Basic Melt and Pour Soap After Course Support
Basic Melt and Pour Soap Making
Course Materials
A list of essential ingredients you need when you are starting out in soap making. All the links are searches on Amazon and Ebay the two major marketplaces in the UK. Start by testing out a few products before you commit yourself to using suppliers for large orders. Prices are always good on these marketplaces when you purchase a specific thing. When you order from suppliers directly, your purchases will be subject to VAT and additional delivery charges. VAT is inclusive in purchases from Amazon and Ebay and delivery is almost always free. That's why its best to start here
Plan of Action
Research
Start simply by searching "handmade soap" in google.
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Look at the images.
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Check Etsy/Amazon websites.
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Check Prices/Popularity.
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Check Standards/Packaging/Reviews
Look at other brands, get inspired.
Once you pick up a few products or brands for inspiration, It becomes easier to discover your targets.
Setup a Budget
Work out how much you are willing to spend on your start up, budgets are different depending on how many products you would like to create and how sophisticated they will be. A small budget for 1 or 2 products is ideal, but if you are looking to create more brand awareness, then more products are required. Remember not to overload yourself so you can be able to handle the demand once your brand picks up.
Plan your product
This is where you need to calculate your costs. How much does your soap costs to make? How long does it take you to make it? How much will you spend on packaging?
The type of audience/customers you will be targeting your soap to.
Setup an expendable budget for Advertising/Promotion
Create your Product
Make your soap
Take professional pictures
Describe your soap in detail
Layout its benefits
Send free samples to those who want to review it.
Create your Brand Story
Make a small batch, make sure you follow our packaging advices so it doesn't spoil.
Sell your product
These are water based liquid colorants which are great for making single color soap bars. Do not use these if you are layering or otherwise you will end up with a one colour rainbow soap. Water based colorants provide excellent transparency to your clear base and are very economical, a little goes a long way.
Register a Trademark
These are based on Glycerine, it's been a new colorant to the market for some time now. To make it simple, these are like liquid colorants but do not bleed. If you want to achieve incredible designs in melt and pour, this is right colorant to use. This is the colorant we will use in the future for the next tutorials. Only available from The Soap Kitchen.
Market your product
Stephenson's Melt and Pour Bases.
Build your whole business on these soap bases, they are heavily tested, have world recognised certificates, they are stable, a really top product which you can build your entire business on. Purchase 1kg base out of many bases and see the product before you commit yourself to larger orders.
Essential Oils
Essential oils are great way to enhance your soap with natural benefits. Some essential oils do not smell that strong comparing to others. They are great for offering a massage feel to your soap bars. Essential oils are more expensive compared to Fragrance oils and for a fairly good reason.
Fragrance Oils
Unlike Essential Oils, Fragrance oils are a lot stronger when it comes to smell and do last longer. There are hundreds if not thousands of fragrance oils on the market where you can choose from, TradeEssentialOils have an extensive list of fragrances for you to try in small bottles.
