Sorry I have not posted on this. I would be careful about using Hello Kitty or ANY Disney theme because the licensing is expensive and both of those companies come after even very small businesses with everything they have. I know one woman who was sued for a HUGE amount of money for selling small xmas ornaments with disney characters decoupaged on them. She used wrapping paper for her designs and glued them onto wood shapes and sold them at craft fairs. Seemed no big deal, she was a little old lady and was trying to afford xmas gifts for her kids. They went after her, and anyone else using any disney image in crafts they were selling, like FL goes after opiates. It was astounding and made sure I won't try to use their characters. Disney esp has a real bad reputation for going after the little people using their characters. It seems like they wouldn't be able to find out, but Disney actually pays people to go to craft fairs and local bazaars and church sales to find this stuff so they can sue.
For soap scents, around here lavender is big. For fall the apple pie spice type scents and pumpkin spice are huge. winter also adds pine and cranberry and peppermint.
I used to make a soap that used Celestial Seasoning Tension Tamer tea (brewed triple strength) instead of the water, had 5% shea butter added after saponification (super-fatted to make it more moisturizing), and used peppermint, cinnamon and lemon oil for fragrance. Before pouring into molds, I ground up old fashioned oatmeal in the food processor (blender works fine) until it was a fine powder and mixed that in until it was fully combined. The soap didn't need any colorants and was absolutely wonderful. The tea, oils and shea butter are all good for your skin, and adding the oatmeal made it really helpful for any skin problems. I could not keep it in stock at the craft fairs I went to. I was able to charge 50 cents more per bar after the first fair for the 'extras' and people were fine with that.
You can experiment with using other teas to help boost the scent and color of the soap for a fairly nominal amount. Adding finely ground oatmeal gives a very gentle natural exfoliant and makes the soap very soothing to any skin problems. It is great for eczema, psoriasis, rashes, esp for diaper rash, etc...
While shea is a very popular oil for superfatting, you can use other oils just fine and save quite a bit. DON"T buy unrefined shea butter because it will add an odor to the soap that is unpleasant. I personally think unrefined shea butter reeks, but I know several soap makers that say it is really hard to not have the scent get overpowering, meaning it isn't just me. (I am hyper-sensitive to smells.) You can use olive oil or grapeseed oil for superfatting and it will work very well.
At some point, you may want to consider adding oil cleansers to your line. Oil cleansing is using oil rather than soap to clean your skin. Right now it is very popular for faces if you read any of the beauty magazines. Jess and I have been doing it for quite a while and it is incredible. Her acne is vastly better if she sticks to it and doesn't either forget to wash her face totally (like on a migraine day), or if she just soaps up as she washes her hands because it is faster. When she forgets she gets the big nasty infected zits popping up but otherwise her skin is the clearest it has ever been. My skin isn't as acne prone, but it looks and feels incredibly soft and smooth with this.
How can this help you? Oil cleansers are super easy to mix up and package. You can mark them up a TON past the cost of ingredients also. Most contain castor oil for cleansing and other oils for other properties. The castor oil is really helpful for dissolving the dirt on your face and any other makeup. I have not tried it with-o castor oil but it probably would work. Right now Jess' formula is 1/3 castor oil and 2/3 grapeseed oil with some lemon essential oil for fragrance and beneficial properties. That is what I would make for oily skin, esp with acne breakouts (she has both blackheads and the nasty cystic kind that are infected). I used 1/5th castor oil and 4/5ths grapeseed with a few drops of lemon oil. I am about to mix up a new batch and am going to play a bit. I plan to use 1/5 castor, 1/5 rosehip seed oil, 3/5 grapeseed oil and rose absolute essential oil for fragrance and other beneficial properties. I may add a few drops of lavender after I try this for a few days.
Grapeseed oil is easy to find and not terribly expensive. Castor oil isn't expensive either. The other oils can be, but you can use small amounts of oils like rosehip seed oil (NOT rose ess oil), macadamia nut oil, walnut oil, etc... for their properties. You can use 1% to 5% and get anti-aging properties and other benefits from various oils. You can even use olive oil instead of the grapeseed oil - and it would probably be great on marketing as Olive Oil is still considered very luxurious. Plus it is very affordable, esp if you go to Sams.
Why would this be something for your line? It is a cleanser and is moisturizing. It is very popular right now. With the right signage and labels, you can push the various buzzwords like anti-aging, acne clearing, etc... Plus it is easy to mix up and it is FAST to make.
You can also make salt and sugar scrubs easily. Pick a fragrance that you like, put some salt or sugar in a container, pour in enough oil to make a paste, stir in the fragrance until it is strong enough for you and stir. Then put in jars and label. Done and super popular. You can even offer demos of it - water in a squirt bottle like a smart water bottle, a bowl to catch it, a bunch of small spoons. Give a customer a small spoonful, have them rub it into their hands, then rinse with water from the bottle over the bowl to catch it. Then just dump the water into a bigger container until you can take ti to the bathroom. These are super popular at craft fairs here and vendors have told me that it ups their sales by a TON.
If you offer scrubs and soaps and lotions in the same scents or complimentary scents, you can stack sales. It increases the profits because people want the soap an the scrub and the lotion in the same scent. just a thought.
These are just ideas. Use what works for you and ignore the rest.
Oh, for the soap making, consider using an immersion (stick) blender. You will need one just for soap making, but they are a HUGE help. Check around for a used one, even try freecycle (don't mention it is for a business), or invest in one because it will help a TON with all that stirring. DON"T try the 'robostir' thing from the as seen on tv aisle - it won't stir well enough. Or so my soap-making friends have told me.
I sent you I think 2 PMs. I esp need advice on the 2nd one if you have time Thanks so much.
You could even pay her first salary ever for that job.
