My name is Lori Hansen and I am the founder/owner of Hansen's Handcrafted Soaps by the Sea.

I wanted to give you a little bit of background on how we came to be. I've always been a crafty person. I'm willing to try anything once! I consider myself a fairly accomplished knitter, crocheter and cross-stitcher. I'm an "ok" painter and illustrator. Most recently, however, I've discovered soap making. More specifically, cold process soap making, and it has quickly become one of my favorite things to do.

My husband, Jeremy, suggested it to me in the spring of 2018 after he read about another woman turning it into a home-based business for herself. I started doing research and watching videos on the subject for quite some time before I ventured to the dollar store to pick up some cheap supplies to give it a try. My first soap mold was the cover of a plastic butter dish! Some ingredients, like lye, I had to wait to receive from online purchases (I didn't want to use commercial drain cleaner) and then once I had everything I needed to attempt my first batch of soap...I waited a few more days to get up the courage to use the lye! I'm happy to report in the years I've now been at this that I've never suffered a chemical burn from the lye solution...I do take precautions! It was truly amazing to watch the transformation from liquid oils to soap and play with the different swirling techniques. That first batch of soap wasn't pretty, but it smelled good and it did the job of washing hands!

There have been quite a few failed batches as I've learned my craft, and there have been more successful attempts. A lot of soap was given away, feedback was received and taken into consideration for future bars. I now feel confident enough to offer my creations to you!

All of my soaps are made in five pound loaves and hand-sliced. They typically only contain four different oils, water, lye, fragrance or essential oil and colorant. Just like snowflakes, no two loaves turn out exactly the same, and no two bars will look the same (unless the loaf was all one uniform color).

I hope you'll enjoy using my creations as much as I enjoyed making them. Thank you for stopping by!