Newly Established Pure and Natural Soap Site

[allnaturalsoap]

Hi,
I just started a website that displays my current work with homemade and all natural soap. I am looking for critiques and constructive criticism.

Here's my tag line:

Enchanted Frog Soaps are homemade & all natural soaps. They include the best of saponified, pure and natural carrier oils & essential oil combinations, chosen with great care & purpose. These all natural soaps do not contain artificial dyes, all the colors are strictly from nature, by nature. A lot of research goes into choosing the perfect ingredients to create a truly superb pure and natural soap.

Here's my site:
http://www.enchantedfrogsoap.com/all_natural_soap

Check me out and let me know what I could do to help out the soap making community!

Thanks

 

[Guest]

Hi , Nice to meet you . Looking at your site I have to say , I like to see clear close up pictures of the soap or any product that I am looking to buy online.

Kitn

 

[gekko62]

Hi & welcome

I'm with Kitn..ya gotta have nice big piccies...people will read all yr info once they go 'oooh aren't they pretty,wonder whats in that one'

I love yr intro paragraph-sums it all up...& colour n layout is great-'get the suds on my soap'...luv it! praps pics down LHS next to that?

Individual description pics have to reach out n grab peoples attention,so yeah,big clear piccies.

WOW!! you've done great...BE PROUD

 

[soapbuddy]

I don't mean to split hairs, but to me, all natural means you made your own lye from wood ashes. Instead of saying all natural, why not just say 80% or 85% or whatever?

 

[carebear]

and I'm stunned to hear that my skin loving soaps are made with such cheap fillers as palm oil, and that olive oil is chock full of vitamins and minerals (beyond vitamin E, I'm not finding much: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tnam ... e&dbid=110).

Did you know that unless you are buying virgin coconut oil, then yours is extracted with solvents (hexanes)?

Not to say that your soaps are not marvelous - I'll be they are - but your "story" makes me twitch.

I'd love your web site to include some photos of your products - and to offer the ability to order online rather than via email. Photos really sell stuff - people like to see what they are getting.

(note that your soapmaking peers ARE likely to be more critical of your "story" than consumers - but since that's who we are, that's what you'll hear)

When you have pictures of your soap I'd LOVE to see them. I love soap pics.

 

[gekko62]

yknow,I actually never even read the whole blurb.Just the intro & headers..wonder if that means most people do it or just me??
Anyway,now that I HAVE.....Im wondering whats so cheap about palm/pko.Don't know where you've been shopping,not from my suppliers.Its def. more than OO,& most soapers I know of don't use em as fillers,rather for the wonderful qualities they impart.
On the 'all natural' note tho,I've only been making soap for a couple months,but I've been buying it for decades,'natural' means to me handmade/cp/no FO/no lab-made colours,so....opinions/perceptions there DO vary...
Lastly,have to say I find it objectionable when people use negatives to sell products,it's not necessary,and IMHO is manipulative & a little underhanded...puts me right off
just my 2c worth

 

[allnaturalsoap]

Thanks for the input. I agree about not wanting to bash other soapers-did not really intend to do that... I reworded my "story" and other parts of my website, so as not to bash other soapers. I realize we are all going to have a difference of opinion, especially when it comes to ingredients. I am in the process of working on the pictures, still.... I am sure it will be the death of me. Thanks again for the valuable information!

 

[carebear]

i'm excited to watch your site progress.

 

[mandolyn]

Hi & welcome. I'm going to rain on your parade a bit, too.

"Olive oil is one of my standard oils in every soap. It is packed with vitamins and minerals and is not drying to your skin. Where others use palm oil, I use olive.

Want a creamier soap? Enchanted Frog Soap uses Kaolin Clay in every soap to create, not only a rich, and creamier soap, pure and natural but the clay also helps to absorb more moisture into your skin. That's way more than goat's milk ever did!"

First off olive oil is not a sub for palm. They have totally different properties & you really can't sub one for the other, so your first paragraph is misleading. Palm is a standard in soapmaking, although it can be subbed with lard or tallow. Yes, you can make 100% Olive Oil soap, but that has nothing to do with leaving out Palm, that's making castile. Olive isn't used by everyone, as it CAN be subbed with other oils. I've successfully subbed 1/2 my Olive for HO Sunflower & produced a wonderful soap.

Next is the kaolin clay. Clay is not a humectant. It doesn't draw moisture into the skin. It, in fact, draws impurities from the skin & any clay can be a bit drying as a result. Kaolin is the least drying of the clays, but it does still draw from the skin. Glycerin is a humectant that draws moisture to itself & occurs naturally in the soapmaking process.

Based on those 2 items, I didn't read any further. I think you could benefit from doing some more research. Sorry, but you asked for opinions, so there's mine. I mean no disrespect, & hope I'm not offending.

 

[gekko62]

If yr having trouble with pics,there's a great idea here for making an el-cheapo lightbox,plus the site has lots of lighting tips

http://www.strobist.blogspot.com/2006/0 ... tudio.html

 

[Tabitha]

I don't mean to split hairs, but to me, all natural means you made your own lye from wood ashes.

The FDA does not define all natural. We do each have our own opinion of what the words mean.

 

[soapbuddy]

I don't mean to split hairs, but to me, all natural means you made your own lye from wood ashes.

The FDA does not define all natural. We do each have our own opinion of what the words mean.

You are correct. The word natural has lost its meaning.

 

[IanT]

Hi , Nice to meet you . Looking at your site I have to say , I like to see clear close up pictures of the soap or any product that I am looking to buy online.

Kitn

agreed! welcome to the forum!