New to the craft, but need to jump in with 2 feet running!

[Kram]

Well hello and welcome to my little introduction! I am a hands on crafty person, with an unending thirst for knowledge and craft perfection. I have been in the creative arts for almost 30 years in live technical entertainment with companies such as Royal Caribean Cruise Line, Princess Cruise Lines, and the last decade + with Walt Disney World. Creativity runs like blood through my veins and has for the past 3 decades. Now at age ## (muffled sound) my partner and I have decided to create a company that not only depends on creativity but demands it with in multiple disciplines! So I find my self at the aforementioned age of ## () starting over and having to learn the art of soap making, candle making, fragrance blending, AI, amongst several other trades at lightning speed, all while mataining high levels of safety, quality,, and professionalism. But enough babbling, down to the fun stuff!

At the current time, I am manily interested in HP, Soley due to the time c8nstraints with reachsearing, learning, adjusting, working my way to perfecting the product, and fragrances all the while having to combat a 25-28 day cure time would just get more time than our proposed launch date. That being said, the 6 products I am going to start off with and focus on first will be:

1.) A Glycerin Bar soap with an embed
2.) A candle using a bees wax base
3 A cologne/perfume solid
4.) A Shampoo Bar
5.) A conditioner Bar
6.) A men's (or ladies) beard clenser/conditioner bar

If you feel so inclined to point me in the best directions (for expediency) please feel free. Or just drop a line and say hello....OK enough of me....now it's your turn...and GO!

 

[Relle]

What's the hurry, if you want to make soap, patience is the key, unless you want to use ready made M&P, HP still needs to cure you don't get out of it that easy. There is also the matter of testing your recipe to see how it performs, that requires giving out samples and getting feedback from friends, family etc. that will take a while. Perfecting a product takes time, lots of time. Candles also require curing and working out the right wick for the container, you need to test burn as well.
Sounds like you want to start a business more than make soap and putting the cart before the horse, that's not a good way to start making soap. Learn the art first then worry about a business down the track. You need to know how your soap will perform in 6, 12, 18 months down the track, people are putting in on their skin, a lot can go wrong.
There is no expediency in making soap, all I can suggest is start reading in the beginners section and read back, take notes, lots of notes and start practicing. You also need how to use a soap caculator

 

[not_ally]

OP, I have to say that when I read your post I didn't reply because I just didn't know what to say. People are generally very helpful to newbies on this board, but I think most of the experienced soapers, chandlers and B&B people probably looked at it, shook their heads and assumed that you'd figure out it wasn't a good idea before you got much further. Relle is doing you a favor by letting you know what a bad idea it is rather than just letting it pass like the rest of us. Generally when someone who doesn't know about making soap talks about wanting to sell it there's some discussion about the problems associated with that. I think you just stymied us with the plan of making and selling six products you have no knowledge of or experience with rather than just one.

 

[AliensrReal]

At the current time, I am manily interested in HP, Soley due to the time c8nstraints with reachsearing, learning, adjusting, working my way to perfecting the product, and fragrances all the while having to combat a 25-28 day cure time would just get more time than our proposed launch date. That being said, the 6 products I am going to start off with and focus on first will be:

1.) A Glycerin Bar soap with an embed
2.) A candle using a bees wax base
3 A cologne/perfume solid
4.) A Shampoo Bar
5.) A conditioner Bar
6.) A men's (or ladies) beard clenser/conditioner bar

Pure beeswax candles are not easy. I consider using beeswax to be more challenging than vegetable oils or paraffin. They need to cool slowly so they won’t crack and you need to find the right wick for them. Any candle making requires trial and error to get it just right. Beeswax also doesn’t take scent very well if you are looking to add fragrance. Most people prefer the natural color and scent of beeswax though.

For shampoo and conditioning bars there are tons of recipes to try out and then tweaking to what you actually want. I actually like looking at ingredients of popular products to get an idea of what ingredients would be good if making from scratch. You need to research ingredients to figure out what contributions they add to the product and why they may or may not be needed. It requires time, money and trial and error. You need to know long it will last for short and long hair and how it performs.

Solid perfumes can be easy to make if you just buy the base, but you still need to know how long it lasts on the skin and the amount of fragrance needed. Also need to make it’s not irritating to the skin.

Glycerin soaps are easy and beginner friendly. Just buy a clear base and embeds. There are lots of clear bases so you will need to try and find the perfect one.

HP soap still requires a long cure time. There are no easy way to expedite a cured soap. It takes time.

For the beard cleanser/conditioner, I have no experience in that at all.

Starting a business requires money, time, research and patience. Who are you trying to target with your products? How long have you been testing your products? I think it’s great you’re asking for help, but your post seems to imply you want the fastest possible way to start your business. That’s just not a wise decision.

 

[MichaelP]

@Kram Welcome! I love your enthusiasm!

I've been soaping regularly for about 8 months now and hope at some point to actually sell some soap. What others have said here is right on point. There are a lot of nuances to soaping, a lot of techniques to learn if you want to utilize your creativity. At 8 months I still feel very much the beginner and know that I still have a lot to learn. Definitely spend some time on this forum and read, read, read it's a treasure trove of incredible information by many people who are experts in everything soap, and they're generously sharing their knowledge with us without charge!

