Snow in February

So I wonder why everyone in Seattle was so freaked out about the snow in February? Not like it's anything new. The winters here follow as such: Cold start, warm after the holidays and then one more arctic blast for good measure to send us into spring on the right foot. The snow came, actually stuck to the ground in a few places, but the roads were nice and clear by the time the day really got started. Sigh.

I have a job interview for a lighting manufacturing company coming up in the next couple of weeks, but not to worry sports fans, The Epic Bath WILL continue on as planned. I am still searching for the fix for the website, but I think I have stumbled upon a lead.....more on that later. I will, however, be taking a brief pause from soap making and the rest of the world at large while my husband and I prepare to move to Federal Way next weekend. In an effort to make things go more smoothly, we have already started the packing process and have a narrow path in the hallway between the packed and not yet built, ready to be packed, boxes. I'd say we are about 70% ready to go, because most of what's been packed were things that were in cupboards and the like. It's weird though, because if you look around our place, it doesn't look like we've hardly done anything!

But in order to make things go more smoothly, I will be packing up the lab either Friday or Saturday, and tucking the already made product into a box for safe keeping until the move is complete and I can again 'set up shop' in the new place. Moving is always such a stressful time, good thing I have plenty of Bath bombs to get me through! They are leftovers from the experimental days and since have changed in either color or composition (I've since added Jasmine tea to my Ahimsa Bombs and the Carnival Candy Bombs are now pink) and I cannot sell these ones, so I'll just have to use them myself! Darn!

Anyway, I will keep blogging through the next couple of weeks but I won't be able to create anything new until I get set up in the new place. So...until then, dear readers. Until then.

~m

Movie Star Bubbles!

I kid you not. My new recipe for the bubble bar literally makes bubbles that would make Mr. Bubble turn green with envy. I used a full bar (did I mention I'm totally in LOVE with product testing?) and I had to be careful not to spill over the sides! I had fun reliving bubble baths as a kid, where the bubbles clung to your arm and then fell with a plop on your belly and kind of stood there in a pile. And after they started to fade, because we all know the bubbles are finicky creatures and do not stay forever, I turned on the water and they came BACK! And not that wimpy second-wind type bubbles that barely cover the surface of the water, like normal bubble bath gives you, but the full on stackable, sculptable bubbles, like the kind that used to get you in trouble as a kid for taking too long in the bath because you weren't quite finished with your Eifle Tower of bubbles :)

In other news, the website has had a setback, not a major one, but a big enough one that I probably won't be launching for another few weeks. Until then, if you're dying to get some of my products, contact me on facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Epic-Bath/186764264671969 or email me at info@theepicbath.com and we can work something out. I will be making product and selling at Cues & Tattoos here in Seattle, March 25th-27th at the Seattle Center. Just look for me at the Skin Deep Studio table :) I am also returning to regular 40-hour-a-week land, and I have an interview tomorrow for a pretty kick-ass job actually :) I won't say much more because I don't want to jinx myself, I've probably already said too much, but it will be a welcome change if fortune smiles. I fully intend to charge forward with plans for The Epic Bath, and will be selling my lovely creations to the population at large. But more on that later.

Back to the topic at hand:

So if you've never seen a proper Silver Screen bubble bath, you can check out House on Haunted Hill, and Knocked Up. THOSE are bubbles. And I has them.

In short-

Best. Bubble. Bath. Ever.

Ever.

The Day is coming....

Very soon, I will launch my website and officially be open for business. It feels a lot longer then just 3 short months from first hatching the idea of my own business to actually having a tangible operating business. It feels a bit surreal, actually.

As I open this new chapter of my life, I look back at the last 3 months of my life and the changes that have happened and it is a bit aw-inspiring. I've lost my job, my dad and my home all within the last 3 months, but I've also found how resilient I can be in the face of adversity. I have goals for myself and my business, and they are high. They have to be. They are set such as to give me something to work towards that is my "ideal". If I settle for anything less, I fear that things I do will never be more then passing whims of fancy. This is really something I can see myself doing for the rest of my life, and while it's scary as hell, I am absolutely resolute in my path, and I know what I want and what I need to get there.

