Soapy Scented Sweetness

Illawarra Mercury

Wednesday June 27, 2007

KILMENY ADIE

Itchy, flaky skin? There is an answer. Gone are the days when you simply had to make do with harsh commercial varieties of soap, writes KILMENY ADIE.

Kim Julius once suffered from dry and itchy skin. Unlike most people, she decided to do something about it and turned her attention to soap making.

Now the Unanderra woman spends her weekdays making 30 varieties of soap and her weekends travelling between Windsor and Huskisson to sell her homemade bars at various monthly markets.

Last week, when she was settling into her regular Friday routine at the Wollongong Produce and Creative Traders Markets, her stall featured soaps in a rainbow of colours as well as three buckets of homemade bath salts and a selection of wheat bags in different shapes and sizes.

According to the businesswoman, the majority of her customers are people who do not wish to use commercial soap products and some of them have a range of skin conditions.

"Generally people buy them because they're a lot softer and they're a lot more gentle on the skin," Julius says.

"Then I have the goats milk, oatmeal and emu oil (soaps) which target people with eczema, psoriasis and dermatitis because they don't have any fragrances, colourings or things like that.

"(People are interested) because the skin's a living organ and it absorbs the chemicals in commercial soaps. A lot of people will say "is there any sodium lauryl sulphate?" or "what do you put in them?" I know what's in each piece of soap and I will tell them."

Sydney Essential Oil Co co-owner Michael Samperi has observed a dramatic shift in the cosmetic industry in the past 10 years, driven by people like Julius and her customers.

"It's a huge growth industry because people are questioning what's in cosmetics," he says.

The Sydney-based business supplies the raw materials such as lavender oil, sweet almond oil and shea butter used in making skin care products.

Samperi says interest in what is in beauty products as well as a desire to embrace an old world or organic lifestyle, is driving the homemade industry like never before.

"It's only at the very start of the industry at the moment," he says.

"I think also there's the fact these days there's so many cooking shows and this is almost an extension of that. People are more confident in their cooking skills and they can almost apply (those principals) back to cosmetics as well."

Julius says she is surprised by the fact that something that began seven years ago as a little experimentation has grown into a steady business.

"It's all work. I work through the week making product and then I work through the weekend selling product. I have a range of about 30 different soaps that I do," she says.

"And because it takes six weeks to cure them until they're ready to sell, I just rotate them. Whatever's ready I put on the table and if something's not ready then it's not on the table. But I always have a range of 18 soaps at any given time."

This range of soaps includes the ever-popular frangipani along with soaps scented with mango, peppermint or even coconut ice. Men, Julius says, tend to go for the sandalwood or cinnamon varieties.

At this point in time, Julius has no plans to expand the products she makes to include moisturisers or other similar items.

"I have thought about it, but the soaps take me a fair bit of time and then there's the wheat bags and the bath salts too. I just don't have the time for it," she says.

Preparation notes

MELT AND POUR SOAP

Prep time: 15 minutes (plus setting time), cooking is required, makes 1kg (10x100g bars)

Ingredients:

1kg SEOC premium melt and pour soap base

8ml orange sweet essential oil

1ml cinnamon bark essential oil

1ml ginger essential oil

20g ground walnut shell

Method:

Cut the soap into small pieces and place them into a double pot on your stove top. Using a low heat, gently melt the soap until it becomes liquid. Do not heat beyond 60?C.

Once fully melted, add essential oils and ground walnut shell, mix well, but avoid creating too many bubbles. Pour into moulds and let set for 24-48 hours.

BATH SALT

Prep time: 10 minutes, no cooking required, makes 1kg (4x250g jars)

Ingredients:

750g epsom salts

200g bath salts (fine)

60g sodium bicarbonate

4ml lavender true essential oil

2ml may chang essential oil

4ml orange sweet essential oil

10ml sandalwood extract

20g rose petals

Method:

In a clean bowl, mix the salts together.

Add essential oils, mix well.

Add extracts, mix well.

Add sodium bicarbonate, mix well.

Add rose petals, mix well.

If adding dye (using a few millilitres of a water-soluble product), allow to sit for 24 hours before adding as this will ensure it absorbs into the salt and won't leave stains around your bath. Mix well.

Allow to sit for 24 hours before using. This will ensure the oils absorb to the centre of the salt, giving a more intense aroma in the bath.

Application:

Draw a hot bath (or bowl for a foot soak). Add 100-125g of bath salts to running water. Allow a few minutes for the salts to dissolve.

These recipes were taken from the Sydney Essential Oil Company website. More recipes can be found there or are available in a four-part series of books. For more information visit www.seoc. com.au.

© 2007 Illawarra Mercury

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