Monday, April 12, 2010

Handmade Shop of the Week: Aquarian Bath


Cory Trusty, of Aquarian Bath, loves to make bath & body products. This herbalist, mother, organic gardener, and soap maker opened her shop in October of 2008. Cory has an amazing variety of products that will delight the senses and satisfy the soul.

Why did you decide to open your handmade shop?
I had a cohesive line of herbal salves and soaps that I was selling on another site with jewelry and crystals. I wanted to have a shop that was dedicated to the bath and body products, and also become a part of the Etsy community.

Has your inventory changed much since you first opened?
I have added a greater variety of soaps as well as solid and roll on natural perfumes. I also now have microwavable organic lavender and organic flax neck wraps, which I don't believe I listed my first year.

Who are the majority of your customers? How did they find you?
The majority of my customers at this time are local return customers. I sell outside of Etsy at various local venues. Facebook and blogging has been a great way to keep in touch with my local customers.



What inspires you to create?
I'm inspired by the materials that I work with themselves. I use a lot of organic herbs and essential oils. There are so many ways to combine them. Right now I have some amazing wild harvested virgin coconut oil from the South Pacific that my husband brought home from a trip. I was just laying in bed thinking of what kind of balm I would like to make with it, and the herbs just came to me: first the organic Bulgarian roses that I have been meaning to play with, and wouldn't those be nice with the white sage, and... ooh even better with the organic lavender that I have left from the neck pillows. So that is my next project.

What is your favorite item in your shop currently? Your most popular item?
My favorite item is my Ocean Waves Sea Salt soap. It is an unscented soap made with nearly 50% sea salt. It is really wonderful for opening my pores, and it is especially during these dry winter months when my legs can tend to get rough itchy patches.

My biggest seller at this time is my Carrot Shampoo Bar. It is pretty commone now that when someone buys one bar, they come back for 3 the next time. I had a return customer purchase 8 for Christmas presents. I had another customer request that I have 8 bars reserved for her at the upcoming Sea Side Herb Society Festival this spring.

What has been your greatest resource to make your shop successful?
My Etsy Street Teams have been a great help to me, in particular Unique Women in Business, Etsy Twitter, and the Florida Etsy street team.

Any changes coming to your shop in the future?
I currently ship next day, but I plan to cut back to shipping 1-2 days a week starting in May when I am expecting a new baby. I'm not sure sure how long it will take me to get back up to speed, but I will be sure to have my shipping times disclosed in my shop. I'm currently stockpiling inventory, so I don't have to worry too much about keeping popular items available.

How else can we find you online? 
My main website is http://www.aquarianbath.com where you can find my facebook fan page, blog, twitter page, and mailing list.

LETS DO A GIVEAWAY!
I would like to give away a 1/2 oz sample size of my Well Belly Balm for indigestion. It is a great salve for people with occassional digestive upset. I made originally for my daughter who was experiencing gas and loose stools after one too many birthday parties filled with sweets.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=38368956

To enter to win you can leave a comment here about one of the items in the etsy shop. Contest is open until April 18th, 2010 to US and Canadian residents only.

For additional entries:
-Tweet this contest for one extra entry
-Become a fan of AquarianBath on Facebook http://www.facebook.dj/aquarianbath
-Follow the blog at http://aquarianbath.blogspot.com

interested in being SOTW? Email me for details

14 comments:

  1. Belly Balm? How cool! I should try some of that for upset tummies!

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  2. I could totally go for some Skin Soothing Balm.

    mDOTkurokoATgmailDOTcom

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  3. The jasmine sambac soap sounds lovely. I am interested to know how working with floral waxes is different than traditional soap scents. :)

    ilovetea(at)hellokitty(dot)com

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  4. I'm a big fan of nice soaps. They all sound amazing - rose geranium, kitchen coffee, molasses cookie, oat milk, I just keep getting more exited!

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  5. The oatmeal and milk soap sounds lovely!

    Thanks for the giveaway and good luck to everyone!

    (email in blogger profile)

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  6. Carrie,
    The jasmine wax is very hard like beeswax, so you have to factor that into your formulation. Also some waxes are not potent enough for use in soap making. Jasmine is quite strong. I would not try with a floral wax like Mimosa which is more delicate.
    Cory

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  7. OOh I want to try Citromella Rosemary soap

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  8. The jasmine sambac soap sounds amazing. beautiful etsy site :)

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  9. The Molassess Cookie Soap sounds fun.

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  10. That belly balm sounds intriguing!

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  11. If I don't win I think I need to buy some of that belly balm. But the tooth powder is what really sounds intriguing!

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  12. Awesome the
    Oatmeal and Milk Soap
    sounds great

    duhnellecarter [at] yahoo . com

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  13. Christina - xristya@rock.com - I love the Citronella Rosemary Juniper Anti-Mosquito Soap! I didn't know such a soap existed, I thought you could only use those horrible chemical sprays!

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  14. I would love to try the giveaway balm. I would also like to try the Pumpkin Poppy Seed Soap. That sounds so interesting and tasty at the same time. ambrerose(!at)aol.com

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