Just on 12 years ago my husband and I started making what I now call a “water soap” where the sodium hydroxide is mixed in purified water then the moisturising oils were added, although you can make some beautiful coloured soaps this way we wanted to make something different.
We came across a lady (Ann Minowany) from Grafton who suggested we make soaps out of goats milk and seeing as she had a goat farm there would be an endless supply – so there started “Serendipity (meaning: the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way – “a fortunate stroke of serendipity”) Goatsmilk Soaps”.
We started Serendipity Goatmilk Soap in 2007 with 5 varieties of naturals and oh my how that has changed. Bless her heart and soul, Ann Minowany passed away last December (forever remembered) – local unprocessed unfiltered farm fresh goats milk we now get from singer and farmer extraordinaire Tania Lockwood, if one lady has several hats to wear it’s Tania.
Today the number of soap varieties has jumped to around 45 naturals and 25 fragrance soaps – from Just Pure Goatmilk with nothing but moisturising oils added.
We use two (2) methods to make our soaps – Cold Process (CP) for the fragrance soaps and Room Temp, for the delicate naturals, even with the highest scent recommendation, some scents don’t make it through cold process method and just like a goat, the milk can be so temperamental to the point of frustration at times.
Cold process is a harsh environment, as it goes through several pH changes hence the Room Temp. Method for our naturals. – lots of work but well worth all the effort.
Every soap is individually cut by hand we don’t use a multi cutter, hence the difference in weights of anywhere from 110gm – 115gm when first cut. The great thing when you’re making your own soap is that you’ve got total control over what goes into it. If you want fragrance-free, it’s easy. You can make them fancy for gifts just like we do in our Serendipity Jute Gift Bags, it’s totally up to each individual soap maker’s own preferences.
We hand make all our soaps ourselves here in Coffs Harbour with as many local ingredients as possible purchasing 99% from locals, best ever natural fresh honey from Alan Elks in Glenreagh the best tropical fruits from George Slaverio and finger limes from Bakarindi Bush Foods (Manda & Ian Gentle) just to name a few – have a talk to them next time you come down to the Harbourside Jetty4Shore Markets.
Making soap is so interesting and over the years we’ve meet beautiful multi-talented Artisan soap makers and also some “cowboy soap makers” along the way – looking forward to showing how we make our soap, explaining why we make the Serendipity “EveryDay” round soap plus lots of other treats that go into soaping.
