Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Helsel.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Our Story
At Soothing Suds by Steph, we are dedicated to harnessing the power of natural ingredients to create the best handmade soaps. Stephanie, who encountered difficulties in finding soap with clean ingredients for our son and family, immersed herself in the science of soap making and natural skincare. She devoted countless hours to researching the benefits of herbs, spices, and aromatics, while also exploring other products like Whipped Tallow and natural deodorants for their exceptional nourishing properties.
Our Products
Our products are meticulously crafted with natural ingredients to nourish and rejuvenate your skin. By sourcing most of our ingredients from local farmers, we not only support ourselves but also our community. When you choose our natural skincare items. Whether you’re looking for the best handmade soaps, our best-selling Whipped Tallow, or unique soap scents, you’re guaranteed to find something for everyone among our soothing suds and Tallow products.
Our Mission
At Soothing Suds by Steph, our mission is to provide the best handmade soaps and high-quality natural skincare that is both affordable and accessible to everyone. We believe that everyone deserves to feel confident and beautiful in their own skin.
We currently send soap as far as the UK
And as close as our neighbor next door.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
We started this business from a few dollars. It’s been a struggle most of the way. Growing happens slowly as we don’t have investors or employees to keep us going. It is myself and my husband who helps when he can. Its tough to navigate a new business while caring for a little one. He is now 3 and runs around markets with us and is always wanting to help with labeling.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Our business is currently a one employee business, me the owner. I wear many hats staring with locating our ingredients locally. To making the products, creating the labels, and selling the products. We specialize in Tallow products. All of our skincare uses Suet tallow that is rendered in house. Our soaps use a tallow rendered by a local farm (same farm we buy suet from). What sets us apart is our unique scent blends, products that work and are created with intention and keeping safety in mind.
We also give back to the community as often as possible. We run a “pay what you can” and a “donate a bar” program where you may purchase soap at whatever price you want, or you may buy a soap bar and saver at cost for us to donate back to a shelter or organization in our community in need.
We are also known for our classes. We teach the community how to make our products, so that we can pass that knowledge down.
We teach the girl scouts and we are working with a local juvenile group to teach them how to make/sell their own soaps. Helping provide them with a fresh set of skills to re enter their community with.
We are proud of our entire business, but a few products make us extra proud. Our Renew & Restore is one of them.
This is a retinol and collagen stimulator I formulated to help ladies any time they need it. Night or day the oils we use help encourage the production of retinol and collagen instead of turning skin cells too rapidly.
We offer online shopping with free shipping at $75. We run a small self serve shop (yes it is un manned other than our cameras) we can call through the camera and communicate with you while you are shopping.
This allows us to provide the community with a place to go when other shops aren’t typically open.
What’s next?
We are saving to be able to move operations south and purchase a warehouse. We are already out of space in our backyard building where we make our products. Gaining the wholesale accounts that we have means we need more space to cure soaps before they leave
Pricing:
- Soaps $7
- Tallow md $9 LG $16
- Renew & restore $20
- Salt soak $16
Contact Info:
- Website: https://soothingsudssteph.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1XdaTjoJhH/
