I have talked alot about products that contain SLS ( Sodium Laureyl Sulfate ), which is a harsh chemical surfactant used in almost all products that produce a foam. Number one is soaps and shampoos. SLS is also used in engine degreasers and detergents of all sorts. It's linked to causing irritation, rashes and ungenetic skin disorders and my youngest daughter is allergic to it. I am sensative to it as well.

I read the backs of product labels like I do nutrition labels on food products. I want to know what's going on our skin or in our bodies.

Did you know, your favorite tooth paste, most likely contains SLS? I became aware of it, because my gums were bleeding when I brushed my teeth. My Dentist suggested brushing my gums more to toughen them and using a soft or medium bristle tooth brush rather than a hard bristle brush. He also gave me a special mouth wash because it appeared I had the beginning of a gum desease. I felt there was no way I could be pushing towards gingevitus, I brush my teeth every day, I floss , the works.

After following dentists orders and using everything he told me, my gums were still bleeding when I brushed, they were still sensative and still a little inflamed. Then I turned over the tooth paste container and read the ingredients. SLS! Could this be the problem? Every tooth paste I looked at had this ingredient in it.

I began researching to find out what people used in the good ol' days before SLS was in everything. Soap!? Baking Soda?!? What?

Well in the middle of my experimentation of creating a tooth soap or paste that would clean my mouth and teeth but be gentle on my gums I learned of another concern with tooth paste........ FLORIDE!?

The SLS in tooth paste didn't surprise me, after all it foams and most products that foam and bubble has SLS. Floride and it's controversy suprised me. From the time we are children we hear how great floride is and how it's best for our teeth to strengthen enamil and blah blah blah. When I read the differant articles available about how floride was once considered a very effective rat poison, that did it for me, I had to read on. You have the option of buying tooth paste without floride , but you don't have the option of buying tooth paste without SLS. If SLS was the problem with my gums, I needed to do something.

For the last several months I have worked deligently to create a safer, natural and effective tooth soap/paste.

This is what has happened. I have made a truly wonderful tooth soap/paste that cleans, whitens, doesn't foam but freshens breath, keeps teeth whiter, gentle to the gums and has herbs that fight bad breath, bad bacteria and doesn't leave a weird after taste in your mouth.

The first try was awful! I thought I was going to vomit, it tasted SOOOOO Bad!!!

The second try was a little better but still border lining the nasty side when it comes to taste. I am looking out for my customers here, ok? It goes in your mouth and if it tastes horriable you won't use it, even if it's better for you. Trouble was finding a way to make this tooth polish that didn't taste so bad it wouldn't ever be used after the first try without adding a bunch of sugary sweeteners.

My third and fourth attempts have come out amazing and I have to say my gums are no longer bleeding and turning a healthy pink.

While the tooth polish is still going through testing and tweaking to get it just perfect, it is already very amazing. Here are some neat facts and benefits about my upcoming tooth soap in the near future:

The combination of Peppermint Oil, Tea Tree Oil and Orange Oil fights bad breath, cleans your mouth by fighting bad bacteria. The specially formulated soap and baking soda clean the teeth, gums and tongue, polishing the teeth to remove plaque. Licorice root gives it a pleasant natural sweet flavor and also fights bad breath and none of it leaves a funky taste in your mouth after wards. The peppermint oil gives your mouth a cool clean feeling during and after brushing. The texture isn't the same as manufactured tooth paste(Creamy), it's a little grainy because of the mildly abrasive baking soda. From necessity comes great things, and I can't wait for the dentist to see my gums and teeth and ask me if I have been using that nasty medicated mouth wash he gave me. I will proudly tell him, No! it didn't help. That stuff was expensive anyway! I've been using Soaps 'N Suds tooth soap.

Once the Tooth Polish is perfected and been through more testing by others, I think it will be packaged in a neat little malibu tube. I have found, that you can't run a little water over the tooth soap after you apply it to your tooth brush like you would regular tooth paste because it washes away. There are no chemicals in this tooth soap, only natural ingredients!

"I think, therefore I am! If I believe, I WILL Achieve!"

I say this to myself everyday, several times through out the day. Life is what we make it, and it's about having a good attitude and being ambitious to achieve our goals. I am a very goal oriented person and it is my desire to see my business grow. To accomplish the things we want the most we must set our goals in an order that makes them easier to accomplish. I have had several people ask me over the last year "How do you do it? You must have a ton of energy being a divorced mom and caring for your kids, creating and manufacturing products then marketing also!?"

The truth is, I don't have any more energy than anyone else, and on some days less from my heart condition, but I do all I do out of necessity! I love what I do, I couldn't ask for a more rewarding business. I love my children and it is up to me to care for them and provide for them. I push myself everyday. I have goals, I refuse to fail or give up. I tell myself over and over, "If I believe, I will achieve", and I believe I will!

Setting goals is all about making little accomplishments to get you to the grande desire. Let's say in five years you want to buy a new home. The question is, What do you need to do to get yourself to the final step of buying a new home? You first begin to looking at the main desire Buying the home. To buy the home you need a certian amount of money. The next question is "How are you going to get the money together to buy the new home?". The answer is you need a better paying job. The next question is, "How or where will I find a better paying job, to accumulate the money to buy a new home?". The answer maybe, I need to go to school. The next question is, "how do I get the funds to go to school, so I may get a better paying job, so I can make the money I need to buy a home?". The answer would be, finding student loans, grants etc. to help pay for college if you don't have already have a college fund". The point is, to look at the big picture and analize what it takes to accomplish it going backwards, then set your list of small goals to meet one at a time. It may take longer than five years, may take less, but keeping your eye on the goal will get you where you want to be.

What I have ultimately wanted for my business is to get my own store front for my products. In the beginning I made my list of what I thought it would take to get to my final destination.

1. Perfect the Product
2. Introduce the Product to the public
3. Gather a customer following.
4. Place my Product within exsisting store locations
5. Save money made from individual sales and store placments to rent/purchase a store front.

I have accomplished 4 of 5 todate within this first year of public marketing. I spent several years perfecting the products. I then built a website so customers and potential buyers could obtain information on my products and buy at will, then proceeded to public marketing within my community and in neighboring towns via Markets, Trade Shows and events. Through public demonstration and display of the products I accumulated a steady customer following and an interest from store front owners to host my products in their stores. Now, it is all about saving the money, and finding grants to help a woman run business.

"If I believe, I will achieve!"

Only we can sabatoge ourselves out of our accomplishments. Others can hinder, yes, but do we give up or do we find a way? I WILL find a way.

I feel like this last year of business has been very healthy and prosperous Soaps 'N Suds. It has been tight many times, but it is providing for my family. I believe, if you can make it through your first year in business without being in the red zone at the end, and still making a profit into the second, it will grow and succeed and it will survive! The first year is the hardest. I believe many times I have created a frankenstien's monster. lol However, isn't this what I esteemed for?

Here I am a year later, at this time last year I had gone through only 2 cases of wax and maybe sold 50 bars of soap. This year, I estimate at least 10 cases of wax, 2000+ candles, 900+ bars of soap, 500+ bath bombs, 200+ Lip butters, 300+ lotion bars. That is amazing. When I begin to doubt myself and where Soaps 'N Suds will go in the future, I look back at the numbers, I look to my goal, my final destination and I say "If I believe, I will achieve!".
I think, therefore I am. One day, I will be in my own store front, displaying my candles and soaps, bath bombs, lip butters, lotion bars and gifts.

Yes.... "If I believe, I will Achieve!"