For those with sensitive skin, choosing the right skin products from retail shelves can be a painful and disappointing ordeal. That’s what inspired the launch of Scent from Eden, a soap-making business in Niverville founded by local moms and entrepreneurs Amy Buhler and Ricki ten Hove.
“Both our kids had sensitive skin and we wanted more natural products. One day Amy looked at me and said, ‘We can do that!’” explains ten Hove. “It started there. It was a combination of our kids both having sensitive skin and wanting to do something fun in our mom time.”
That was 2014, a time when ten Hove was far along in her second pregnancy and Buhler was tied up with a broken foot. Tenacious, restless, and inspired by an upcoming maternity leave, they conceived their first soap products.
Although the pair originally began experimenting with the easier melt-and-pour method of soap-making, they quickly acquired the expertise of cold processing, a much more detailed technique that allows for greater control over ingredients and quality.
“All raw ingredients are mixed from scratch, then cured four to six weeks for the saponification process to occur,” says Buhler. “Every batch is a ‘loaf’ and we get ten bars per loaf.”
For the natural soap line, Scent from Eden only uses essential oils and colours the soap with the natural cleansing power of kaolin clay and activated charcoal, yielding swirls of pink, white, and grey in the final bars. For people who aren’t particularly concerned with sensitivity issues, Scent from Eden also make soaps in a wider range of colours using a variety of fragrance oils.
As busy moms who always want to make the best use of their time, the team is careful to balance the production of their classic batches with experimental batches for new products.
“We’re always learning,” Buhler says. “It’s not a guaranteed process, but we’ve come up with some great mixes that look good, smell good, and lather well.”
Each soap is a work of art with a unique scent. “Manchurian dragon, tea tree lavender, and sunrise are our top three soap sellers,” Buhler claims.
Ten Hove agrees, adding, “Monkey farts was also surprising popular. It smells like a bowl of fruits, mostly bananas.”
Whichever your selection, you’ll join a long list of fans as Scent from Eden products have quickly became a favourite locally made product. “Often 20 bars are sold before they’ve been cured and wrapped,” warns ten Hove humbly.
Business plans for 2018 include an expansion of their emerging lip balm line, made with all-natural ingredients such as coconut oil and bees wax that are scented with lavender or peppermint essential oils. The duo will also be researching new natural colourants for 2018 production and upgrading the packaging.
You can order Scent from Eden products on the business’s Facebook page or in-person at Two Loonies & a Ladle, a shop that serves ready-to-go family dinners that opened last month in Niverville.
