The feedback on the solid sugar scrub cubes has come in! There ended up being 13 testers since one responded at the last minute after I had already picked someone to take her spot. No biggie. The ages of the testers ranged from 32 to 61, all of them women. I sent out two cubes to each tester – one scented with Stress Relief (mint & eucalyptus) essential oils without any color added, and one scented with Strawberry fragrance and red colorant added just like my test batch. They were both made in a regular sized ice cube tray, so about 1/8 the size of a bar of soap.

The first question was how the scrub made their skin feel. Without a doubt, the top 3 answers were clean, soft, and smooth. Here’s the next question:

The way the scrub works from my own experience, is that you have a layer of soap that feels soft and creamy, then it seems to wash away to reveal some of the sugar which is scrubby. Then the sugar washes away, and you’re back to soap again, then sugar, etc. It’s not a continuously scrubby feeling as you rub it on your skin – which is why there were several who thought it was too soft. Next I asked about the size of the cube:

It would seem that in most cases, the size was probably too large for a single use. I found that to be true for me as well. Several said they were able to use it themselves and then share with their daughters as well.

The next question was then whether they had trouble hanging onto the cube. Most said no. However, if it was any smaller, I wonder if it might give more trouble.

Next, we moved on to the scent strength:

Not bad!

Also, which scent they preferred and why:

It was interesting to hear that most preferred the Stress Relief because it was natural. I’ve been starting to think about moving more of my soap scent offerings to natural essential oils, and while this was a pretty small test group, I think it fairly represents most of my customers.

I also asked some questions about packaging and pricing. Those responses varied pretty widely, so I decided not to include the results here. The final, and to me, the most telling question was whether or not the testers would be willing to buy the sugar scrub cubes:

The majority here is yes, but there were quite a few “no’s” as well. This makes me believe that these are not quite ready for production. Reasons included:

The scrubs were too hard.
Fragrance in both cubes was very light.
Formula too drying for my skin.
The cube did not feel like it exfoliated. At times it was too scratchy, but then it quickly turned slippery.
I’d rather use something that lathers.
I normally do not use scrubs.

There was a lot of positive feedback as well, but I could see how one of the Great Cakes Soapworks exfoliating soaps could serve the same purpose without having to create a new product line.

There are several available:
Cinnamon Bun Coffee Soap
Moroccan Spice Coffee Soap
Lavender Meadows Soap (with pulverized oats)
Oatmeal, Milk & Honey Soap (also with pulverized oats)
and Lavender Lemon Soap will be back in stock soon (made with pulverized corn cob and pumice)

I’ll have one more new scrubby soap available soon that I just made today – I’ll show it to you tomorrow after I cut it.