Interview with an Etailer - Vol. 5

Next up we have....

Company: Ginger's Garden
Owner: Irena
Located: Palm Springs, CA
Website Address: http://www.gingersgarden.com/

How long have you been in business? Since 1991

Tell us what you do: I am a third generation Aromatherapist, Herbalist, Soapmaker and Skin & Body Care Formulator born in Prague, Czech Republic.. I have been making soaps since 1969.

How did you get started? Both mom and grandma made soaps, lotions, potions and creams. I use to think that my family had magicians because to a child what they made was just magic. People would come to buy these things so they would get better. My mom's kitchen was full of herbs drying upside down, jars full of steeping herbs or dark glass bottles filled with wonderful or "smelly" liquids.

Do you have a specialty product or product line? I specialize in handcrafted soaps and gentle skin care.

Do you have an unusual product that you are the only one that has it? I have branched out into specialty shaving soaps, men's toiletries and their skin care needs.

What is your usual turn around time? My usual turn around time is 24 to 48 hours, excluding weekends.

What are some things you are doing to help keeping going during this tough economy? I recycle peanuts, bubble wrap and clean shipping boxes.

Reminiscing back to her childhood, Irena remembers grandma making soap outside in a big kettle over an open fire. The lye was made by pouring ashes over rain water which my grandma collected during the rainy season. When she had enough lye, she would suspend an egg to see if the lye was strong enough. If the egg sank, the lye was too strong. If the egg just barely floated on the top of the water, the lye wasn't strong enough. But, if the egg submerged just half way, the lye was just right. She collected grease drippings in the kitchen in an empty coffee can. This soap was mostly used to wash laundry and dirty dishes. Our clothes were washed in a tin tub with a wooden washboard.


Take a walk through Ginger's Garden and sign up for her newsletter to keep up to date on sales and specials. You can also stalk the LC Sample box list to see when Gingers Garden will be in it and just maybe you will get to try some of her great products!

Til Next Time!

Lemming Central August Sample Box Samples have landed

Woo Hoo.. The gangs all here... ok well almost all here.... Still waiting on a couple samples to arrive. They should be here very soon!

The LC August Sample Box goes on sale Monday August 4th at 10am EST! Don't Forget!

We have the Sneak Peeks up, so head on over and take a look at all the awesome samples that have arrived so far. Go see, go see!

And while you are waiting for the box to go on sale, go check out the websites of the fine Etailers that are in the August box... They have some great stuff!

Benedetta
Blooddrop Clothing & Fineries
Blue Raven Tea
Eclectricrafts
Go Bare Skincare
Harley's Delight
Pure Indulgent
Bauble Bath
SBS Teas
Soap Sushi
Things That Make Scents
Vampyrz
Just Right Candles
SoY Lovely
Neosoul Essentials
The Gourmet Bath Shoppe
Pebble Creek Candles
LA Minerals
Nocturne Alchemy

Be on the look out, a new Interview with an Etailer will be up soon!

Til Next time....

Interview with an Etailer Vol. 4

These are the coolest soaps I have ever seen! See for yourself...

Soap Sushi
Soaps with personality

Owner: Krystal Kelly
Located: Florida
URL: http://www.soapsushi.com/

How long have you been in business? Soap Sushi has only been open for a few months. I started a soap business after closing my beadmaking business, LuNa Beads. I was a beadmaker for almost 10 years.Tell us what do you do: I make Artisan Soaps. I have made other bath and body products, but my true love is soaps.

How did you get started in all this? I have always loved crafts. I started making soaps ages ago as a hobby, and really loved it. I finally decided to take the plunge and open a shop when I realized how much I love to make soap.

Do you have a specialty product or product line? My specialty is themed "bar" soaps. I make beverage bar soaps, candy bar soaps, bar soaps with toys (made of soap!) embedded, a Halloween line, and I'm constantly brainstorming for more themes.

Your products are a bit unusual, are you the only one that has it? I don't think anyone else is doing soap quite the way I am. My soaps are more than just great lather and scent; they have personality!

What is your usual turn around time? a couple of business days

What are some things you are doing to help keeping going during this tough economy? People always need to buy gifts. My soaps are very giftable, and I'm working on new products and strategies for each holiday, birthdays, weddings, and showers.


