Cooking up some real soap
Michele LeTourneau
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Dec 22/00) - Ah, the hot bath. Relax, soothe the tired body, and enjoy a few stolen moments.
But what's that you slather on your body? Soap? Are you certain? Sorry to break this to you, but chances are it's animal fat. That's what Theresa Grandmond discovered when she looked into making soap.
"They're not even called soap any more. They're called 'bars,' like moisturizing bars. And a lot of them use animal fat, most of the commercial products use tallow. And fillers. I couldn't even find out what was being used as fillers," says Grandmond.
Her love affair with soap began the moment she walked into a Lush shop in Vancouver.
"I fell in love with it," she said.
The brand Lush, selling out of its own shops across Canada and the UK, specializes in hand-made, natural toiletries. Key word: natural.
Grandmond looked into opening a Lush franchise in Yellowknife, but learned they might let her manage a store, but not own it.
"I wanted to be an owner of my own store, not just manage," she said.
Not one to give up, Grandmond researched soap. She discovered a community of like-minded soap purists on the Internet.
Before she knew it, she was gathering recipes and making her own soaps. And bath bombs. And lip balms. And massage bars.
"I've always been a crafty kind of person, but impatient," said Grandmond.
"I love this. I can see a finished product right away."
Her products, all part of a line she calls Scentually You, can be made in a day. They're all tested on friends and family.
She shared the story of her husband trying to jump in on the soap-testing action.
"I wonder if it hurts the eyes," he mused. Indeed it did: soap is soap after all. They now joke that although the fledgling home-based company does not support testing on animals, it does support testing on husbands.
Scentually You uses only natural ingredients, such as nut butters, vegetable oils, natural scents and some essential oils, as well as other ingredients such as petals, oatmeal and loofah.
"I can tell you right down to the drop what I have in my products. I gather up all the ingredients and cook them up in a pot. It takes about two hours."
Soaps cure for three weeks, in a process called saponification, and harden into cakes.
For a "scentual" treat, check out Grandmond's table at Centre Square Mall on Saturday, or at Quality Furniture.
