My passion for soap-making started with a trip to Alaska after I graduated from college in the summer of 2002, where I bought a bunch of handmade soap as gifts for friends back home. Unfortunately for my friends, I ended up using half of it. This grew into an uncontrollable addiction. After a short stint as a self appointed sales rep to Fireweed Soapworks. feeding my addiction to their Thimbleberry and Winter Whisper scents, someone said to me “you could make your own soap”. The seed was officially planted and about six months later, after reading all I could about the process, I made my first batch of soap.

Since then, I have made hundreds and hundreds of pounds of soap and experimented with several recipes until I came up with one that had just the right balance of moisturizing, cleansing and sudsing properties that would also last in the shower. Fortunately for my friends, I made more than I could use and unloaded much of it onto them.

Also, I have two cats; Neko and his mother Lilly. They are a handful. I was diagnosed with Graves Disease in 2006 and am constantly trying to be kind to my body as a result. Exercise keeps me sane. I yearn for an unconventional lifestyle. I am extremely loyal to the people I care about, am a bad liar and am committed to fighting the war against my insecurities until I win. I also have a very cute but geographically distant boyfriend named Peter. You can read more on my blog at www.sudstress.blogspot.com.