Anyway, dear readers, please check back soon for a special "Grand Opening" offer from me, for you, for reading my random musings and offering the support I needed to achieve what I have so far. Without it, I fear The Epic Bath would never have been born, and for that support, I am deeply grateful.

~m

Product Research

So I officially love my new job. Soap making is wonderfully creative, and it's really fulfilling to see people genuinely enjoy my creations. I'm making great progress on my website, and have found several new combinations of oils and scents that are lovely! And while I'm on track and have discovered a great recipe for bubble bath, I'm concerned that it doesn't appear to be as good as my competitors. I took a bath with my leftovers from my last Lush run, and one of them was the solid bubble bars that they have, and it makes a great amount of bubbles in the bath, and they are able to be brought back, and I'm just worried that my recipe won't hold up to that. I only made one batch, and that was for a friend, so I'll need to hit her up to see how she felt it worked.

I really want to figure out how to make the Hollywood style Bubble baths, where there are mountains and mountains of frothy bubbles to luxuriate in. However, I have a sneaky suspicion that those are the whole "movie magic" tricks, and bubblebaths like that don't really exist. Which gives me a sad.

But I do love the fact research for my work includes me sitting in a bath and relaxing ;)\

~m

Marketing & Advertising vs. the American Consumer

So the fact that I'm starting a business means that I've been paying more attention the marketing and advertising, like commercials. If you peel back the layers of music, lights and the Americanized standard of beauty actors, alot of the messages are mostly boiled down to this "Drink/eat/use ______, HOT women/men will have sex with you" Really? Is that really what drives the Amercian consumer? Sex? That's it? You would think, that for something that only lasts for a short while, that less people would fall for that. But I guess the old saying is right. Sex is like air. It's not important unless you're not getting any.

So what am I to do about marketing for my product? Do I follow suit? I would like to say that I'm above it all and that sometimes you just have to stick with what works. I'm hoping that since the mission of my store & it's products is to make your home your sanctuary, (not just smell good so you'll be attractive to the opposite sex enough so that they will take you home for a night), that I will have other marketing options.

Had a good talk with a friend who works for a marketing research company in Seattle, and we discussed some options for what I can do in the future, mailers and interactive type marketing, but for now, I'm going to use the tools that are available to me: the interwebs and social networks. Now I hope that people are reading this blog, and that if they like what they read they will tell their friends, but I need to figure out how to cast a wider net. So I'm going to try to go to some local Farmer's Markets during the summer, and try to hit some fairs and local town celebration days and get a booth and sell at the craft fairs. I hope that this will give me more exposure to a wider audience and that I will get some orders from that. I'll have to figure out if it's cost effective to do that, but we'll see. I hate the old adage of having to spend money to make money, because it seems to me the people who make the most money hardly spend any at all.

I'm thinking I'm just a few weeks from officially "opening my doors" for business, just need to get the merchant pay gateway set up, which I've found one and am working on that part of it, and after that, I'll be offering a special promotion code for my blog readers to use for their first order!

Stay tuned! Big things are just around the corner :)

Wishing you bubble-filled dreams tonight

~m

Bubble Bubble, Toil and Trouble.......

Bubble Bath success! (Finally!) Got a shipment of magic powder in and it is apparently the secret to a nice bubble for a bubble bath. Wish is wasn't so expensive though.....

Found a nice recipe for what is going to be the Butter Ball line.....has a nice aroma and the bubble bath looks like soft butter! Who doesn't love butter? and this kind won't make you gain weight, although you almost could from the smell.....mmmm....heavenly.

Also made some special items for Miss Jacqueline Hyde's Afternoon Teas Party which is happening this Sunday Feb 6th @ the Can Can 4pm here in Seattle :) She's officially my first customer! I made glitter soap, bath salt and a JUMBO bath bomb (seriously, it's like 4 of the my regular bombs) in two fragrances for the occasion :) It will get you in the mood for glitter, feathers, and fun!

I've also been thinking about setting up a site on Etsy, just to get started. I've heard a lot of positive feedback from people so I think I'm going to check it out. Brian just got all the camera equipment he ordered so we'll be able to do product shots here soon. I guess that means I'll have to make more stuff.... ;)