Success from natural handmade soap
Posted on October 11th, 2009
Darlene Del Mundo, 34, has always been very fond of soaps and aromatherapy. And this passion eventually led her to her business.
Del Mundo said that her family always tries soap from different brands, but they would only make their skin dry. Her family has skin asthma, and so they thought their skin’s reactions to the soaps was just normal, until she found out that commercial soaps were filled with synthetic and chemical ingredients.
This motivated her to learn how to make natural soaps. “I made a choice to discontinue using commercial soaps and start making my own handmade soaps, the By Nature Handmade Soaps,†Del Mundo said.
She decided to use essential oils on her soaps too because she was fascinated the powerful plant oil’s ability to heal and influence one’s emotional state.
She later found out that it wasn’t easy. There were many trial and errors committed before she came up with the perfect formulation which passed her standards. She then tried adding various ingredients to give her handmade soaps their individual character. Later on, she added special bars to her list.
“I initially came up with the regular bars, which contain coconut oil, palm oil, olive oil, ground oatmeal, herbs, spices, honey, beeswax, cocoa butter milk, cocoa powder, dried leaves, ground pumice, ground coffee and fragrance oils,†she said.
When she started with her special bars, she put pure essential oils, grapeseed oil, jojoba oil, sweet almond oil, wheat germ oil, vitamin E, plant extracts, fruit extracts, goat’s milk, aloe vera gel, dried petal and poppy seeds on the soaps.
Soon, Del Mundo also came up with premium bars. There are three variants which contain special moisturizing oils of castor, jojoba and wheat germ, which give them the extra nice emollient quality. She said that aside from being wonderful soaps for the skin, they also serve as an all-natural shampoo for the hair.
Starting with her family and relatives as first customers, she later joined bazaars and trade fairs. Now, By Nature Handmade Soaps has 25 resellers nationwide. And through her business, she was also able to realize her dream of donating to organization that she shares the same vision with.
Del Mundo shares that everything will follow with a lot of faith, hard work and positive energy. “It does not have to happen instantly. Seeing your business grow with every step you take is even sweeter,†she said.