Sign up for the Soap Sushi newsletter and get exclusive offers just for subscribers in every issue.
http://www.soapsushi.com/
I'm off to plot an order for myself...

Til Next Time!

Interview with an Etailer - Vol. 3

This weeks interview is with the lovely Linsey from Pamperin U. I'm a long time customer of hers, she has great products! Im waiting for her to drive up from Maryland and meet me in Atlantic City!

Pampering U
Solutions for Balance, Happiness & Serenity
Owner: Linsey Williams
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
www.pamperingu.com

How long have you been in business?
We started the business in August 2001.

What you do?
We manufacture pampering and wellness products including aromatherapy oils, bath, body, home fragrance and more. We also offer alternative healing products like colour therapy, chakra balancing and personal and spiritual motivational products.

How did you get started in all this?
I admitted my addiction to bath and body products and needed a way to reduce the amount of money I was spending. One day I got the idea to make my own products. I already had professional culinary training where I learned to formulate recipes so I figured making bath and body products would be easy. I researched my competition, decided who my target market would be and created the product line and website.

Do you have a specialty product or product line?
Yes, I would consider our bath and body line to be our specialty product line (especially the therapeutic herbal bath soaks and Bath of the Month Club). We use natural ingredients including pure essential oils, herbs and botanicals and we use exclusive mood fragrance blends that are not available anywhere else—online or offline.

What is your usual turn around time?
Since most of our products are hand made at the time of purchase, the current order turn around time is 5-7 business days for retail orders and 12-15 business days for wholesale orders.

What are some things you are doing to help keeping going during this tough economy?
We try to order most supplies, containers, etc. from one or two suppliers. We have also reduced production to a couple of days a week—saving a little money on water, electricity, etc. For our customers we offer periodic sales, coupon discounts and incentives for referrals.

Don't miss out on those sales, coupon discounts and go sign up for the Pampering U newsletter!

Feed your addiction!

Til Next Time!!

Interview with an Etailer - Vol. 2

Perhaps you got a sample from them in the June Sample box.. If you didn't... well you missed out!!

Crafty Momma Soaps and More
Feeling Dirty? Get clean with Crafty Momma Soaps
Owners: Heather & Carl Banas
Located in Indiana
Website Address: Soapwood.etsy.com (to shop) or http://www.usite.com/craftymomma

How long have you been in business? With these products, since around 2006. Previously we made Native American crafts and traveled around doing shows.

What do you do? I make natural body products and come up with the scents that hubby makes the soap in. 99% of everything is handmade and packaged right here in our workshop that's attached to our home. We also work on various crafts such as woodcarvings and beading.

How did you get started? I've been crafting since I was 10 or so, so I'm always working on some project, but an elderly friend of ours would make soap each year at the holidays and then give it away as gifts. We got some and loved the idea of the soap, but she used lard in hers. We wanted the handmade soap, but we wanted it natural, if possible, and vegan. I've been making my own products to use here at home for a long time, and have tons of aromatherapy books I love to read, but this was the first time we went public with any of them.

Do you have a specialty product or product line? Our soaps. They're vegan and most are all natural. The size is huge (8-10 ounces), unless specified otherwise. I recently came out with an anti-cellulite loofah bar soap where I custom blended essential oils for it. We can barely keep it in stock!

What is your usual turn around time? If something is in stock, we usually ship out within 12-24 hours. Soaps that are not in stock can take anywhere from 3-8 weeks to cure, so it's always best to plan ahead to get what you really want. Our batches are very small, usually yielding about 6 bars of each.

What are some things you are doing to help keeping going during this tough economy? We are really picking and choosing the supplies we are getting. We get first what we need the most. We've also tried traveling to a couple of shows that we wouldn't normally do and are planning one of our own here at our home.

Do you have a newsletter sign up? Yes, we do. Newsletters can be requested by contacting us by either email, phone or mail. We typically send our newsletters by email, but they can be mailed too!

Thanks Heather! I appreciate your time to do this interview with us!!

I'm on the list and that's how I found out about the Cotton Candy Soap! OMG I must have some! I got my order in already!! Yay! Gotta feed my soap addiction! My pile was getting pretty low and I have been slowly restocking it!

Til Next time!