How It All Started

I'm Gina,ici's founder and soap artisan. Sometime in the early 2000s I was given a bar of handmade soap. It sat in my closet for weeks, maybe even months – a glorified air freshener. Why use it? I was using Dove, or Ivory, or Dial, or some other commercial bar, and all seemed to be just fine.

Handmade Soap. Wow.

One day, I decided to bust out that handmade soap and use it, and I was an instant convert. The lather was creamy and bubbly, and my skin felt fantastic just out of the shower, no lotion, no nothing. Where had this been all my life?

Chemist, Artist, Perfumer...

Hooked, and possessed with more than a little of a do-it-yourselfer personality (I blame you, dad), I started looking into how to make my own soap. Hey, wait, it's chemistry! I liked chemistry in school! Hooray!

I spent hours researching soap properties and made more soap than a person could possibly use, most of it unscented and, I'll admit it, not so pretty. Then my inner artist met my outer chemist, and I began to experiment with colorants.

Next I decided it'd be nice to add scent, but I apparently was possessed with an inner perfumer too, because from the start I was disinterested in ready-made fragrance oils.

I wanted to create. So I did. I bought essential oils and started putting them together. I learned about notes and what oils have staying power in soap. I learned what oils required a light hand, lest they take over the blend, and vice versa.

... and Businesswoman

My soaps were beautiful, and at long last they smelled beautiful, too. I began giving soap to family and friends – my home was in danger of being overrun. It wasn't long before they began asking to buy it for their families and friends, and my business was born.

I've done a lot of experimentation along the way. Sometimes I was highly successful, other times... uh, no (and you'll reap the rewards of both successes and failures). Always, my sole purpose has remained: to make the very best soap possible, from ingredients to final bar.

Take a look around, check out my soap, and tell me what you think!