As a young girl my grandmother Nannie and my Aunt Catherine would make soap the old fashion way and it was the best soap I had ever tried.  After growing up and always having beautiful skin and getting compliments on my skin, I started looking for natural soap to use.  It wasn’t until we bought a home in the Blue Ridge Mountains that I decided I didn’t want to work in the corporate world anymore and I decided to start making my own soap and lotions to use at home.

 How long have you been making soap?

I’ve been making soap now for about 1 year now.

 Tell me about a project or experiment that you consider to be the most successful. It doesn’t have to be soap.

The start up of our company it really is a lot of work to start and be successful with starting a new business.  The late night hours on the computer designing a layout for your website, making soap into the wee hours of the night or early morning, marketing and finding people who are willing to try your product and hoping that your first transaction works or goes through.  Now looking back at the months from August to now 2014 and the success that we have had since opening The Garnet Rose, the first batch of soap and the first sale, I must say starting my own business was a huge project and a successful one at that!

 If we’re sitting here a year from now celebrating what a great year it’s been for you in soapmaking,  what did you achieve?

Freedom to walk away from the corporate world, to transition from the city life to the Blue Ridge Mountains and to work from home and be successful at doing something that I really love doing!  A Beautiful Feeling!

Do you have a specific goals? In one year? In two years?

In one year I would love to build a lil Soap Building by our creek and move my Soap Lab out of the Kitchen and to also have my soaps in stores in more states than just North Carolina.

If you could wave a magic wand, what ill in the world would you solve and why?

Mental Illness…My father was diagnosed with Paranoid Schizophrenia some years ago and it has really made me sad that he cannot do things on his own.  I miss him being able to take charge and be himself.  I’ve always been a Daddy’s girl and I miss the man that he used to be.  So if my wand would work I would be one of the happiest Daddy’s Girl ever!

Tell us about a time when soaping didn’t go the way you wanted. What was your “great catastrophe?

I was about to soap for the first time using goats milk and I took all the steps carefully to make it nice and creamy.  I started pouring the Sodium Hydroxide(Lye) in to the goats milk and stirring and almost to the end there was a little Lye left, the color was still nice white and creamy, I got anxious and poured the last of the lye in and it turned Orange immediately!  I was so sad it was the last of the goats milk to use in this particular soap and I had to change the recipe and start over!  Other than that I haven’t had any major catastrophes!

All soap makers have them so tell me about your worst “lye burn”.

Well I don’t want to start having bad luck but so far, Knock on wood, and the creek don’t rise I haven’t had any lye burns to talk about! Lucky Me!

Do you get a lot of support from your family?

They are so far away from us I can actually say no however my better half Kevin is there to help in anyway he can he would rather do the dishes and clean up so I can get started with the next project we both own the company but it’s me who creates, makes, cuts, package, ship, and even shower with it if I want to!  My children do help with the marketing on Social Media but pretty much do most of the work myself.

If Hollywood made a movie about your life, whom would you like to see play the lead role as you?

Regina King, Whoopi, or Queen Latifah

You’ve cast the main character, now what do you think the title should be?

Why Mama Why

What motivates you and what doesn’t?

Nature and serene surroundings, a gurgling stream or creek and just beauty of the mountains calmness, peace and serenity!

How would your best friend describe you?

A go getter, creative, don’t tolerate non sense and not afraid to speak my mind self motivated! But most of all out going!

What’s the biggest mistake you mistake you made in your life and what did you learn from it?

Not following my own dreams early on in life, it made me a better woman today many hills to climb and left turns to turn around to go right, I’ve had a lot of pain at an early age trusting the wrong people and letting someone so close to me control my life with verbal abuse and demeaning my spirit to a point that my self esteem was completely gone.  That person is gone now and at the age of 47 it was the first time I ever felt…Free!

If you had to give up ONE of your favorite foods, what would it be?

Potatoes, Fries, Mashed Potatoes, Chips anything that has the word Potatoes attached to it!  I’m am a sucker for Potatoes!

Tell me about your soap. What is your brand name and company philosophy.

