Soap Challenge Week 11 - Natural Soap

I am participating in the Soap Challenge on Great Cakes Soapworks blog (see previous post).

Soap Challenge Week 11 - Natural Soap

This is the final challenge on Amy's soap blog.  We were to make all natural soap, which I do all the time, so we were supposed to try something new.  I decided that instead of micas or clays for colorants, I would make my Rosemary Lemongrass soap with an infusion of herbs and botanicals. 

Well, it didn't exactly work out.  I wanted a blue color.  Although my research suggested that cornflowers could be used as a dye (and I already know they are safe for the skin), I was unable to get a single drop of color out of them.  I used several cups of organic cornflowers in some sweet almond oil and cooked it at a low heat forever, and the oil never changed color.  Then I tried poppy seeds.  That also gave no color.  Since I was running out of time, I gave up and used a blue ultramarine, but I did use bladderwrack (a type of seaweed) for the green color. 

Made with goat's milk and shea butter plus essential oils...it smells awesome...kind of like the grasses by the seashore.

You can see the other challenge participants' Natural Soaps by clicking here.

Bath Alchemy by The Bonnie Bath Co.

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SoapMaker 3 Professional Software Review

I am terrible about the office work of my business.  It's not that I don't like it, it's that I don't have time so I cut corners and tend to not take it as seriously as I should.  I'm also unorganized in that aspect of my business.  My recipes, pricing, ideas, and plans were all penciled in several volumes of journals.  I didn't calculate profit and overhead into all of my products, and I certainly didn't look at the potential of my business.  As my direction has changed and my business has grown over the years, I have become more serious about the office work.  So when I saw an advertisement for the SoapMaker 3 Professional Edition software for soapmakers, I decide to make the investment and get more organized.  What I found was I was really not doing things correctly.

I did not have a good grasp on my supply or product inventory.  I was seriously undercharging for my all natural soaps (eo's are a small fortune).  My batch notes were scrawled on post-its and backs of envelopes, which I would then misplace.  And I was generally disorganized in keeping track of my business.  Not any more...

SoapMaker 3 Professional Edition software
The SoapMaker 3 keeps track of all your supplies, your recipes (soap and non soap), and your products and sales.  It is very easy to use.  When you first get started, you will spend many hours entering all of your data, but it is worth it.

The SoapMaker 3 does the following:

Supplies

• Tracks supplies and lets you know when to order more
• Determines pricing of supplies for recipes
• Tracks your purchases and suppliers
• Even stores extra info like the INCI names

Recipes

• Allows you to enter all of your recipes for soap and non soap products
• Auto-magically determines all of your COG for each product
• Shows the percentages of your ingredients in each recipe
• Even has a bar graph to show the qualities of your soap recipe, hardness, lather, moisturizing ability, etc.

Products

• Tracks the batches you make and when they are finished curing
• Auto-magically deducts the ingredients in the batch from your supply inventory
• Tracks sales of products
• Even allows you to put a photo of the product with the batch

What it doesn't do, but I wish it would:

• Allow you to add labor costs, overhead percentages, and profit into each of the batch figures to get even more accurate pricing, instead of having a separate spreadsheet for that.
• Provide more reports and lists  - I like to print reports and lists so I can see the big picture better in all the categories, but there isn't much to do in this arena
• I would love for this to connect with an accounting program like Quickbooks.

All in all this is a fantastic piece of software for a steal at $89 for the professional edition.  If you are a member of the HSMG, you get 10% off.  It is worth its weight in gold as I can already see how it is saving me time and money, and I just started using it.  I was quite impressed with the ease of use, the cross referencing between products, supplies, and recipes, and the amount of thought that went into this product.  It is not just a run of the mill program that is altered to fit many industries.  It is clearly for soapmakers and whoever designed it is a genius.  That's right, a GENIUS!

I am so excited to get my office organized and take charge of the paper side of the business of soapmaking.  And it is a major relief to be able to track my batches and get my pricing right once and for all.  Is anyone else using this? 

 

Bath Alchemy by The Bonnie Bath Co.

 

 

 

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