IT WAS her love for soaps and aromatherapy that led Darlene del Mundo, 34, into her business.

“Our family is very fond of soaps. We would always try soaps from different brands but most of them would only make our skin dry,” Del Mundo says.

Back then, Del Mundo’s family thought it was normal because of skin asthma that afflicts the family. She later found out that the commercial soaps, both local and imported, they were using were filled with synthetic and chemical ingredients.

That was when she started to study how to make natural soaps.

“I made a choice to discontinue using commercial soaps and start making my own handmade soaps – the By Nature Handmade Soaps,” she says.

“I was very fascinated by the powerful plant oils’ ability to heal and influence our emotional state,” she says.

After much trial and error, Del Mundo came up with the perfect formulation according to her own standards. She also tried adding various ingredients to give her handmade soaps their individual character.

“I initially came up with the regular bars, which contain coconut oil, palm oil, olive oil, ground oatmeal, herbs, spices, honey, beeswax, cocoa butter milk, cocoa powder, dried leaves, ground pumice, ground coffee and fragrance oils,” Del Mundo says.

Later on, Del Mundo added special bars to her list.

This time, aside from the ingredients already present in regular bars, she put pure essential oils, grapeseed oil, jojoba oil, sweet almond oil, wheat germ oil, vitamin E, plant extracts, fruit extracts, goat’s milk, aloe vera gel, dried petals and poppy seeds on the soaps.

Then Del Mundo added three more variants, which she called premium bars.

“Premium bars also contain special moisturizing oils of castor, jojoba and wheat germ, giving them that extra nice emollient quality. Aside from being wonderful handmade soaps for the skin, they also serve as an all-natural shampoo bar for your hair,” she says.

According to Del Mundo, among her now 35 By Nature Handmade Soaps, her bestsellers are Baby Blue, which she especially made for her kid’s sensitive skin, and Citrus White, a natural whitening soap.

“Most of my regular clients are moms,” she says. “I’m always very much touched to hear directly from my users about how my products have helped them or their babies with their skin concerns because I know the feeling.”

From first offering her products to relatives and friends, and joining bazaars, Del Mundo now has more than 25 resellers nationwide. “Most of them were my first customers,” she says.

Recently, Del Mundo added other natural products to her soaps, too. They include Baby Oilotion, Baby Salve, Balm of Butter, Essential Oils, Facial Oil in One, Lippy Pot Balm, Moisturizing Insect Repellent, Moisturizing Oilotion and Soft ’n Supple Oil Over.

Although Del Mundo has always wanted to go international, her main goal now is for her products to reach as many users as possible nationwide.

“I want Filipinos to know the availability of high-quality natural handmade soaps here,” she says.

Through By Nature Handmade Soaps and 100% Natural Products, Del Mundo was able to realize her dream of donating to organizations that she shares the same vision with.

“The previous month’s Top 10 saleable soaps are my charitable soaps. I give a portion of the profit to Lactation Attachment Training Counseling Help (LATCH), Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), Unicef Philippines and Haribon Foundation,” she says.

And while the economic condition still prevents her from opening a physical shop filled with By Nature Handmade Soaps and 100% Natural Products, her personal showroom remains her official website – www.bynaturehandmadesoaps.com – and her multiply account – www.bynaturehmsoaps.multiply.com.

For Del Mundo, everything will follow with a lot of faith, hard work and positive energy.

“It does not have to happen instantly. Seeing your business grow with every step you take is even sweeter,” she says.

By Jo Anne E. Padiernos
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 17:33:00 10/10/2009

Taken from Philippine Daily Inquirer's Business Section (October 11, 2009).

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