WOW!!! A great time was had at the 2012 Alabama Soap Conference!

Keynote Speaker, Marla Bosworth, kicked off the conference with her “Spotlighting U” talk. Marla is probably one of my favorite speakers in the industry. I first heard her at the Miami HSMG conference with her seminar on wholesaling. I gleaned so much information from that seminar; I was truly impressed by her knowledge and her willingness to so freely share that knowledge.

Next up was me! I did a demo on how to make single cavity silicone soap molds! I couldn’t have done it without my partner in crime…I mean all things soap…Holly Port of Lotion Bar Cafe.

Holly and I had a ton of behind the scenes fun practicing for each demo in our hotel room! The hotel we stayed at was great and the front desk guy was awesome! He hooked us up with a table, a knife, a roll of tape, a glass of milk…whatever we asked for…he found it for us!  And he didn’t ask questions!  Haha. 

 

Michelle Rhoades from Mossy Creek Soap was next. She gave a presentation on “Finding Your Soap Personality with Creative Packaging!” What a great presentation! This was her first big speaking engagement and she did great! She had several samples of creative soap packaging. Some of the things I never would have thought of…including using gauze to wrap soap!

Next up was Tammy Doering, AKA The Mud Queen! She showed us how she makes her Dead Sea Lavender and Emu Facial Bar! She also hosted a spa night in her hotel room where everyone got a little mud on their face! It was a blast!

Here’s Marla and Holly at the spa party!

Elizabeth Hill gave a great talk on creating products from stuff you have in your kitchen. She made a fantastic scrub out of honey, grits/cornmeal and yogurt! I couldn’t believe how great it felt! And with such simple ingredients. She hosts spa parties where she goes to peoples houses and makes these simple products.

Next up was Theda Gatlin. Theda showed us how to make Hand-Dipped beeswax Candles. I love this demo! She had the most beautiful candles on display.

Day two was another fantastic day. Marla kicked this day off with a demo on formulating lotions and creams.

Sandi Garrett Little showed us how to make massage candles! I didn’t realize how easy they were to make so I’ll be making some soon!

I think one of my favorite presentations was Mono-Fat Soap by Deborah Bruijn. She made several different single oil soaps and brought them so that we could try each of them out! She also talked about the different types of oils and what properties they contribute to our soaps.

Then it was my turn again to demo the Peacock Swirl!

T.A. Helton closed the conference down by showing us how to make Firestarters! They are so easy to make and turn out absolutely beautiful with the white wax!

I had a blast! You can’t beat the friendliness and hospitality of this group. Thank you so much T.A and Sandi for inviting me out to the conference!

Thank you to all of the wonderful sponsors who contributed to the goody bags or provided awesome prizes! 

If you missed it this year…be sure to make it next year! This conference is definately worth traveling to if you don’t live locally.

www.alabamasoapmeeting.com