The Etsy Green and Clean Guild Trunk Show is coming up - we’ll be in Brooklyn on August 31 from 6-8:30 pm.



Name of your Shop: Martinsville Emporium



Your Favorite Item in Your Shop: Right now, since it’s summer, it’s the Mojito Lip Balm. Once it’s cold enough to ship, though, it’s the Angel Body Creme. It’s a whipped shea butter, so I don’t like shipping it in the summer.







How did you get started in this business? It’s a long story. I have worked on the planning committee for a local science fiction convention for many, many years - and when our Dealers’ Room liaison died suddenly in early 2002, I was thrust into the role. Since I figured that I was going to be stuck in the room the entire weekend, I bought a bunch of things for resale - mostly jewelry, but I did pick up enough melt and pour base to make a few different kinds of soap. The soap was the only thing that sold! That year, I did our local farmer’s market for the summer with just melt and pour, but finally took the plunge into the traditional soapmaking methods before the 2002 holiday season.



What training/background do you have? I have a BA in English Literature (with a concentration in pre-1700 British Lit), but I think the concentrations I had in high school in both math and chemistry have helped me a bit more. ^_^ Other than those, though, I am an autodidact.



What makes your products unique? Your business as a whole? The majority of my products are my own formulas - some I’ve written from scratch after months of research and testing, while others I started with another person’s formula and tweaked it to make it my own. I take a lot of pride in creating my products from the raw ingredients, so if it’s something within that realm of possibility, I go for it. And if it’s not something that I can create from scratch - like my new Shower Gels - then I find the absolute best base to use.



I’m very picky about my fragrances. There are some fragrances that I have been searching for since I started back in ‘02. I’m not happy with “good enough” - a fragrance oil has to smell exactly right before I will even use it in a test batch. And it’s no exaggeration that I will go through 20 samples to find one that is good enough to put the M.E. label on. But that patience is worth it, especially when I hear back from a happy customer.



Tell us about the philosophy behind what you create. I’m a BIG fan of a bit of silliness. Our lives are so crazy-hectic-insane today, that I really feel that sometimes we need to stop and give ourselves a little break from it all. I want my products to do just that. So my lip balms come in flavors like Buttered Popcorn, and the bath bombs look like scoops of ice cream - and how can you not smile when you are dropping little balls of ice cream into your bathtub. If I can just inject a wee bit of that silliness into someone else’s life, even if it only cheers him or her up for just a moment, then I think I’m doing a pretty good job.



What will you be putting in the trunk show goodie bag? One of my newest creations - Bath Sorbets. They’re like a bath bomb, but much more concentrated, and they look like ice cream.



What item are you offering that you should definitely stop by the trunk show for? My new Body Frosting - another of my newest formulas, one that eluded me for a good year before it was finally good enough to put the Martinsville Emporium name on. And lip balms, of course - all 33 flavors.



Freestyle – what else do you want to say to people about your business? I love being a part of the indie beauty community, both online and in my local area. I love how the majority of us are more than happy to share our tips and techniques with each other - how we share an excellent supplier, or give suggestions on troubleshooting when one of us has a problem. We all work together with a common goal - to keep the world clean and smelling great.



What do you want to see while you’re in the Big Apple? Well the Labs, of course! But I also want to go to Penzey’s, which is a spice merchant in Grand Central Terminal, and Mr. S. is insisting that we go to the Pokemon Center in Rockefeller Plaza.