Soap itself is something that can be overlooked. It's used daily by many people. It's just part of routine. But handmade soaps often have features that mass production. Natural products, that lack fake colors, often have unique colors and shades not always present in other soaps. They often have unique textures as each soap maker uses different recipes. Unique miniature art pieces that are incorporated by the customers into their lives.
Clark Farm offers a number of rotating scents to appeal to different people. I think I counted about 10 or more currently listed on their website, but I think there was more available through the etsy shop. I find this impressive considering the fact that they're a small family run business. Having a large variety of options available is both time consuming and difficult to make space for (at least in my experience).I can't imagine how divine bath time in their home is though.
Now unlike some of the other artists we've spotlighted, Clark Farm is a family run business creating handmade items for use in everyday life. I got to talk to Kristen who is in charge of creation and asked her some of the questions I like to use to pick an artist's mind. This also helped me to better understand how they came to create soap.
I'm always curious as to what inspires people to develop various skills, and in this case they found inspiration in their everyday life. There's a case of rosecea in their household, and the serum a friend recommended as a treatment option was $52 an ounce, which was expensive and for continual use impractical. Another friend offered them some goat milk soap, which they found to have both positive results and a positive appeal. So having found a product that worked well for the problem, they tweaked the formula to get the qualities they wanted.
They also found that the goats milk soap helped their son, Cole. He liked the soap and it helped to clear up his eczema. Cole enjoys helping create the soaps. It soon became a family project as her other son, Tyler, who has cerebral palsy and autism, enjoys the creation process as well. As a family they enjoy exploring scents that can offer beneficial properties, such as calming anxiety, for other people, who may not be able to afford the pricey items in the all-natural stores.
Clark Farm soaps are inspired by the people they're made for. They listen to what people are asking for, and why they are asking for it. They've found that the natural options that are available instead of continuing to use commercially made soap products is appealing to consumers. Consumers are finding that many natural soaps offer benefits through their use beyond just getting you clean, just as they themselves found the soap beneficial.
Some of the beneficial qualities of goats milk include lactic acid which helps to break down skin cells, aiding in the natural process of shedding old cells as new ones are formed. Goat milk contains many vitamins and nutrients useful to keeping healthy skin, including zinc, alpha hydroxy acid and amino acid, as well as vitamin A, B, C and E. This has been proven useful over time, because they have found they are using fewer moisturizers since using the goats milk soap regularly.
Advice from artists is something I think is inspiring and helpful to people hoping to create things themselves. Which is why I frequently remind myself to ask about advice. So when I asked Kristen of Clark Farm what her advice would be to someone who was interested in trying to create similar products would be, I was interested to find out what she thought.
Her strongest response is that aspiring soap makers should just do it. She believes that it's super easy, and with so many internet resources to offer help and advice they shouldn't feel intimidated. She's found that if you don't like what you make, you can always donate the soap.
Clark Farm has found that they are able to donate soap in 1 oz pieces to local homeless shelters. Kristen said that People often don't realize that homeless people need more than just food. So Clark Farm does this regularly. It makes them feel good to give back to the less fortunate. They also donate some of their profits to a worthy cause. This was something very important to her son Cole, who is just 11 years old. They donate 10% of their profits to the Barnstead Parent Teacher Organization.
As my usual questions aren't necessarily applicable to soap, I did ask Kristen what her favorite piece is that they make. Her favorite piece is the lilac soap. It reminds her of spring, making her feel happy, and is an unexpected scent that to her experience isn't frequently found in soap.
I really enjoyed getting to interact with Kristen, who is clearly quite knowledgeable and happy to hear ideas and enjoys educating others about how useful their products can be. You can purchase their products directly through their website, or through their etsy shop. You will find a variety of products in their shop, with unique colors and scents to appeal to many types of people. Perfect for home use or gift giving.
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