Handmade soaps now available at Public Market

By Bob Smith

Kitsap News Group

PORT ORCHARD — The Public Market on Bay Street has a bit of a floral scent wafting through its confines these days.

That’s because of two small businesses that opened Feb. 11: both sell soaps and body care accessories that are handmade, local products. The soaps are personally made by the owners, who both live in Port Orchard.

Bare Naked Suds began business Feb. 11 in a small nook that features a large assortment of handmade soaps packaged in small, attractive containers. Hayley Burren decided to open a “brick-and-mortar” space after limiting her business to just word of mouth, area festivals and through Facebook.

The tiny space in the Public Market suited her needs. “I was attracted to the size of the space,” Burren said. “Space like this is hard to find.”

She made the decision to find a permanent location after getting a positive reaction to her products at festivals like Allyn Days and the CRUZ car show this summer.

Burren’s motivation for starting a homemade soap business stemmed from her fruitless efforts to find a soap product that her daughter, who has eczema, could use.

“The brands I bought in stores only made it worse. So I decided to make it myself.”

Through trial and error, she came up with a soap recipe that her daughter could use without aggravating her condition.

These days, the shop owner said she gets many of her product ideas from customers.

“I ask them what they’re looking for, and then try to come up with something they’d like,” Burren said.

One popular product is an activated charcoal soap that she says is good for those with sensitive skin.

But regardless of a customer’s specific needs, Burren said she’ll help him or her to find a product that suits them.

Bare Naked Suds has a website at www.barenakedsuds.com.

Another handmade soap business owner also set up shop at the Public Market the weekend of Feb. 11-12, albeit at a vendor table in the middle of the site’s common area.

Jennifer Ossman said she’s been making soap for five years now, but confines her selling to festivals and at temporary locations like the one she was manning at the market. And like the soaps at Bare Naked Suds, Ossman’s products at Black Bear Soap also are handcrafted.

She is something of a self-made soap maker, learning the process from start to finish on YouTube. Profits from the sale of her camo soap product go to a non-profit in Illinois that supports homeless veterans, Ossman said.

“Business has been amazingly good,” Ossman said. “I’ve been really busy.”

Black Bear Soap’s website is at blackbearsoap.com.