Launched two years ago, Whipped + Bath offers vegan and kid-friendly cream soap, body scrub and body butter in various scents and colours (All photos: Whipped + Bath)
Poornavathanaa Subramaniam’s journey in learning about organic and natural skincare started when her firstborn was diagnosed with eczema at birth. “I had zero knowledge about the condition — what causes eczema and how to treat it.”
Poorna quit her job in banking to focus on finding a cure for her son’s problem by talking to skin specialists and paediatricians. “They would prescribe him steroids. One day, I googled long-term effects of using steroids — skin thinning and scarring. As a mother, it concerned me because I could see some of the reactions already.
“From there, I came across natural and organic ingredients that did not necessarily cure eczema, but prevented it from flaring up. I changed my son’s skincare routine and made sure his skin was always moisturised and hydrated,” the mother of three explains, adding that dry skin will likely experience more problems.
Poorna dug deep into plant extracts, essential oils and plant-based butter and their benefits while working in event management in 2019. “When the pandemic hit, I was doing nothing. So I thought, why not venture into organic and natural skincare products?”
Launched in September 2020, Whipped + Bath offers vegan and kid-friendly cream soap, body scrub and body butter in various scents and colours. The name alludes to the act of whipping the ingredients together before they go on the skin.
As she works mostly on her own, Poorna is able to make only five jars of scented soap weighing 200g each in two hours. “First, I make the base using mild surfactants and a moisturising formulation that is rich in glycerin to produce a creamy lather and foam. Next, I add plant-based extracts — in the form of powder or oil — before whipping the ingredients together. The process takes up to two hours.”
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The soap is then piped into a jar, similar to how bakers pipe icing on cupcakes. This is another unique feature of Whipped + Bath’s products. “I want the liquid to be seen until the last bit and I cannot do that with bottles. When I put the soap in a jar, I can expect the scent and texture to be the same until the last scoop. If it is creamy in the beginning, I want it to be creamy until the end. I got the idea from scooping jam out of a jar.
“I was not into baking, so I had zero knowledge about piping the cream soap into a container. It was difficult for me to use the nozzle. I studied [how to do it] through YouTube and asked my baker friends what nozzles were suitable for the different types of frosting,” she says.
Whipped + Bath has 16 variants with scents such as Chocolicious Babe, Mango Slushie, Marshmallow and Cotton Candy. From this range, customers can pick the ingredients they prefer and that are suitable for their skin.
During the trial and error stage, each formulation was whipped by hand to achieve the right texture. “I no longer do that except for body butter, which I only make in small batches,” Poorna explains.
Body butter is not popular in Malaysia as many believe it will make their skin greasy, she observes. “Our product is formulated using a non-greasy formula. When I promote it at bazaars, customers are hesitant, but I give out a lot of samples and let them try the texture on their body. Eventually, they will come back and purchase our body butter.”
One of Poorna’s biggest challenges was communicating: in her previous job in banking, she interacted more with machines than people. “My communication skills were very bad when I started my business. Even though I had knowledge of what I was doing, it was like there was something stopping me from sharing and talking about it.”
Interacting with friends and customers helped her gain confidence to talk to people. “My first pop-up event was at Empire Subang [in Selangor]. It was an opportunity for me to create awareness of my brand and communicate with customers. When I started selling my products, most of them thought they were jams or cookies because the soaps looked attractive.”
Poorna uses plant-based butter, plant extracts, earth clay and essential oils, sourced mostly from overseas, in her creamy soap. The prices of the products reflect the ingredients used and time spent making them.
“My selling price for a 200g jar of soap is RM69 and it can last a month. Customers ask why they are so pricey. I tell them the soaps are scented with essential oils and are packed with organic and natural ingredients, which are not cheap.”
Whipped + Bath’s Raya collection for this year, developed using a different kind of formulation and comprising the Melur, Kenanga, Limau and Serai scents had overwhelming response. As a result, Poorna plans to scale up the business.
“I believe Whipped + Bath is more than just a business. It is a brand that creates awareness so people can opt for organic and natural products. Customers are beginning to accept what I’m doing. This gives me the confidence to move one step further and become a stockist. When the business grows bigger, I will need to hire more people to help me,” says Poorna, whose goal is to open a store by next year.
This article first appeared on June 20, 2022 in The Edge Malaysia.
