This business involves creating soaps, lotions and other personal care products. This usually includes skin and hair care products as well as massage oils and cosmetics. It takes advantage of our constant desire for pampering, but also capitalizes on trends towards aging skin care and healthier living.
Let's look at soap:
The business of handmade soap is one that is ideal for the stay at home mom. In this business, and with a good recipe and the right ingredients, you can spend a few hours in the kitchen and come up with products that are potentially worth hundreds of dollars. People love handmade soap for many reasons. Handmade soap is considered a luxury when compared to cheap, mass produced soap. Many people like buying things that are handmade. Handmade soap makes an inexpensive gift. Last, but not least, handmade soap provides the consumer with an inexpensive pampering treat.
There are basically two approaches to making handmade soap. Some crafters prefer to buy premade soap bases and customize these by adding fragrances, colors, herbs, and other special ingredients. This is the quick way to start making soap. The disadvantage with this approach is that premade bases can be somewhat expensive, and you are not in control of the ingredients that are used in the base. But for some this approach is the best way because of its ease. Soap made from a premade base can be ready to sell in less than 24 hours after it has been melted down and poured into molds.
The other approach is to make your soap from scratch. This is the approach I prefer because it is more cost effective than buying premade bases. It also gives you complete control over the ingredients that you use in your products. However, this approach is a little more time consuming than making soap from a premade base. Soap made from scratch must be cured (allowed to air dry) before it can be used on the skin. This takes about four weeks. However, when it is ready to use you will have an all natural soap that is very popular in today's world. More and more consumers are seeking products made from natural ingredients. Making soap from scratch will allow you to offer them just that.
Whether you make soap from a premade base or from scratch you will have to do some homework. If you make soap from a base you should do some research to find a base that has ingredients you are comfortable with and that produces a bar of soap you like. If you make soap from scratch you will need to try out different recipes or possibly develop your own after you learn how to make soap. Most soapmakers start out with one or two recipes they like and refine their techniques and recipes as time goes on.
In the United States you need to be aware of what the government requires of sellers. As long as you are not making any claims about your soap other than saying it cleanses the body, you do not have to follow the Food and Drug Administration's requirements for labeling cosmetics. However, if you give any cosmetic claim to your soap, it is defined as a cosmetic, and has to be labeled as such. For information about the Food and Drug Administration visit http://www.FDA.gov.
Copyright 2005, Ololade Franklin. Ololade Franklin publishes Making Good Scents(TM), the newsletter of handcrafted cosmetics, soaps and perfumes. For information about Making Good Scents(TM) visit http://www.MakingGoodScents.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/
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