Danielle Clark has more soap than she knows what to do with.
The B.C. forestry worker took up soap making during the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to keep herself busy. Since then she’s learned how to make a half-dozen unique types of soap, which she now sells at the Loon Bay Craft Market under the name Silva Lane Soaps.
“For me, it’s not really about the money. I only do a market once a month,” Clark, 24, said. “I just enjoy making it and I can’t keep all the soap in my house, so it’s nice to be able to share it with everybody.”
Clark said she’s always wanted to try her hand at making soap, and learned the basics from her friends growing up in New Brunswick. However, until she came to 100 Mile House three years ago, she was too busy working and studying to hone her craft.
As she began to learn how to properly mix lye with hot coconut oil, Clark realized she could incorporate natural herbs and flowers into her soaps.
“If I’m outside hiking I love to pick rose petals to use as a decoration. Dandelions are really good for your skin to nourish it, so I like infusing it in olive oil for six weeks and then I include it in one of my soaps.”
All the ingredients that Clark uses in her soaps are natural, except for a couple that may contain artificial scents. Otherwise, everything is hand-picked, and made using recipes she has enhanced and created.
From start to finish, a batch of soap can take up to six weeks, she said. Clark lets the soaps sit in molds for two days before removing them, and then lets them sit for another two weeks.
She then bevels them to make them look aesthetically pleasing. Once they have sat for another three weeks and been tested with a PH strip, they’re ready to be used.
Clark colours her soaps using clays and charcoal. She said there’s an artistic side to the process, as you can create unique patterns by adding the pigments to the oils rather than the lye mix, creating swirls and layers to her soap.
“The visual aspect is probably my favourite,” Clark said. “I’m not a very good painter, but I do like to paint, and it’s nice to do it in the soaps as well. For example, I have one soap where it’s white on the bottom, then a pencil-thin line of cocoa with honey on top, and it looks very satisfying.”
The end result is soap that looks pretty and has several health benefits. So far, she said, they’ve been well received by the community. Clark also intends to sell her soap at Hot July Nights this weekend.
“It just gets my imagination going, because you can do anything from shea and honey-butter soap to something that has different colours using different kinds of clay.”
patrick.davies@100milefreepress.net
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