Today's featured shop is
SugarLandNaturals, a great place for organic skin products, body polish, bath melts, scrubs and soaps. Laura's delicious soaps are a contest favorite and she has our
5th highest winning average this month.
Tell us a bit about yourself?
My name is Laura and I am from Sugar Land, TX. I love making organic bath products! It all started 5 years ago when I was broke and had to make Christmas presents. That year I made these great handmade candles....totally surprised myself that I could do it! So I started SUGAR LAND NATURALS.
March 5th, 2012 - 25th place
VERBENA MINT THYME Olive Oil Soap
by SugarLandNaturals
What got started selling homemade skin products?
When I was a young child, my grandmother used aloe vera from her plant on our cuts and scrapes. It always felt so good and it worked! It made the burning feeling go away. The same is true of many things in nature….things our bodies are meant to use for health and longevity. For hundreds of centuries, there was no Neopsporin for your cuts. There is an alternative in raw nature to almost every thing you can find in a pharmacy. That being said, I wanted to find a cure for my dry skin, so I investigated how to make a body scrub at home. Once I knew the basics, over time, I began to apply my knowledge of herbs and natural remedies to the recipes. That is how I got into making organic body polishes. I love combining fruits like pomegranate and papaya, or mango and banana. Using the proper natural preservatives, the scrubs are able to be preserved for a very long time.
April 4th, 2012 - featured
Cinnamon Tangerine Shea Butter Soap (Organic)
by SugarLandNaturals
Once I got this formula down, and it took a while, the rest was all fun with fruits! Everything our skin needs is in fruits, vegetables
and the sun. I wanted to apply that principal to skin products…and in particular, bath products. Probably my best seller at the moment is the Hand Saver Skin Putty. It is a putty derived from an organic fruit and dark sugar base that leaves your hands incredibly moisturized and smooth, without any residue whatsoever. It has been popular amongst customers with severely dry, “WInter skin” and Excema. My favorite product is probably the body polishes, or the bath brownies. The bath brownies (or smaller “scrub squares”) are also made from a fruit and sugar base, then added to fresh grown herbs, natural oils and essential oils. They look like actual brownies, and they completely dissolve in your bath and leave you in an intoxicating, herbal soak that is to die for! My husband is addicted to them I think.
April 7th, 2012 - featured
Golden Body Polish Soaps (Organic)
by SugarLandNaturals
What got you to open your shop on etsy?
Etsy is the only website dedicated to products like the ones I make. I had considered selling my products on Ebay in the past, but my research shows that my results would not be anywhere near what I see on Etsy. I get about 350-400 views a day on Etsy if I promote my items properly. You cannot beat that in any other online shop, or even at a walk-in shop. People know what to expect when they come to Etsy. I am in awe of my competitors on Etsy. They truly have some amazing handmade products listed. You can pretty much find anything you want on Etsy, and the prices are very competitive.
ORANGE GRAPEFRUIT Body Scrub 9 oz. (Organic)
by SugarLandNaturals
Tips for other etsy artists?
Keep promoting your items. It can get expensive (.20 every time you promote an item), but it is worth it. Promotion is where you get all the views, and the more views, the more sales. It is a numbers game. But it pays off. And there is nothing more satisfying than hearing back from your customers on a product that you made with your own hands. It is truly gratifying.
CHOCOLATE MINT Two Layer Olive Oil Soap (Organic)
by SugarLandNaturals
