A little about me ...
I am 44 years old and have been married to my amazing wife for 24 years. I am a Fireman / Paramedic in Alabama, and have worked in this field for 19 years. I have been selling and buying on eBay for the last 13 years and currently have a positive rating of over 450 with 100% positive feedback (user ID provided via email if requested).
I got tired of having dry, flaky skin all the time. I couldn't take my shirt off without it looking like there was a snowfall of dead skin. I also had problems with skin allergies very bad and would get itchy very easily. I had heard one of my daughters talk about how she thought we "should make our own soap" months before, but didn't really give much thought to it. Finally, I investigated it and decided it would be worth it to at least try and make our own soap. If nothing else, it would be something new to do as a hobby - plus I already had some of the required materials, tools, abilities, and a lifelong obsession with "getting details right."
So I made my first batch, then my second batch of homemade soap. It took a lot of willpower to wait the four weeks it took to cure those first batches properly, but once it was ready we all started using it and loved it. As a matter of fact, all of our friends and family who heard I was making soap were dying to try it, so I gave them all samples. Then Mother's Day rolled around that year and I gave away a lot of soaps as gifts - and everyone loved them too. Well you can imagine what happened next - everyone wanted more. I figured I may as well start making more, and since I was going to be making more, I might as well try selling it since it was so well-liked.
Although they were great, I have learned a lot since those first batches I made. I now have a lot more experience, refined techniques and recipes, and have acquired (or handmade) everything I need to actually make a few batches of soap at a time. I do not yet have a dedicated warehouse/shop. My soaps are all still handmade in our kitchen - albeit much to my wife's and daughters' frustration sometimes ...
I am what many would call "country" or somewhat "old-fashioned" when it comes to a lot of things -
I love making and using my own soap. I love growing, making, or fixing anything myself.
I love exploring old buildings and learning or seeing pictures of what they used to be.
I still go to a traditional "barber" ... you know ... the kind who still shaves around your ears and the back of your neck with a straight-razor ... and has the little booster platform for a little boy to sit on (where my first haircut occurred).
I believe in God, in the Family, in America, and in respecting people no matter their status in life, especially your elders.
And I count myself very blessed to have been born in the United States of America, the greatest place in the world to live!
God Bless You
