Beta Testers Needed!

I've had a "to do" list of products to make ever since I began LillaSyster Soap Co. I want to offer only the highest quality products, so each new product must go through intensive testing to ensure that it's good enough for, you, my customers. Therefore I recruit beta testers to help me with this. 

What is a Beta Tester?

From my very first soap, I've had beta testers. These are eople who are willing to try my products for free in exchange for honest feedback. At first these were members of my own family, but as my business grew I involved my cutomers.

What will I be testing?

When a new product is ready to be tested I will send out a detailed email describing the product and scent. It could be sugar scrub, lotion, a new soap scent, etc. If after reading about the product you decide you want to test it, you will simply follow the instructions that will be included on what to do next to become a tester. If you don't want to participate in that round of testing you do nothing.

What if I don't like or use that particular product?

If the product is a lavender scrub and you can't stand the smell of lavender, then you would obviously want to pass on that particular test group. But if you happen to sign up for a product that you thought you would like but don't, you would still offer feedback letting me know what you did and didn't like about that particular product.

How often will I receive these emails?

Unlike our regular newsletter which is monthly, the emails for beta testers will be need based. You may receive a couple a month, or none for several months, depending on the need for testing. As always, your email is safe with me. I will never use it for any purpose except for what you explicitly agree to. You may unsubscribe at any time. 

Requirements for being a beta tester:

1. You must be willing to come to the studio within a set amount of time to pick up your product. If you live out of town, please don't hesitate to sign up, as often times I will choose out of town testers as well, especially when I want to see how well a product does in shipping. In that case I will pay for shipping of the product to you. 

2. You must be willing to offer timely, detailed feedback after using the product.
By signing up you are expressing your interest in become a beta tester. You will receive an email when beta testers are needed.

To sign up go here and scroll all the way to the bottom of the page..

Do Not Eat!!

I've always laughed at the silly warnings that come with some products, such as the hairdryer one "do not use in the shower" or for window cleaner, "do not spray in eyes." Ha! But I really think on this next product I need to attach a warning, "Do Not Eat!"

Seriously, I had to keep myself from licking my fingers while making it. What is it and if you can't eat it, what DO you do with it? It's a bath cupcake and is in the super early stages of testing, which  means I haven't even tried a finished one myself yet. The bottom part is a bath fizzy and the top is a bath melt. You put the whole thing in your running bath water at once, just like you do with a bath fizzy and lay back and enjoy the wonderful smell and silky feel of your bath water. Mmmmm!

I will keep you all updated on the testing process and of course let you know if and when they are ready to sell.

The Newsletter is Live!

The Newsletter is live! Woo! Or maybe after my last post I should lumber by with a creepy look on my face screeching, "It's Aliiive!"

If you haven't subscribed, what are you waiting for?  Is this teaser enough to convince you?

The Mad Scientist

I'm like a mad scientist in the soap lab today. My hair is sticking up everywhere, my body is jerking in odd directions and my hands are stained red. Am I creating a monster? No, just Valentine's soaps and sugar scrub! Oh and the jerky part is just me dancing to Bohemian Rhapsody.

Want to see pics? (Of the soaps, not me dancing.) You'll have to wait until the newsletter comes out in a few days. Be sure and subscribe here. For now, here is a teaser.

What is this? Hint; It's NOT sugar scrub!

My Favorite Things and a Contest!

I am often asked by customers what my favorites are among my own products. So today I thought I would share that answer with you.

First let me just say that I use every single one of my own products. I start my day in the shower with soap. If I shave that day, I use sugar scrub before shaving for exfoliation and then soap on my legs instead of shaving cream. Upon stepping out of the shower I moisturize my skin with body butter and then spritz on body spray.  On special days, when I relax in the bath tub, I will use a bath fizzy.  I also usually have a lip balm or 10 within reach, wherever I go. :)

I can't pick just one of my favorite products so I will share with you three of my current obsessions:

Margaritaville Soap - If I ever stopped soap-making as a business I would still have to make this for my own personal consumption. I love the smell and I don't ever want to go back to commercial soap.

Cotton Candy Body Butter - So very yummy and moisturizing. Could not live without this!

Peppermint Lip Balm - I love the cooling feel of this lip balm and I find myself licking it off my lips!