Our soaps are made from several different oils & butters such as Organic Coconut Oil, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Organic Cocoa Butter and Unrefined Organic Virgin Shea Butter.  We also use Aloe Vera Oil, Mango Butter and a variation of other oils and butters for the different recipes that we use. We don’t use any chemical, synthetic or lab created fragrances only Certified Essential Oils.  We have also found 2 local dairies that provide us the best goats milk in the Blue Ridge Mountains to make our soaps with.  We have almost 30 different fragrances including Coffee, Beer and wine soaps that are also local to North Carolina and we also make Vegan friendly soaps for our Vegan friends.

A Garnet Rose Luxury is what we offer we have so many testimonials from our new customers on our Facebook and Instagram page.  The Garnet Rose Soap Company wants to provide the most luxurious soaps to our customers for that most intimate time when you need to be pampered.

1) Where can it be found? Are you on Etsy?

Yes just look for us under AGarnetRose on Etsy

We can be found if you are local to West Jefferson, NC in one of the gift shops in town!  We are also on Display at ParkerTie in the Kitchen and Bathroom decorating Store!  We are in the process of contacting The Mast General Store in Boone NC with hopes to have our soaps carried in their stores.  Our line of soaps will be carried in The Bald Guy Brew Coffee shop in Blowing Rock and Valle Crucis this Spring.  With that said we are expanding and if you are visiting the Blue Ridge Mountains, Grandfather Mountain or even West Jefferson you will be able to find The Garnet Rose Soap Company in a Store near you!

Scarlett Creek Home & Garden Gifts
5 North Jefferson Avenue
West Jefferson, NC 28694

www.agarnetrose.com
www.pintrest.com/agarnetrose
www.facebook.com/agarnetrose
www.twitter.com/agarnetrose
www.instagram.com/agarnetrose
http://mkt.com/the-garnet-rose-soap-company-llc

2) What is your most popular soap — — –

We have several that are very popular,  Peppermint Goats Milk and Vegan, Lavender Goats Milk & Vegan, Lemongrass Goats Milk and our Castile Soap I cant keep these soaps on the shelves!

Tell me how you started in soapmaking.

As a little boy, our son had terrible skin asthma. His skin was breaking open and he had sores and wounds on his body. It’s heartbreaking to see his condition at that time. Dermatologists suggested a combination of petroleum jelly and steroidal ointment to be applied on his body daily then covered in cling wrap. My poor baby! It was a long treatment that did not work. Soon he had boils every month in different parts of his body. Apparently, the petroleum jelly clogged his skin pores.

I started looking for alternatives to treat his skin condition. That’s when I studied soap making.

Do you have a specific goals? In one year? In two years?

If Hollywood made a movie about your life, whom would you like to see play the lead role as you?

Tell me about your soap. What is your brand name and company philosophy.Green Gourmet Artisan Soap.
We are a young home based soap making company in Manila. We make small batches to make sure that the quality is top-grade. Our soap kitchen uses only the best natural ingredients to create lightly scented lovely soap good for everyone and anybody who has sensitive skin.All our soaps are handmade in small batches using high quality natural oils and butters and using the traditional cold process method with Olive Oil as the base ingredient. We make each soap from scratch using carefully formulated recipes.Green Gourmet Artisan Soaps are enriched with an array of natural additives making them unique and extra luxurious.  Argan Oil, Jojoba Oil, Grapeseed Oil, Rice Bran Oil, Shea Butter, Cocoa Butter, Honey, Beer, Oats, Green Tea, Coffee, Yoghurt, Botanicals & Herbs, Buttermilk, Goat’s Milk, Coconut Milk, Clays and Charcoal …. are no strangers in our soap kitchen!We hope to come up with more nourishing formulas in the future. We’ve just about begun packaging and will have our current batch of soaps ready to anyone who appreciates good quality hand-crafted soap.

1) Where can it be found? Are you on Etsy?We are on facebook and on instagram.facebook.com/greengourmetartisansoap

IG: greengourmet_artisansoap

2) What is your most popular soap — —

Our Soap Maker’s Choice is the soap I made for my son. It worked well for him. His skin is normal now. It’s made from calendula infused oil, guava infused oil, aloe gel and goat’s milk. It’s unscented. It is also formulated to help treat skin conditions like eczema, psoriasis. Folks with sensitive skin get this soap from us.

Tell me how you started in soapmaking.

