Sunday, July 4, 2010

The economy has had widespread effect on local businesses, but not all of it is bad. It has motivated some people to take their hobbies and turn them into a source of income.

Crystal Ruffo has been making homemade, natural soaps out of her home for the last eight years. But about three months ago she decided to open her own shop on Duval Street.

"When the rents came down, my husband told me if I was ever going to do it, I should do it now," she said of opening Purely Paradise Soaps. "I always wanted to do it and it was popular online."

The small store carries Ruffo's line of tropical soaps, beeswax lotions, shampoos, sugar scrubs, bath salts and even doggy soap and shampoo.

In fact, it was her own dog that got her into soap-making several years ago.

"I actually started because my dog has allergies and about eight years ago I started looking for homeopathic remedies for his skin condition," said Ruffo, who also owns Paradise Staffing Solutions.

She created a soap from goat's milk, shea butter and natural oils that healed his skin and also helped naturally repel insects. Ruffo then began studying how to make similar products for humans. The next step was to launch her own website.

All of the scents are from natural oils, and Ruffo uses ground minerals called micas instead of dyes for color.

In addition to her best-selling scents, including tangerine and mango coconut, Ruffo has created several other combinations by mixing scents. For example, her "beach" scent is made from mixing magnolia and cedarwood.

Her soaps come in more than a dozen playful Key West shapes, including shells, sea turtles, dolphins, palm trees, manatees, mermaids, sea stars, flip-flops, geckos and more, which have made them very popular with tourists.

"I've gotten a lot of repeat business from people who bought and then went home and ordered more online," she said.

Her butterfly soaps also are sold at the Key West Butterfly & Nature Conservatory and her cat-shaped soaps are available at the Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum.

Ruffo also makes a shaving soap that contains extra shea butter for a smoother shave.

"It doesn't have any alcohol in it so it doesn't dry your skin," she said.

Her scrubs contain natural combinations of ingredients such as coffee, honey and sugar, or sea salt, lemon zest and olive oil. Ruffo said the latter works great to take the smell of garlic and seafood off hands.

Her exfoliating soaps have an aloe vera base and contain Dead Sea salts to help exfoliate. The latter also are used for the line of bath salts, which Ruffo claims have therapeutic value for the skin. Calcium is effective at preventing water retention and increasing circulation. Potassium energizes the body and helps to balance skin moisture. Bromide acts to ease muscle stiffness and relax muscles, while sodium is important for immune system function, she said.

The beeswax lotions are paraffin free and also contain jojoba oil, aloe vera juice and essential oils.

The shop also sells bath accessories such as natural sponges, loofahs, hand-painted soap dishes and tropical towels embroidered by Ruffo's sister.

Ruffo makes many of the products on-site in her shop, however, the bases for the soap are prepared at home because of safety issues from working with lye. Once the base has cured for about three weeks, she is able to hand-mill it at the store, re-melt it, add the essential oils and micas, and pour it into the molds. Smaller soaps take only about an hour to set, while others need to set overnight.

amswary@keysnews.com