When Holly with The Little Flower Soap Co. needs inspiration, she spends time in her two acre flower farm. The fresh and elegant products are the result of her green thumb and her husband's background in biology and chemistry. Customers love her soap, lip balm, lotions, and more. Get to know Holly below!
How long have you been making bath and body products, and how did you get started? How long have you been selling your products?
I started making soap in spring of 2010 when I went four hours north of Toronto in Ontario to a log cabin, where I learned an heirloom soap making recipe and process from a dear friend. The batch made 125 bars, which was more than we needed for personal use, so we decided to offer them as favors to the guests at our wedding. The response from our guests was overwhelmingly positive, they all wanted to know where they could get more of this great soap!
What do you love most about making bath and body products?
I love working with my husband to create top notch recipes. His background in chemistry and biology make it possible for us to exceed our customers' expectations with how well our lip balms, body balms, and lotions work and smell.
What inspires you to create?
I'm inspired by nature of course!! We also have a two acre flower farm where we grow rows of lavender to use in the soap. Spending time weeding, watering, and harvesting bountiful blooms keeps me inspired.
What advice would you give to someone who wanted to get started?
I recommend using a good old fashion paper and pen to write a vision for your bath and body making hobby or business. Describe what you want to make, who you want to share it with, etc. Then, read that vision out loud to a few close friends and get started making it happen.
Who’s another maker you admire? What do you love about their work?
I've always admired Saipua, Sarah and her mom are kindred spirits for sure and I love following their flower and soap farming journey.
What are your favorite essential oils to create with? Your favorite botanicals?
My favorite is lavender hands down, but I also love peppermint essential oil. My favorite botanical is calendula petals.
Have you experienced a fail? How did you work through it, and what did you learn?
Yes, fails happen! At least once a year, we have a batch of soap that just flops. Usually we can trace it back (pardon the pun) to some error in measuring the fats or the lye, but it's naturally very frustrating to be staring at 144 wasted bars of soap. The thing to do is say, "mistakes happen, it's only soap," toss it out, and start again right away.
What plans do you have for your business moving forward?
We are focusing on attracting in-person shoppers to our brick and mortar by opening a u-pick flower farm. We want to entice city folk from Ann Arbor and Metro Detroit to take a drive in the country and come experience the farm.
Holly's top Bramble Berry picks
- Tobacco and Bay Leaf Fragrance Oil - We love Bramble Berry scents, especially this one.
- Hickory and Suede Fragrance Oil - This one is great for candles!
- Southern Peach Fragrance Oil - We use this sweet scent in soy candles.
- Alkanet root powder and madder root - These are a natural way to color our hibiscus rose geranium soaps.
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