Now for the contest!

Win your favorite product! Reply to this post/or facebook telling me what your favorite LillaSyster Soap Co. product is, including scent or flavor, and why you love this item. If you have never tried any of my products, let me know which products interest you the most, and why. In a few days I will draw a random name and that person will win their favorite product!

My Storefront

You know those times when you start a blog and then write a satisfying first entry and months go by...

*crickets*

Yeah, me either.

Okay, guilty as charged. Many things have happened since I originally wrote that last entry but the big news is I now have a store front. WOO!!

I opened in September of last year. The location isn't all that great as there aren't any walk in customers. Those who come in already know about me. But it's a start! And it's awesome to have everything out of my house.

I'm open on Saturdays only right now until traffic does pick up, but am up there many days of the week working on products, so if you can't make it on the weekend, give me a call (check my facebook page for contact info) to see if I am there. Hope to see you soon!

How it All Began!

I'm often asked, "How did you end up with a soap business?"

Well...it started with a big bang! :) Truly, it started with a bomb. A bath bomb that is. But I suppose I should go back further than that. I'd never really been a fan of bath products until I found Lush while living in Sweden.  But anyone who's been in there, knows that their products are outrageously priced, and back then we had very little money so my once a month treat was a bath bomb, a soap or a bubble bar.  Around the same time I discovered The Body Shop and fell in love with their body butter, but at 20 bucks a jar that was an even rarer treat.

I eventually moved back to the States and was ecstatic when I found both a Lush and  Body Shop 3 hours away in Dallas. All that and a basket of Naan...this girl was in heaven! Trips to Dallas became much too frequent and I never left without full shopping bags from both places and an empty wallet. We won't even go into what happened when I discovered Sephora in the same mall! Eek!

Did I ever think of making this stuff on my own? I didn't even know it was possible. Sure, I'd heard of people making soap, but that stuff was made with lard and ashes or something and smelled like ammonia. Did I know that for a fact? No, but Laura Ingalls Wilder fueled my imagination. Homemade bath bombs, I'd heard of, but they could never be as yummy as Lush. And body butter? No one could possibly make that homemade. You needed a lab and a factory and tons of oompa loompas for that.

But one day I was bored and decided to surf the internet. One of my favorite craft sites is Not Martha. My whole marble magnet craze was because of her. So I was browsing around her site and saw an article on bath bombs and thought, "hey I wanna do that!" And as it often happens on the internet, I started at one site then got sucked into the worm hole and ended up in a whole other dimension. I found out Laura Ingalls Wilder lied to me about homemade soap. Okay, well in her defense, soap was a whole different animal back then and did they ever really mention soap in the Little House books? I apologize to you Mrs. Wilder for falsely accusing you. Please don't haunt me. But if you do, please appear as a young snaggletooth Laura as portrayed by the adorably cute Melissa Sue Gilbert. :)

Back to the story....So soon, I had ordered supplies to make homemade soap.  And an obsession was born. A funny thing is, it was months later when I tried my first bath bomb, and have found they are not unlike a hormonal teenager. Some days they're perfect and shiny and other days they are a raving ball of prickly fizz. I also found out that you actually can make body butter at home. Who knew!

So that is how I got started making stuff, but how did I end up with a business? Well to support my expensive habit (yes, it's very expensive!) I knew I would eventually have to start selling my products. It was going to be a someday thing, but then I was invited to a small craft fair and it became a "now" thing. I got my sales tax permit, and insurance and eventually a dba and a bank acct and several festivals later I'm a business owner.

Photo from my festival in Sulphur Springs

In DeQueen where the wind nearly blew us to Kansas.
That's my oldest sister behind the table folding brochures.

Where is this going? My long-term goal is to have my own soap shop. I'd have an area in the front to display my soaps and other products and a large works pace in the back in which to create. My very own hormonal teenager said if he had the money he'd buy me my own soap shop. I was about to thank him for his thoughtfulness until he continued, "....so I wouldn't have to see your soap stuff in every room of the house!"  And it is pretty much in every room. Sigh.

But I can happily report that I can now walk past both a Lush and a Body Shop store without even crossing the threshold. Although my wallet is still empty since my business is in the baby stages and hasn't learned to walk, talk or make any real money yet. Someday...