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Date: 8/25/2021
GRANBY – As a result of a financially difficult season in her life, one Granby resident bought her own soap-making kit and from there turned it into a successful business – Granby Hollow Soaps.
Owner Jenn Silva hand-makes cold processed goat milk soap with natural ingredients. Her most popular scents are lavender, lavender vanilla and lavender lemon. In addition to soap, Silva also makes goat milk lotion and bath salts and has participated in the Belchertown Farmers Market for two years.
“I’ve been in business since 2014,” said Silva. “I was actually in banking and now I run an after-school program. What led me to start this business was I had two kids under the age of two, I was broke and I needed Christmas presents. So, I bought my first melt and pour soap making kit and made Christmas presents for everybody. I thought it was fun and did melt and pour for a couple of years until I really learned how to design and cure. Then I switched over to cold process.”
By using the cold-process soap making method, Silva starts with oils carefully blended to help nourish and moisturize the skin. She uses vegetable oils and butters that are rich in antioxidants, vitamins and nutrients that are essential to healthy skin, and then adds in the purest essential oils and essential oil blends.
“For the most part, goat’s milk is hypoallergenic and I use olive oil as my oil base, which is fairly easy on the skin,” Silva pointed out. “Goat's milk is very nourishing and it’s made for all skin types. Goat’s milk is great for people that have eczema. It tends to calm the skin down especially if you add colloidal oats.”
Silva still does special orders, but she's not soaping on a regular basis anymore. Before COVID-19 hit, Silva said she was doing quite a few special orders such as baby showers and wedding shower favor gifts. She explained that at the time, business was very steady and she was doing 100-150 bars a month for special orders.
"There wasn’t much that I could do during the pandemic which is why I decided now is a great time to take some time off,” replied Silva. “I did have three people reach out to me for Christmas gifts at this point and will be starting those very soon which will take six to eight weeks to cure.”
Silva is not doing any formal events this year, but is looking to get back into the Belchertown Farmers Market next year. In the meantime, she explained she is looking at new product lines; her formulas will stay the same, but the designs will be different. She told Reminder Publishing that she is in the works of adding a soy-based candle line and is hoping to have that going in the beginning of 2022.
“I love creating something that’s good for your body,” said Silva. “I’d love to see my soaps in some local markets, farmers markets, farmer’s farm stands and small local businesses. I'd love to have a small space there.”
For more information or to place a special order, contact Silva through Granby Hollow Soaps on Facebook.