For the Hester family of Newberry, making soap runs in the family.
Anne Hester said her daughter wanted to be at home with her kids, so she started making and selling soaps. Once her kids got older, she went to teach at Duke University, leaving Anne and her husband take over the business.
“We still use her original formula,” Hester said.
The Hesters began selling their products at the Healthy Carolina Farmers Market on Tuesdays after they read about the market in The State, and they say they have loved setting up shop on Greene Street ever since.
“The whole experience with this market has been such fun,” Hester said. “We older people like to stay in touch with the younger generation.”
The Hesters make their soaps in a workshop at home. Anne Hester compared the process to making old-fashioned lye soap, just without the animal fat, which Hester called “rancid.”
Each kind of soap has a similar base of olive oil or coconut oil, and Hester uses different kinds of essential oils and botanicals to manipulate their texture, scent and color. The family also uses local ground cornmeal to give their exfoliating soap a “sandy texture.”
Some of the essential oils Hester loves are tea tree oil, which can be used as an antiseptic, and olive oil, which she said is great for skincare.
“Don’t we always say that Mediterranean women have the best skin in the world?” Hester said, referring to the benefits of olive oil.
Hester also said that the glycerin that many commercial soap brands tout is not something she adds to her soap, because it’s already a byproduct of the soap-making process.
“It’s no big secret,” Hester said. “It’s what’s not in it that makes it good for your skin.”
As for all of the different kinds of soap they sell at the farmers market, Hester said the family considers a variety of scents and purposes.
“You just have to let your imagination go,” she said.