Today we’d like to introduce you to Charlotte Smith.
Hi Charlotte, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up in Valencia, California. Science and math have always been my favorite subjects in school. In fact, my dad bought me a periodic table of elements placemat when I was 3 years old and he started teaching me the chemical formulas of everyday molecules such as table salt, NaCl, and glucose, C6H12O6. I took 8th grade science which had a heavy focus on chemistry as well as chemistry my senior year in high school and fell in love. I decided to major in chemistry when I applied to colleges and never looked back. After graduating top of my class in chemistry at Brigham Young University (BYU) in 2015, I decided to pursue a masters degree in analytical chemistry at BYU. My first daughter was born during my master’s degree and thankfully she was a good napper because I finished my thesis writing during nap times and bedtime.
I knew I didn’t want to put my kids in daycare to do a “regular” chemistry job in someone else’s lab so I embraced the full time mom life and began the balancing act of motherhood, personal hobbies and earning some income to support my family. While working on my master’s after my daughter was born, some unforeseen circumstances led me to embrace life as a single mother as I moved back into my parents’ home. I tutored in all science and math subjects as well as taught a year of biology at a charter school to keep my credentials up and to earn some income as I was finding my place in life again. I also designed and ran some chemistry summer camps for kids ages 4-11 to share my passion of chemistry.
I remarried a little while later and on one random day I saw a friend share on social media that she made her own soap and I just had to look into it. I realized that it was a chemical reaction of NaOH (lye) and oils such as olive oil, coconut oil, and sweet almond oil, and had to learn more. I made my first batch of soap in November of 2018 and have made hundreds of batches since.
Covid-19 in the beginning of 2020 forced me to rethink how to sell my soap so I started my own website. My business has grown so much since then and I am ever so grateful. I now live in San Diego, CA with my husband and kids.
I also love swimming, playing basketball, hiking, cooking, baking, sewing, playing with my kids, gardening, and teaching my kids new chemistry experiments at home! Thanks for reading more about me.
My company goal is to create hand-crafted products with luxury ingredients that you can understand when reading the ingredients label. I hope you will use them, gift them, and love them. I am dedicated to offering you a superior product at an affordable price, concentrating on quality and consistency. I hope you look forward to my new soap release days as I prepare months in advance to know what soaps I should make next. If you ever have suggestions, please let me know and I will do my best to make a soap I hope you will love.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I started selling soaps to friends and family. Then did one or two craft shows. Covid-19 in the beginning of 2020 forced me to rethink how to sell my soap so I started my own website. I learned how to do some Facebook group sales which spread my customer base across the United States. My business has grown so much since then and I am ever so grateful. I now live in San Diego, CA with my husband and kids. I just had my third kid 7 weeks ago so that has been a transition as well with finding balance with my business.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Soaps by a Chemist?
I started making soap in 2018 and officially became a real business in 2020. I made my own website, took my own product photos, did my own marketing, and started shipping my soaps across the United States.
I have my master’s in chemistry and love researching the chemistry behind soap making to make the best oil combinations to create high quality, skin-loving soap. My chemistry background sets me apart from fellow soapers who may not understand why certain ingredients like sodium hydroxide is absolutely necessary for the chemistry of soap to work!
Products at Soaps by a Chemist are made with ingredients you can understand by a chemist you can trust. I am so grateful for YOU! I promise to continue instilling the love of chemistry that I have into the soaps I make for you. In case you didn’t know, soap is a saponification reaction of lye and oils.
Contact Info:
- Email: charlotte@soapsbyachemist.com
- Website: soapsbyachemist.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soapsbyachemist/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/soapsbyachemist
Image Credits:
Charlotte Smith
