Welcome to the December’s “Maker of the Month!”

This month we are featuring Claire from Clean & Pure Soap.

Claire is truly passionate about the creative process and her love of making has found an outlet in her wonderful brand “Clean & Pure Soap.”

She has created a wholesome and beautiful range of bath and body products inspired by the natural landscape and the values that she holds dear.

Find out more about Claire and her journey below.

Q. When did you start making bath and body products and what inspired you to start?

I started to explore soap making about two years ago, but only fully launched my own business in December 2021. A friend of mine bought me a soap making course as a gift which I thoroughly enjoyed, but at the time my passion for soap hadn’t quite kicked in yet.

The following year I started making Christmas decorations and presents from driftwood and sea glass for family and friends. This is when my love for being creative really came alive.

It wasn’t long after that I felt I needed more. It was then I remembered how much I had enjoyed the soap making course and that was the beginning of my addiction for creating soap.

Q. You talk about the importance of sourcing supplies that are sourced directly from the UK. Tell us more about why that is important for you and your brand?

Yes. I like to source items from the UK but I also support local businesses too where ever possible. This is for several reasons. The first is to keep my carbon footprint as low as possible and secondly, I like to support small, non corporate businesses where I can.

Q. What are your creative inspirations?

When I started making soap I lived in Devon. I’ve since moved to the Isle of Skye and take my inspiration from both of these places. They are wild and dramatic landscapes with wonderful sights, sounds and smells. I can’t help but draw inspiration from these things.

In addition other soap makers have been so welcoming and I feel so at home in the soap making community. They are willing to help and share their hard-earned knowledge with other creators. My soaping skills are growing all the time and I’m thoroughly enjoying the journey that I am on.

Q. Environmental issues are one of the central themes for your brand. It would be great if you could expand on that. Tell us more.

Most of my packaging is eco-friendly. It’s either 100% biodegradable or recyclable. Excess packaging which ends up in landfill and our seas creates so much pollution having a detrimental effect on our wildlife. I often upcycle packaging and wrapping from my own purchases which helps to reduce this.

I love the land on which we live and we need to take better care of it. The UK has experienced extinctions and declines in the past. Of the 2430 Great British insect species assessed by Natural England, 55 have become extinct and 286 (11%) are threatened. (Find out more in the links below)

So recycling packaging is a simple step we can all take to not be such a “throwaway society” and to protect our land.

Clean & Pure Soap have also actively chosen to support Bee Conservation which helps our furry little friends who rely upon so much. I make regular donations to an independent bee friendly organisation. We also gift seeds and seeded paper with each purchase to encourage the bees into our gardens and wildlife areas.

Q. What do you find to be the biggest challenge as an entrepreneur and how have you overcome or are dealing with that?

My biggest challenge has been the day to day running of a business. This is what I call “the boring stuff.” You know paperwork, accounts and editing the website. After all I just want to make soap. I set aside regular time each week to make sure I get these tasks completed.

I have also found it a challenge selling face to face, as naturally I am quite introverted. But my customers have told me my face lights up when I start talking about my products which is a real buzz for them.

Q. What’s the overall vision for your business and what do you have planned for the future?

I would love someday to have my own shop and for this to support me fully as my sole income. In terms of products I have been asked to produce a conditioning hair bar to go along with my recently launched shampoo bar as well as a doggy soap bar.

Q. What has been your best selling product so far?

To date my best seller has been the Gentleman’s Soap Bar from the Clean & Pure range. However, I only launched the Artisan soap range at the beginning of November, and all 8 of the variations are selling very well, but I’d say Highlander Soap is slightly ahead of the rest.

Q. What have you found to be the most useful Micamoma pigments and why?

Micamoma is widely praised and used within the soaping community and the Mica powders are incredible. With an excellent variety of colours to choose from, that are easy to disperse into oils, and create the most beautiful colours in my soaps. You can mix and match the colours too, which allows for you to create your own unique blend as they are very versatile. I am currently using 9 of the Micamoma colours at the moment, and I’d have to say my favourite colour is Egyptian Blue.

You can find Clean & Pure Soap –

Website: www.cleanandpuresoap.co.uk

Email: contact@cleanandpuresoap.co.uk

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CleanPureSoap

Insect Decline: https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/POST-PN-0619/POST-PN-0619.pdf