I recommend starting with small batches to learn. I have a background in science and know how to follow a recipe using standard lab protocols and I have still made plenty of errors along the way (I like to think of these errors as part of the learning process). There are things that can't really be explained but rather need to be experienced to understand. An example is when the soap is going to trace (for cold processed soap). There is emulsion, light trace, medium trace and going to trace too quickly. You can read about it, but experiencing it is where the practical learning begins. There are many factors that affect trace and you will learn this along the way (i.e. you may use a fragrance that speeds up trace and find yourself having to change your pace). That's just one example of many.

At this point I am giving away soap that is fully cured to family and friends and then interrogating, er... asking them , all about their experience. What did they like about the soap or not like. How did it feel on their skin, what about the scent (too strong, not strong enough, not the right smell to their liking), did they like the design (did the design matter to them vs smell), etc.

I really like that you have an unending thirst for knowledge and craft perfection! You are in the right place! Take your time on this one and I believe you will have success. Again, welcome to the forum!

 

[paradisi]

OP, I have to say that when I read your post I didn't reply because I just didn't know what to say. People are generally very helpful to newbies on this board, but I think most of the experienced soapers, chandlers and B&B people probably looked at it, shook their heads and assumed that you'd figure out it wasn't a good idea before you got much further. Relle is doing you a favor by letting you know what a bad idea it is rather than just letting it pass like the rest of us. Generally when someone who doesn't know about making soap talks about wanting to sell it there's some discussion about the problems associated with that. I think you just stymied us with the plan of making and selling six products you have no knowledge of or experience with rather than just one.

Let alone the appalling rudeness of bouncing in and asking for a suite of business-tested formulas for free. Professionals posting here won't give their top formulas to competitors.

To the OP: there are sellers of formulas on etsy and blogs who may have what you seek, for appropriate fees, though nothing will be instant success, and you'll still have to put in time and testing and all the legal and regulatory things yourself.
The only real shortcut would be to buy a business and keep the formulator on payroll.

 

[Misschief]

I've been making soap for about 10 years now and I still find myself making newbie mistakes occasionally. And I still have to scratch my head sonetimes when the soap I carefully planned does something totally unexpected.

 

[not_ally]

o the OP: there are sellers of formulas on etsy and blogs who may have what you seek, for appropriate fees, though nothing will be instant success, and you'll still have to put in time and testing and all the legal and regulatory things yourself.

There are a number of people who sell formulas, but I think many of them include the caveat that you are buying contingent on not making the product for sale. I don't know how they'd enforce that, but I would want to use the formula as a springboard anyway, and change it to make it mine. I think those type of formulas are, by necessity, pretty broadly targeted so that as many people as possible can make them successfully right off the bat and then tailor them to eventually make individualized products once they are more familiar with the process.

As @paradisi says, even with a base formula, it takes quite a bit of legwork/experimentation to really know what you are doing. I started making lotion in the days before the Etsy recipe formulators, it took over 100 individualized batches (trying many different emulsifiers and ingredient combos) before I settled on the one I liked best, and that was just for me/family/friends, not selling. But I had fun and learned a lot in the process.

 

[paradisi]

There are a number of people who sell formulas, but I think many of them include the caveat that you are buying contingent on not making the product for sale. I don't know how they'd enforce that, but I would want to use the formula as a springboard anyway, and change it to make it mine. I think those type of formulas are, by necessity, pretty broadly targeted so that as many people as possible can make them successfully right off the bat and then tailor them to eventually make individualized products once they are more familiar with the process.

As @paradisi says, even with a base formula, it takes quite a bit of legwork/experimentation to really know what you are doing. I started making lotion in the days before the Etsy recipe formulators, it took over 100 individualized batches (trying many different emulsifiers and ingredient combos) before I settled on the one I liked best, and that was just for me/family/friends, not selling. But I had fun and learned a lot in the process.

All true!

There are highly experienced formulators out there who create whole lines (like celebrity cosmetics lines).They'll make ideas into products.

They don't hang out here or on etsy though. They are out of the beginner's price rang.

Or there are opportunities in franchising. That might suit the OP as a fast way to start a cosmetics business.

 

[AliOop]

Or there are opportunities in franchising. That might suit the OP as a fast way to start a cosmetics business.

So true. Buff City Soaps is one of those, I believe.

 

[CecileBC]

Hi ! Nice enthusiasm ! You will find tons of good advice here, and lovely people willing to help.
I have joined this forum about a year ago, and it has been my primary source of tips and advices. There are also lots of people who have youtube channels and blogs, who are very inspiring (Elly's everyday, I dream in soap, royalty soaps, Holly's soapmaking, classic bells...to name a few).
I don't know about HP... as for candles, I have spent a long time doing trials and errors, and finally decided to give it up for the time being - I found it was a little complicated to follow different paths to start a company... not very cost effective as you have to buy many different ingredients, in bulk, and it soon gets too much.
so IMO, I would concentrate in a couple of products, not too far apart, to start with: tested recipes that you feel comfortable with, have confidence in selling (when you've made it yourself from scratch, it is a lot easier to find the right words when selling them).
Good luck !