Well I got interested in making soap because I raise dairy goats and had/have way too much milk. So I started researching what to do with all that extra milk. Just selling milk or cheesemaking required you to be a licensed dairy. To be a licensed dairy required specific buildings, milking parlors, cheesemaking rooms etc. I don’t have the money for that and at the time I didn’t have the time as I was working full time. So you guessed it, I came across soap making. I could use my goats milk to make wonderfully creamy soaps. So when the American Dairy Goat Assn. had their National Convention in Albuquerque, NM I went and took a soap making class. Went home and made a batch or two of soap. Then did nothing with it for a few years. Then I got the itch to do it again. Now after numerous You Tube video’s and lots of time reading and researching soap and recipes and 3 years later I’ve got my recipes down and I’m actively making and selling soap.

Tell me about a project or experiment that you consider to be the most successful.  It doesn’t have to be soap.

My daughters wanted to show goats, we started off with 3 Alpine dairy goats, then decided to get into the meat goats also. So we got 2 Nubian 2 year old does that had never been bred and bred them to the only Boer cross buck in the area at that time. He was a ¾ Boer and 1/3 something else. LOL

The next spring we had our first babies, both Alpine and Boer cross. It was so much fun at the County Fair. Next thing you know I found a 100% Boer buck, bought him and started raising our own.  We showed the Alpines and Boers for a while and when we started doing so much better with the Boers in the Show ring the Alpines became a support system for the Boers. Extra milk to raise bottle babies when that was necessary.

Now 17 years later, both girls are too old for 4-H and I’m retired so no need or extra money to continue to show the Boers. So I’m sold out of them except for my favorite Boer doe. We enjoyed our time with the Boers, have 25 – 30 belt buckles, boxes of trophies and ribbons. Numerous GCH’s, RGCH’s and a few Best in Shows. Now it is time for the Alpines to shine. I’ve bred them so they have great tasting milk and it makes the most wonderful, creamy soap.

If we’re sitting here a year from now celebrating what a great year it’s been for you in soapmaking, what did you achieve?

Well, I could give you a most wonderful flight of fancy, but realistically in a year from now I would love to be selling enough soap to support my soap and goat habits, have numerous loyal customers, maybe my own shop or at least an internet shop selling out all the soaps I can imagine. With people who love my unique designs as much as I love to produce them.

Do you have a specific goals? In one year? In two years?

I want to enjoy life! Would love to travel, especially on cruise ships. LOL As far as my soaping business, I know I should have specific goals on where I would like to be in one year or two years, but right now I don’t.

Fancifally I would like to have my own warehouse to produce soap. I would create all the designs and have “people” who would reproduce my soaps for sale, leaving me free to oversee and create. In reality I would love to have a major presence on the web, making $30,000 per year, just give me the two years.

What’s your superpower?

If I could have any superpower that I wanted, hummmm, it would have to be the power to change into any size or form that I wanted. Could you imagine being able to change into an eagle and fly up high, or into a horse and run as fast as you could? How about into a cougar and leap from mountain peak to mountain peak? Or a monkey and swing from tree to tree. Or maybe a fire proof robot that could walk into a burning building and rescue people. That would be so cool!

Tell us about a time when soaping didn’t go the way you wanted. What was your “great catastrophe?

My biggest catastrophe to date was when I was trying out a new FO. I was pretty new to soap making and really didn’t know a lot back then. I had a very picture in my head of what my soap should look like. The FO had a mind of it’s own and decided to become soap on a stick. So there I was poking chunks of soap down into a big chunk of soap, determined to at least make all the different chunks become one. I cut that soap and put it away in a box in the back of my closet. That was 2 ½ years ago. I got a bar out a couple of months ago and tried it and it is some of the best lathering soaps I’ve used. So it just goes to prove that soap is like wine, the longer it cures the better it is.

Do you get a lot of support from your family?

My husband just is one of those men who just thinks anything I do is “cute”. As in “Oh, look Vickie is playing around with her soap again”, so not really. I’ve learned over the years to do what I want to do, whether anyone else likes it or not. LOL

Describe to me, your most memorable customer. Why was she/he memorable.

My most memorable customer is a lady that my best friend introduced to me. We met at a Mystery play dinner. She bought about 4 soaps, one of which was a Cherry Blossom fragranced soap. Her and her husband, yes men can like flowery scents too, love this fragrance. They buy a batch from me about twice a year. I think her husband loves it the most, as he told her this is the first soap I’ve used that doesn’t make my skin itch. Each time I make a new batch for them the design changes and they tell me they love it each time. Can’t beat people who love what you do as much as you love doing it.

