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Jinny Jin's natural soaps

Local entrepreneur shows off her luxurious hand made soaps at the Lucky Dollar Plus Store in Hope
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Jinny Jin

Local entrepreneur Jinny Jin, owner of the Lucky Dollar Plus Store started making soap in 2010 with the dream to create a deliciously scented and all natural soap that would improve the appearance of the skin, while being gentle.

“I was so tired of the artificial fragrances and the chemical soap on the market at that time,” she told The Hope Standard. “I also had skin problems myself, and I spent a lot of money trying to fix them, so I decided to make my own chemical free soap.

After studying online and attending community classes on soap making, while reading voraciously on the subject, Jinny began to experiment on her own.

“When you first start something, it's a lot of trial and error,” she said.

Jinny began to notice the disappearance of her skin problems as she explored new ground and experimented with natural ingredients such as essential oils, organic herbs, flowers and natural base oils.

“I started to give some of my soap to family and friends — they loved it so much, they suggested that I make it as a product,” she said.

With a little research, Jinny was ready to set start selling her neatly packaged soaps on her own shelves at the dollar store. The cheerful South Korean shop owner does all the packaging herself, including the printing, typing and wrapping of each individual soap.

“I have more than 70 soaps available and I sell almost 50 kinds at the store.”

Jinny's soap display is a colourful array of combinations and textures that appeal to almost every taste. Her concoctions include elements like rosemary and lavender, or a rejuvenating coffee exfoliating scrub. The handmade soap lathers richly, and moisturizes as well as cleanses.

Ingredients used in her unique and affordable soaps range from olive, coconut and palm oils as well as apricot kernel, avocado, jojoba, hemp and sweet almond essential oils that help to achieve tantalizing aromas, while providing for a wide range of colour in her product.

Shampoo bars are part of the mix and can be used on the body as well. Jinny has recommendations for different skin problems, such as using charcoal soap to combat oily skin, and she also recommends a turmeric (made of ground turmeric powder) blend to calm irritated skin.

“I use edible oil in my product, because it is safe and natural,” she said.

Making soap for the innovative entrepreneur is a delightful undertaking, and she admits to converting three rooms in her home into a soap making shop.

“It doesn't take much time — there is a curing processing time that ranges from four-to-six weeks and then you can package,” she said. “My place is like a soap factory.”