Nathan with Clover Soapworks learned how to make old-fashioned lard soap from his mother and quickly became obsessed. He started making cold process as well, but with a modern twist. Now Nathan shares his colorful and swirly bars on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. Get to know him below!
How long have you been making soap, and how did you get started? How long have you been selling your products?
I have been making soap for approximately five years now! I started making soap as an opportunity to spend time with my mother as a sort of bonding experience. She had been making old-fashioned lard soap for years, and I wanted to know what it was all about...my family always raved about the soap! And that was the beginning of the obsession! I have been actively selling my products now for about two years.
What do you love most about making bath and body products?
Really, it all comes down to artistic expression. As a full-time accountant, I spend the majority of my day in front of a computer working on spreadsheets and numbers. Creating soap and bath and body products is my outlet; it allows me to express my creativity in ways that are not possible in my day job. And then, of course, I have a serious addiction to fragrance and I just love turning those gorgeous fragrances into products that are practical for everyday use!
What inspires you to create?
Fragrance and color. I was diagnosed with a chronic blood cancer in 2018, and I spent a long time in some really dark places. But during that darkness, I found that creating things in vibrant colors and bright scents helped me to tune out all the negative noise going on in my head and just be in the moment. It brought me back from the void of despair. For people experiencing chronic pain or mental illness, even just a few minutes without those struggles can be the peace we need to continue on. Without soap making, I am truly not sure where I would be.
What advice would you give to someone who wanted to get started?
Ask yourself the hard questions before you start. What is your goal? If you just like to make soap and want to turn it into a business, you really need to understand everything that goes into running a business. Your love for making soap may quickly turn to everything but making actual soap - shipping, packaging, marketing, social media, etc. Just make sure you have very clear goals about what it is you're wanting to accomplish. Making soap for fun and making soap for a business are two separate things.
Who’s another maker you admire? What do you love about their work?
I adore and respect Ariane Arsenault from La Fille De La Mer. She is the epitome of the handmade bath and body community...she is so professional, kind, and she works harder than anyone I know. She is on every platform and presents her beautiful creations in a way that is both accessible and relatable. And her products are so outstanding and made incorporating ingredients from where she is from. If you have never bought anything from her, you should check her out ASAP! I've been watching her for years and I still get a lot of joy out of seeing all of her videos and creations.
Do you have any tips on making engaging short-form videos for TikTok and Instagram? Do you think that's a good way to transition into longer YouTube videos?
Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube are completely different animals and require different content for each. Instagram rewards shorter content that has pretty pictures and music, while TikTok rewards storytelling, longer videos, and being a little more raw. Instagram is like eating at a fancy sushi restaurant while TikTok is like eating at fast food. This is why I think it is hard for people coming from Instagram to be successful on TikTok because the TikTok audience doesn't respond very well to Instagram type content and vice versa. It's rare for someone to be successful on both IG and TikTok because they require different content. As far as YouTube goes, YouTube is a struggle because it wants you to record in horizontal format, while the other social media outlets prefer vertical format. YouTube I have found the hardest to transition into, as it requires working with larger files and more editing compared to creating something quick and easy on IG or TikTok.
Have you experienced a failure? How did you work through it, and what did you learn?
Plenty of times! Failure is how you learn from your mistakes and move forward. People always say, "You make that look so easy!" or "You're so fearless!" and I just think to myself, there are years of practice here where I have learned from my failures. Don't be afraid to do something you haven't ever done before, because you will always learn something from it so that when you make it next time you can make it even better! There's probably a hundred different things I take into account on each batch of soap I make that, to the naked eye, just looks like I am pouring lye into some oils. I am factoring in the temperature, the oils being used, the colorants being used, the fragrance being used, the additives being used, the mold size being used, the amount of water, the amount of mica, and the list goes on and on. You only learn these things through your own learning and discovery.
What plans do you have for your business moving forward?
This is an important question, because it took me a while to realize what MY goals are for my business moving forward. I love making soap; it's my favorite thing to do. But I do it for artistic expression. The larger my business gets, the further I move away from my love of making soap, and I just don't want to lose that. As a result, have I recognized that I am not going to be making my business into some six/seven figure empire? Yes. Have I also recognized that I am going to be doing the things that bring me the most joy and satisfaction? 100%. I want to tell a story through soap and I want to connect with people. Keeping my business small will allow me to focus on the things that will keep me fueled up for the years to come.
Nathan's top Bramble Berry picks
Oh gosh, that's so hard to choose! But since I am a fragrance junky, I would have to say:
- Orange 10X Essential Oil - A fresh citrus scent that's concentrated so it won't fade in cold process soap
- Lavender and Cedar Fragrance Oil - Notes of camphor, cedarwood, pine, and lavender
- Lingonberry Spice Fragrance Oil - Notes of apple, frozen berry, lemon, balsam fir, cinnamon, clove, cedarwood, mountain air, and musk
- Cactus Flower Fragrance Oil - Notes of lemon, bergamot, winter berry, flowering succulent, violet, white musk, and vetiver
All of these behave wonderfully and really smell absolutely amazing in soap. The list is much much longer but you only asked for four. :)
What’s your favorite Bramble Berry project?
I haven't actually tried any of the Bramble Berry kits/projects, but I have followed Bramble Berry for a long time and have learned a lot over the years from their blog posts. I was first inspired to try a spin swirl based on the Bramble Berry Bonfire Spin Swirl Soap! Anne-Marie does such a great job clearly laying out how and why she does things, so it was fun to follow along. I like to work with the larger slab molds and this was one of the first designs I saw in the big mold that I just had to try!
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