Here's the low down on 2017!

I hope you are having fun experimenting with your Bathbomb Making Kit!

It feels great doesn't it when you finally get the knack of unmoulding without it crumbling! Don't be disheartened if it does crumble - still use it in your bath. It will fizz away and still release its lovely aromas and skin moisturising jojoba oil. I always have a jar on the go of 'home use' mishapes and crumbles.  

So let's talk about wrapping and displaying your bathbombs!

Looking for a gift that's unique and handmade? Does the thought of trailing around lots of shops leave you cold and unmotivated? Well here's a selection of gifts for you, something for everyone with the added bonus that they can be delivered to your door! Sounding like your cup of totally unstressful tea? Read on.... 

Do you battle eczema? Or perhaps you have sensitive skin and one of your children battles eczema? I'm sharing 6 very valuable things we have learned over the past 4 years coping with my youngest daughter's eczema. Number one and number 3 may really surprise you!

This is an excellent question! 

I recently made the decision that all of our natural skincare products would be made without using any nut oils because of my eldest daughter's nut anaphylaxsis. But the beady eyed may have noticed I am still using Shea Butter in some products. The FDA in the U.S do class Shea Butter as a tree nut so in theory nut allergy sufferers could potentially have an increased risk of allergy to it. So this leads to the important question - why do I continue to use it in some of my products - (Emmy's Balm, Baby Buff Bath Melts, TLC Skin Balm, Butter Me Up Handmade Soap)

There are heaps of natural skincare businesses springing up in Ireland, UK and Europe at the moment. It's a huge area of growth as more and more customers are thinking about what they put on their skin. How do you choose which brand is for you? The choice is overwhelming, even for me.  

So you may be wondering what's special, different and unique about Lucy's Soap Kitchen, Handmade Sensitive Skincare?  Well here you go...

It's been one whole month since I unveiled my new branding for Lucy’s Soap Kitchen. A new name and logo with vibrant colours I love. Who knew 'pomegranate' was such an amazing colour! In fact - who knew it was even a colour?! 

But why did I take the plunge and rebrand? 

When I first started selling my soap and skincare 3.5 years ago I didn’t know where my business would lead me. I had a romantic ‘rose tinted glasses’ vision of me making and selling a variety of crafts and thought calling myself 'Made in Lucy’s Kitchen' would leave the way open for it all to come under the one brand ‘umbrella’.

A steep learning curve and a huge investment of time and money, in soap selling admin and assessments, later and I knew I needed to concentrate ALL my focus on skincare.

What also followed over the next 18 months was the realization everyone thought I was selling food! My brand name “Made in Lucy’s Kitchen” didn't help. More than a few people have actually taken a bite of my Sugar Scrub Cubes! Event organisers never got my business name right. They always called me Lucy's Kitchen. As I began to focus on my online presence I also wished many times I had included ‘soap’ in my brand name, to help with basic S.E.O.

Even though I knew my name wasn’t ideal it was always too much for me to tackle and didn’t seem worth the upheaval. But 2016 has been a changing point for me. Why??

At the end of 2015 I had got focused on my business vision. Where I wanted to go, where I didn’t want to go, what was working for my family’s needs, what was not and what needed to change.

I got sharp on my numbers, realized I needed to streamline my range and increase some of my prices.

I wanted to produce promotional banners, point of sale & a brochure but with no graphic design skills I approached a graphic designer, Vicki Nicolson, from brandingtherapy.co.uk, whose work I had followed from afar, for help. We had some brilliant skype chats (a great way to chat business by the way - a new one for me but one I'll definitely be doing alot more of!) and I quickly realised this was a unique opportunity for me to make those changes (that were now obvious with hindsight) and the focus and direction this would actually give me.

With some brilliant photography by Rooskey based Jason Christopher jcphotograpy.ie, branding and graphics support from Vicki, I feel incredibly proud of Lucy's Soap Kitchen. With a focus on sensitive skincare, that's natural and gentle for all the family and my very own soap kitchen being built here in my Leitrim home the future is decidely soapy!