How did you come up with the name "Pearly Bubbles"?

Actually, "Pearl" is the meaning of my legal given name in Chinese "Choo". I did not want to use the word soap so I decided to use another word that describe it which is "bubbles". Thus, when I combined the two words, I got "Pearly Bubbles".

What benefits can the consumer enjoy by using natural products such as those created by Pearly Bubbles?

First, by using natural products, we can limit the exposure our skin to chemicals that are otherwise used to make many skin care products.

Second, we can enjoy the benefit of the by-product such as glycerin that is created in the handmade soap for example. Glycerin is humectant that helps to retain the moisture in our skin. Many commercial soap-makers remove this glycerin and sell it as a single product, leaving the soap, which can be quite drying to our skin after use. Lastly, it gives us the sense of amazement and appreciativeness of the natural ingredients that God has blessed us with.

Gift set
Pearly Bubbles

I understand that you grow some of your raw materials in you garden. What do you grow and how do you use those materials in you products?

I have started a patch of herb garden a few years back. I have some mints, rosemary, sage, calendula, lavender, lemon balm, lovage, tarragon and etc. I use some of them to make herbal tea for bath, crushed rosemary in Rosemary Mint soap, sage infusion to make Honeysuckle Sage soap and calendula petals in Baby Me soap.

Where did you learn to make soap, lotion and your other products?

I never intended to learn to make soap nor did I know that one could make soap at home. I take this is the path that God was taking me through when I began to search to work at home. 

One day, I was searching for some natural cleaning products that I could perhaps buy or make because my oldest son was attacked by a severe eczema. How severe was it? Well, he had this thick stinky yellow crust formed on his skin especially on his face, head and around his neck. Whenever he scratched, his skin would break, puss ooze out and form another layer of crust. So, as I was search for natural products on the web, I hit several soap making sites. Then I began to read about the benefits and the process, and I began show interest in knowing more so I went to my local library to borrow some books about soap making. 

After several months of research I made my first batch in March 2000. Although I failed on the first batch, I did not give up and tried again until I had a successful batch in the following month. As my interest increased, I started to invest in soap making books to further my self-learning. Several months after making and selling my soap and repeated requests from my customers, I learned to make lotion and other bath products and added them into the line.

Share some of the positive experiences your customers have mentioned regarding your products.

I conducted a short survey recently with the intension of finding out what my customers think about the products I have to offer.

They agreed that my soap does not dry out their skin. Some said that their skins became smoother after using my soap. After that one order, I received another order from their friends in a total of $400 worth of soap and lotions. One in particular claimed that it did not make her face feel tight after washing. As the result she her whole family uses only my handmade soap, and they in buy it in bulk.

Another customer mentioned to me that my Shea Butter cream helped soften her scaly skin on her legs.

Lotions for a baby's delicate skin
Pearly Bubbles

You were at some shows this summer.  What products seem to be the most popular with your customers?  What are your favorite products that you create?

I will be at different shows from Summer all the way to the Christmas season except this past July which I had dedicated to other hobbies of mine. So far my best seller fragrance is Juniper Breeze and followed by Oatmeal Almond and my personal favorite Apricot Freesia. I like this scent because it reminds me of my childhood favorite seloong tea.

After making various type of bath products, I still prefer making soap to other products because with soap somehow still gives me some surprises whereas with other products there are no surprises. I enjoy little excitements like that.

What do you enjoy about making your products?

I enjoy the end result and the benefit what they do to my skin. I like to play around with recipes; having to create my products from scratch give me the flexibility to experiment and to change the texture according my needs. I want to be able to control everything adjust it whenever I need to. That’s why I don’t use soap base or lotion base to produce my end products.

Share any other information regarding your product that you would like mentioned in the article.

I found Shea Butter cream is very helpful on softening rough skin. My oldest son who had eczema as a baby had very rough skin. After applying Shea Butter cream that I created several days, his skin was as smooth as baby skin again I felt like a winner that day.

I offer a large variety of scents for my soap because we as individuals are different in many ways including taste. I have some that contain fragrance oils for those can enjoy fanciful scents; some made with only essential oils are for those who enjoy the natural scents from plants including their benefits as well.  One particular soap, Baby Me, is especially made for people with allergies to fragrance including babies. On top of that I add a generous amount of shea butter in my soaps.

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