Rustic or Perfect soap!?!?!

[ToniD]

I agree, so many people are going to have different tastes that it would be hard to say what will sell. I don't sell, but I give some away. I made this exceptionally UGLY batch--like my three year old grandson (who is my biggest fan normally) said it looked like poop (which it did) , but it smelled really really good, so I gave a bar away. I was going to chop the rest up to use as embeds, but the person I gave it to LOVED it and begged for more. (yippie! I dumped the whole batch on her)

All that to say: people have very different tastes in what they consider to be attractive or not.

 

[dubnica]

I don't sell, but just giving it to my family and friends I noticed that everyone wants nice, smooth soap (including me) It just depends. I think some people think that more rough soap, without any coloring and not too fragranced is more natural.

 

[Adema]

I like to make a perfect bar and all the bars to be the same size, I don't bevel though.... but I polish all of my soap :roll: My hubby thinks that is totally unnecessary but I feel like I have to...

Kveðja
María

 

[krissy]

I like to make a perfect bar and all the bars to be the same size, I don't bevel though.... but I polish all of my soap :roll: My hubby thinks that is totally unnecessary but I feel like I have to...

Kveðja
María

lol, i bevel them. if i buy a bar and it isnt beveled, i do it before i use it. it just seems to feel better in my hands that way.

 

[carebear]

i hate sharp edges on my soap. my customers have told me the same thing. i don't actually bevel, but run the back of my thumbnail down all the edges.

 

[Adema]

Maybe I should start trimming the edges, although I polish some of the edges off it is still pretty sharp.

That nail trick is genius carebear, I will start with that...

 

[paillo]

Maybe I should start trimming the edges, although I polish some of the edges off it is still pretty sharp.

That nail trick is genius carebear, I will start with that...

curious as to how you polish? i rinse mine and rub out the worst imperfections -- they dry with a nice sheen...

 

[Maria]

Rustic may work for you depending on your market. My competition was either melt and pour soap in fancy shapes or CP bars that look like they came from a store. I make HP and my bars are thicker than the competition. They were a hit from the start. After 3 years I started selling at a new market held on Sunday which brings in some of the Boca Raton crowd. I am not exclusive at this market as I cannot promise to go every Sunday. The other soap person does not do nearly as well. She sold 4 bars last week. In my case the handmade look works in both locations I sell at. One is a working class neighborhood, the other is affluent.

 

[Jerry S]

rustic or perfect soap..

What a wealth of info one can get from just this one topic here the SMF…I made a lot of soap for all my family and friends as gifts this last holiday season. Some rustic, some perfect. Well, to me a lot of soap was about 80 bars. I used my tried and true recipe for almost all the bars but colored them differently and scented them all different as well to match the color and in some case the scent.

All my soaps were a hit..(natch!...''...cuz they were gifts) but in one of the batches the color turned out all wrong and not what I had intended it to be. I was going to rebatch it all when my wife said, “Oh no...I like them, you have to give those as gifts as well.” which I did.

Those bars were the biggest hit of our gift sharing…everyone loved them, so got figure..
My packaging probably was a benefit because they really had nice labels which I made on the computer and then shrink wrapped all my bars..(thank your Deda)..
It really fooled me that those dark colored bars were going to be such a hit.

During much of the conversation everyone was in agreement that, “you should really market your soap and sell it.” As mentioned on this topic, there’s a lot more to selling soap then setting up a stand at the local farmers market. ':wink:'

js

 

[Tabitha]

This is going to depend totaly on YOUR customer base. Are you planning to market to city folks? Cowgirls? Hippies? 12 year old girls? Choose your customer base and then customise your soap to suit their needs/wants/likes.

 

[paillo]

Re: rustic or perfect soap..

...

All my soaps were a hit..(natch!...''...cuz they were gifts) but in one of the batches the color turned out all wrong and not what I had intended it to be. I was going to rebatch it all when my wife said, “Oh no...I like them, you have to give those as gifts as well.” which I did.

Those bars were the biggest hit of our gift sharing…everyone loved them, so got figure..

It really fooled me that those dark colored bars were going to be such a hit.
...

js

yeah, what you said. my LEAST favorite soap to make is an HP bay rum bar for men. i hate bay rum fragrance, and don't find find at all inspiring the earthy colors i use, nor the more primitive hp look i create for these. BUT they're the first to sell out and the most requested. to each his or her own i'm not going to tinker much with this product, as why fix it if it ain't broke

 

[margaret]

thanks for the thumbnail idea...I sell at craft shows and FM ..I like the rustic and so do most of my buyers but I also found the edges sharp...will round them from now on...

 

[nattynoo]

For me, I love a big old chunk of rustic cut soap.
A big wedge of wonderfulness.
I love that rustic soap is irregular & cannot wait to get into the shower to use it.
Perfect soaps make me think instantly that they r unnatural, full of FO & lab colour. Made to sit around & gather dust.
I love a usable soap.
This is me..... there is a market for any audience.
One should make what makes one happy.

Soap....ahhh faint.... bliss!!

 

[MsB]

"rustic" look is really the only thing I am happy with. Maybe I am a little to "redneck"!

I don't think you're redneck for liking the rustic look. :wink:
Some just prefer that look.
I did a small market survey (since my market consists of me, the Mr & our ungrateful prince of darkness teenage spawn, this may be a bit biased).

We're city dwellers, like heart of the city, 40 story buildings etc... So i'm throwing out the redneck conclusion.

I found that... 63.33% of my market (refer to note above) preferred the finished "more polished" look. 33.33% preferred the "rustic" look. How I get around this in a world where usually what I prefer wins is... I cut the Mr 33.33% of my soap the way he likes & the rest is what I like. :wink:

So, some day in the future when I finally do get to a point where I am fully satisfied with my product & abilities and do finally sell (note all, I said future and some day), I'll most likely cater to my more metropolitan area/clientele but will surely offer a few "rustic" items with matching packaging & a cute clever name to satisfy those that prefer something with less pomp & circumstance than a "more polished" item. :idea:

 

[Stinkydancer]

I think it depends on your market somewhat and what you feel comfortable making. Bottom line is- it's your product, make it the way you like it and market around that.

It also depends on the soap your making...A polished, beveled bar of Oatmeal Milk and Honey or other "brown" soap does nothing for me- same goes for Essential Oil Soaps, I don't feel those should be colored either for the whole natural part of it. I think for options like that Rustic is much better. It livens up a boring bar of soap.

As far as personal preference, I do like my soap with sides that aren't sharp. Everything else I don't care too much about. I prefer a well made bar of soap even if it's "rustic" than a drying piece of pretty swirled polished soap.

 

[FloridaSoaper]

I tend to gravitate toward the rustic bars when choosing soap for myself. I like the fact that it looks handmade and that no two tend to look the same. Sometimes I get irritated when the edges are a bit sharp in the shower, but not enough to stop using the rustic type bars! ha! And they do get smoother, so...that's just my two cents.

 

[sunnyone]

make what you love

my first handmade soap experience....25 years ago...used to go cut off chunks on a log at a local shop...fell in love

segway...couple years later lightbulb goes on...start making my own...i am an old hippe....made no nonense natural bars for me..no color..only eo

now...heck...it is whatever strikes my fancy when i soap hehe..still use eos though i bevel some and leave some "rustic"

i do think that due to my roots i prefer rustic..feels more natural....but i mix it up

 

[SmellyKat]

i hate sharp edges on my soap. my customers have told me the same thing. i don't actually bevel, but run the back of my thumbnail down all the edges.

How do you "bevel" your soap? What do you use?