All soap makers have them so tell me about your worst “lye burn”.

I must say, I started out making soap scared to death of lye. So I’ve been very careful around it. Haven’t been burned yet other than a little drop here or there that I wash off and it doesn’t even leave a red mark. But my time will come, I’m sure, as I’m getting a little too comfortable around the lye.

What would you say are your 2 greatest weaknesses?

So you just want 2 weaknesses? LOL I’ve got many. Probably my biggest is I could probably hold the world title for procrastination. I do everything at the last possible minute and always underestimate the time it will take to do it.

My second one is that I hate housework! It always needs done. It’s not like you can do it and it is over with. It’s the energizer bunny, it just keeps on needing done again and again and again. I love a clean house, just wish it would stay clean. J

How would your best friend describe you?

I didn’t know so I called and asked her. LOL She said I was a very quite, reserved person, with a good heart, until I started to talk to someone about my goats or soaps, then you couldn’t shut me up.

If you had to give up ONE of your favorite foods, what would it be?

Anything with sugar, I love sweets of any or all kinds. Candy, pastry, Cakes, BROWNIES, ice cream…..

Tell me about your soap, your store name and its “brand” or philosophy

My soap business is called “Udder Indugence”. I get a lot of people who tell me I’ve mis-spelled Utter, but no it is Udder because of the goats milk that is in each and every, (almost every), bar of soap that I make. In the three years that I’ve been making soap, I’ve only made about 4-5 batches without goats milk. 3 because I was out of goats milk and one with wine and one with coffee. Both special requests.

Indulgence because I want my soap to be the most luxurious bar of soap you’ve ever used. A delight to the eyes, nose and skin. And I guess that is sort of my philosophy too, If I’m going to make soap, it’s going to be the best that I can possibly make.

1) Where can it be found
Well my Facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/UdderIndulgence

and my partially built webpage is: http://udderindulgence.com/

2) What is your most popular soap

I’d have to say that I have 3 most popular soaps. My Lilac, Cherry Blossom and Cedar and Saffron.

Tell me how you started in soap making.

I grew up on a farm in rural North Carolina and had a pet goat as a child. Her name was Loat the goat. Don’t ask me where I got that from, I was 7 at the time and that is what I called her. She was a little black nanny goat that followed me around like a dog. So when Mike and I bought our little farm, before we even closed on the place, I had already purchase 3 little nannies from a girl that agreed to keep them until we moved into our new house. This lady is now a dear friend to me.

Anyway once we started having goat milk, it just seemed like the natural thing to make. Neither Mike nor I are really milk drinkers and I have always loved using goat milk soap. I went thru a huge learning curve trying to learn on my own how to make real soap. Right when I was about to give up I found the Handcrafted Soap Makers Guild and started attending their yearly conference. Once I had that first batch turn out perfect, I was hooked! Now it is my passion, second only to my animals here on the farm. Many of our animals here are critically endangered breeds, but that is a whole other story for later.

Tell me about a project or experiment that you consider to be the most successful. 
My most successful project? Well I would have to say it has been our little farm and all its inhabitants. While researching chickens we discovered that there are many breeds of livestock and poultry that are on the brink of extinction. We decided then that we wanted to provide a home and refuge for as many of these breeds as we could. However, finding these breeds has proved a challenge, especially the donkeys.

The French Poitou Donkey is one of the most endangered breeds on earth. There are only an estimated 2000 of these Donkeys left in existence. So when I decided I had to have one, my hopes were dim that we could actually find one, much less one we could afford. After about two years of dreaming of this donkey, the stars lined up in our favor.

We were contacted by and elderly gentleman that has been breeding them for about 30 years. He wanted to reduce his heard and was more concerned with the quality of home we could provide than he was the price we could pay. We purchased two to start with, Marcel and Mimi. Mimi came to us pregnant and gave birth to Ambroise the following July. Shortly after Ambroise was born the gentleman contacted me again and told me he had an orphaned jenny that needed to be bottle fed. We immediately went and got her and brought her home. That little orphan is now Naughty Ophelia. We feel very blessed and accomplished to now have a herd of 4 French Poitou donkeys and to have this elderly couple as friends, actually they are more like family now. I plan to add donkey milk soaps to my line in the near future.These are more personal:

Do you have a specific goals? In one year? In two years?

