Roxanne Shaw of Spruce Creek has turned a hobby into a business venture.
She owns a small local farm with eight dairy goats. The goats produce large amounts of milk, and the milk is used to make handmade soap.
Shaw said she found a recipe for making goat milk soap and started the process about two years ago. What started as a hobby quickly turned into a small business.
“Goatmilk Goodness Valley is a home-based business where I make handcrafted goat milk soap using the milk from our dairy goats,” explained Shaw.
“I started giving my soap to friends and family as gifts, and they loved it. After doing a lot of research on soap making, I found out that I could make a great bar of soap using different oils to moisturize the skin. Using my family as testers and using any suggestions I received, I have created a formula that makes a wonderful bar of goat\’s milk soap that moisturizes the skin.
“The low pH of goat\’s milk when added to soap makes a cleansing soap that is closer to your own skin\’s natural pH, making it great for people with sensitive skin,” she added.
Shaw also works as a registered nurse. She said about a year ago she was working as an oncology nurse, and her patients would complain of dry, itchy skin due to the chemotherapy treatments.
“I gave my patients some of my soap, and they just loved it,” said Shaw. “Their skin looked great and felt healthy. Chemotherapy kills rapid producing cells which also includes your skin. Most people who are on treatment have dry, itchy skin.
“One of my patients liked my soap so much he suggested that I have my own business and that was how Goatmilk Goodness Valley was created.”
Dry skin affects everyone from time to time, especially in the winter months. There are actions individuals can take to heal this painful, dry, chapped skin, and it is the soap individuals use that can make all the difference.
According to information provided by Shaw, soap should do more than cleanse. It can play an important role in protecting the skin from the drying effects ravaged on it by the winter months, especially handmade soap.
Most people do not realize that commercial soaps can cause more dryness in the skin due to the mass-production methods used to make it. These methods strip the soap of its natural moisturizers leaving the skin with little more than salt and detergent.
Handmade soaps such as those made with goat’s milk are often an effective option to commercial soaps. Handcrafted, goat’s milk soap naturally produces glycerin, one of the best softening agents for the skin.
Its low pH, when mixed with soap, makes an exceptionally gentle cleansing agent that is closer to the skin’s pH.
Shaw’s Goatmilk Goodness Valley soap products are handmade with goat’s milk and are sold locally throughout Central Pennsylvania.
Shaw said upcoming plans include a Mother\’s Day special with baskets created for the mother who has everything. The basket will include gourmet chocolates, three bars of goat’s milk soap and a body wash net sponge all beautifully wrapped for her.
The soaps can also be purchased online at www.goatmilkgoodness.com and delivered right to the door. There are ten different scents. An eleventh scent, which changes monthly, is available at a special, online-only rate.
