Chrystal Allen, owner of Chrystal Springs Soapery in Wallowa, carefully stirs together a mixture of lye and chamomile tea into oil Wednesday, April 13, 2022, as she makes soap she’ll sell.

WALLOWA — Inspired by a quest for a healthier lifestyle, Chrystal Allen is turning a hobby into a full-time business, mostly out of her home in Wallowa.

Chrystal Springs Soapery: Inspired by Nature, as her website states, creates cleaning products — mostly bar soap — made at home in small batches to tried-and-true recipes Allen has developed and tried.

“I researched the benefits of many different oils, butters and essential oils and tried many different soap recipes and methods, and finally created a few recipes that we loved,” Allen said in a prepared statement.

Change of careers

After working for nearly 21 years for Wallowa County, Allen retired recently as grants administrator, a position she’s held since 2018. She’s also worked numerous different positions at the courthouse, much of it in the Planning Department.

“I learned a lot, doing a lot of different jobs,” she said during an interview Wednesday, April 13.

She’s still lending her expertise there, helping to train her replacement.

But now she’s transitioning to what she really wants to do.

“Now I’m getting to do what I love to do full time,” she said, that being her soap-making work.

Making the soap

Start to finish, it takes about an hour to make one small batch of soap. Each batch yields a block that will be cut into 16 bars.

Given the caustic nature of the lye, Allen is careful both with a face mask to ward against fumes and safety glasses to protect from splatters.

The batch she made April 13 was her chamomile tea facial bar, from a base of distilled water made into chamomile tea and mixed with lye, oils, butters, activated charcoal and essential oils.

The tea-and-lye are mixed together and the oils and butters are heated up to where it’s thoroughly melted.

Then both are allowed to cool to around 110 degrees Fahrenheit before combining. She pours them together and mixes them slowly to avoid any bubbles that would end up in the solidified bar of soap.

Then she adds essential oils and other ingredients, such as cosmetic-grade activated charcoal, which adds color and cleansing qualities, Allen said. Although customer comments and research attest to the benefits of such ingredients as the charcoal and certain essential oils which have shown to combat acne, she refrains from making any medical claims, “which the law prohibits,” she said. The essential oils also bring scent into the soaps.

“This facial bar I designed with ingredients that have been shown to combat acne and for people who have trouble with rosacea and things like that,” she said. “But I make no medical claims.”

The essential oils are what bring the scents in the soaps. Allen uses lavender, pink grapefruit, tea tree, eucalyptus, peppermint, rosemary and geranium and many more.

“The sky’s the limit” in what oils can be used, she said.

According to Encyclopedia Britannica, essential oils are considered “essential” because they are thought to represent the very essence of odor and flavor.

Once the batch is thoroughly mixed, she pours it into a mold. The mold is a silicon liner she purchased that’s placed in a wooden frame built by her husband.

She then adds her own artistic flair by decorating what will become the tops of the soap bars.

The block is allowed to cool and saponify for 24 hours before being cut. The bars are then left to cure for four to six weeks before they’re ready for market.

Marketing

Previously, Allen had largely sold her products in person, but has now expanded to include a few local outlets, such as the Lower Valley Farmers Market in Wallowa, M. Crow in Lostine and the Josephy Center for Arts and Culture in Joseph.

She intends to continue to participate as a vendor in such events as the Christmas bazaars in the county and expand to also attend the “spring extravaganza” bazaar in Lewiston, Idaho, as well as their Christmas bazaar among others.

As for prices, most soaps sell for $7 per bar or $20 for three bars. But that’s in person. When sold on her website, they go for $8 a bar — plus shipping — and $9 each at M Crow and the Josephy Center. Other prices are available online.

A one-woman show

Allen said her operation is largely a one-woman show.

“I really do it all myself, other than friends and family trying them out and giving me their honest opinions,” she said.

Those opinions are what help her decide how to adjust or change recipes. But she’s gotten some valuable feedback.

One such opinion came from her logger husband, Clayton.

“It even removes pitch from my husband’s beard with ease,” she said.

The future?

“I want to keep things steady and keep growing,” Allen said of her plans for the future.

She said she’s always interested in expanding, but is taking it slowly. At present, in addition to bar soaps, she sells a solid dish soap, an exfoliating pouch, mineral bath salt soaks, body butter and beeswax lip balm, among other products.

“Right now, I’m trying to perfect my deodorant recipe,” she said. “I won’t sell something that I don’t love or that I wouldn’t use myself.”

She gives plenty of weight to the opinions of her friends and family who try her products.

“When everyone says it’s great, then I’ll start selling it,” she said.

Who: Chrystal Allen

Phone: 541-398-1646

Email: chrystalspringsoapery@gmail.com

Online: https://www.chrystalspringsoapery.com/#tSVdhm and Facebook