could taste apparently. The only other ramen spot I know of in Manhattan is called Rai Rai Ken but I can't vouch for their menu these days as it has been a good ten years since I ate there.


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## cherrycoke216 (Feb 13, 2017)

Arimara said:


> That's not my race so I can't be offended. It's in Brooklyn but there's a ramen shop that is pretty good and right next to a solid burger joint I sometimes order from when I visit my mom. Note, I say it's pretty good because other people, my ex and sister included, have said it was good. I did not like them solely because I could not get past the fish flavor of my broth, which only I could taste apparently. The only other ramen spot I know of in Manhattan is called Rai Rai Ken but I can't vouch for their menu these days as it has been a good ten years since I ate there.




Sorry I assume your race.  Wow! Thanks! Now I know where the local cool kids dine.


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## Arimara (Feb 13, 2017)

cherrycoke216 said:


> Sorry I assume your race.  Wow! Thanks! Now I know where the local cool kids dine.



Trust me, I could tell you of a few places but I avoid a lot of restaurants in my old haunts too. Trendy and over-priced for fairly edible dishes. I don't denounce the gems however. The best places for a meal tend to be in more ethnic areas I'd tell you to avoid unless you know exactly where you're going (it's easy to get lost) and Queens.


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