My main goal has always been to educate people on the dangers of extinction for both wild and domestic animals. I currently take a few of my hens to elementary class rooms to visit and talk with the kids about the importance of preserving these heritage breeds. A lot of my goals are not necessarily soap related, but my soap helps me to reach these goals.

Next year I would love to be able to open the farm to field trips for the kids, but that takes a lot of insurance! Soap wise, next year my goal is to expand my line and add donkey milk soaps and lotions. I am currently still working on formulations and testing. Within two years I would love to do soap full time and hopefully have a brick and mortar store front located here at the farm, that is deeply rooted in the community. A place where friends and neighbors can come to pick up natural products, meet the farm inhabitants face to face and learn more about these breeds.

If we’re sitting here a year from now celebrating what a great year it’s been for you in soap making, what did you achieve?

We are celebrating the fact that my little farm now provides local jobs for several friends or neighbors who are packing and shipping orders all day long, while I work with several other employees making soaps and other products. Maybe guiding a field trip in between soap batches. My biggest celebration would be because I now employ a computer genius to handle that beastly machine! Oh and someone who loves to wrap and label soap would be a big celebration too!

What’s your superpower?
That is funny because my superpower is what my parents always considered a flaw! I am hard headed, tenacious and stubborn as a mule. If you tell me I can’t do something, well, just stand back a watch me prove you wrong.

Tell us about a time when soaping didn’t go the way you wanted. What was your “great catastrophe?

When I first starting making soap, I didn’t do test batches and I didn’t realize there is a big difference in the quality of many fragrance oils. I had purchased a barging fragrance oil and used it in 5 lb. bath of soap. It was a floral and went into the mold fine, but 20 minutes later it volcanoed up out of the mold, all over the counter and the floor. So I got to clean up 5 lbs of raw soap. Not fun, but a valuable lesson learned!

Do you get a lot of support from your family?

Yes, my hubby always encourages me. He is really impressed with my products and has provided the bulk of the financial investments. Our kids love my stuff too and talk it up all the time to everyone they meet. I have several out of state wholesale accounts that I credit our girls with sending my way. While I don’t have my parents any more, I have the best in laws on the planet! Anything they can do to help me they are always willing to do and NEVER say no.

Describe to me, your most memorable customer. Why was she/he memorable?

She is my neighbor. She purchase soap from me way back when I was first learning and has been my soap pimp ever since. She is always pimping my soap and has sent me countless customers. Plus since our first interaction we have become great friends as well.

All soap makers have them so tell me about your worst “lye burn.

I got raw soap inside my bra…………..need I say more?

What would you say are your 2 greatest weaknesses?

1. I am technically challenged; I hate anything I have to do on the computer. I wish there was a class somewhere you could take that could teach us antiques how to get with the times!
2. I am not the most organized person, sometimes I drive myself crazy!

How would your best friend describe you?

Energetic, outspoken and fiercely loyal.

If you had to give up ONE of your favorite foods, what would it be?

I already did potatoes. I love them, especially fried or stewed in butter!

Tell me about your soap. Your store name and its “brand” or philosophy.

Plott Hollow Naturals. Named after our farm, Plott Hollow Farm. (our farm was named after our Plott Hounds) I want to bring people the very best natural goat milk products possible but I also want my clients to understand what our farm is all about. I want them to feel like they are helping save the animals and like they are part of our farm family. We lost our male Plott Hound, Ely, last year to a brain tumor. It was wonderful having so many people concerned and supportive thru the whole ordeal. Our farm’s social media page created a huge extended family for us and our animals and I love that. It’s great that they can buy goat milk soaps and feel like they know the goats personally.

Where can your soap be found

• www.plotthollowfarm.com
• https://www.facebook.com/pages/Plott-Hollow-Farm/213677488648748?ref=hl
• https://www.etsy.com/people/PlottHollowFarm

What is your most popular soap:

 Donkey Smooch Take a walk on the wild side! Free spirited, grounding patchouli leaves, gently crushed give in to the soft seductive scent of neroli and sandalwood entangle with sweet agave nectar and dew kissed orange blossoms. Even those that don’t particularly care for patchouli love this one of a kind fragrance. I think it is so popular because Mimi, our oldest jenny is known for her big lips! Maybe they feel like they are getting a kiss from MiMi! Plus it’s a patchouli blend, anything patchouli seems to be back in vogue!