When customers place an order we never know how the end product is going to be used but we were thrilled on this occasion to have been contacted by West Dorset Soap, when they informed us of a unique use of our stamps. They had ordered a clear stamp (not mounted on a wooden handle) and had actually been pressing it into their handmade soaps. After seeing this, we had to get in touch and find out more!
Louisa is the founder of West Dorset Soap, based within the hills of West Dorset. She has always liked bath bombs and soaps, and her background is actually working in a micro bakery, so she has always been creative. When possible, she always likes to make her own rather than buy something ready-made. And of course we couldn’t agree with her more!
She decided to try making her own bespoke rustic soaps, partly for the creative side, but also because she was tired of the endless empty shower gel bottles in the bathroom. She knew she was going to make them environmentally-friendly and after further research into what goes into many soaps, she found that a lot of them use palm oil and animal fat. As a vegetarian, she didn’t want to use either of those so she’s been carefully trying to create recipes with the right balance of oils so that there is no need for either the animal fat or palm oil. She also wanted to make sure that the soaps were coloured naturally, as well as being eco-friendly with no plastic.
She wanted to create branded soaps so she got in touch with us to see if it was something we could help with. Having never used stamps for this purpose, we weren’t sure how it was going to work but we thought a clear stamp might be best for this purpose. Clear stamps are just the clear layer of stamp, with no handle and foam backing. This way, she would be able to see where she was pressing the stamp, as well being able to bend the design so it could be pressed into the soap. As you can see from the photos, it worked really well, and Louisa couldn’t be more pleased with the results. Click here to read more about clear stamps.
She found it a lot trickier to set up her soap business than she first thought due the huge amount of guidelines that have to be met but she has persevered through it and is now the lovely West Dorset Soap is up and running.
She has always been inspired by her local area, with lots of boutique shops and one-off items, and when setting up, she hoped to be a part if it all. She is currently juggling full-time work baking cakes and the start up of West Dorset Soap, all at the same time, so it can prove rather difficult at times. She struggles to find enough hours in the day! We know from experience that it will all be worth it in the end.
She hopes to have her soaps in a few local boutique shops, and she’s had a few stalls at various shows but she will hopefully go to a few more shows next year. She’s hoping to slowly start to extend their product range in shampoo bars etc. which we are very excited about! Her wonderful online shop is now up and running. Please click here to visit it.
