Farm to Shower: Inola woman handcrafting goat milk soap, lotions and more | News

One Inola woman is taking the farm-to-table movement a few steps further—to the shower.

Stephenie Simmonds, the owner of Cypress Scents, handcrafts goat milk soap, lotion and an entire line of shaving and bath products.

And she's doing it all from her farm in Inola.

She moved here from Louisiana four years ago and brought the venture with her.

"I milk my goats every morning. I bring the milk in and make products in the afternoon," she said. "People like the farm to table—or farm to shower—movement. I delivered three baby goats the other day, came in and cleaned up, then made product. It's just another part of my day. That's a novelty for people. People come out specifically to see the farm and the goats."

Simmonds said it all started when she wanted to make some Christmas gifts for family and friends.

"I really enjoyed it, and was good at it, so it was a natural progression of people seeing what I was doing and wanting it. Then to make more I had to start selling it to cover costs and it took off from there," she said.

New products and new scents, she said, are things customers have requested.

Simmonds makes soaps by the drove—roughly 100 bars every week.

All of her products fall into one of two lines—all-natural, or mostly-natural.

"I have two different lines—one is all natural, with no synthetics in it at all. The the other line, the only difference is a synthetic fragrance and color. If you wear eyeshadow or perfume you're getting the same fragrance and color," she said. "So all-natural and mostly natural. And I have a market for both. Some people want all natural and others want swirly and glittery and pretty."

When it comes to the soaps, the Milk and Honey bar is her personal favorite. It is made with goat milk, cocoa, local honey and oatmeal.

Most popular by far, though, is the facial bar.

"It's charcoal activated. It's got sea salt, charcoal, and essential oils that help with the antiseptic and inflammatory process. It's the most popular hands down," she said.

While her family and friends all smell great—Simmonds said there's a different group that comes to mind when she thinks about her target market.

"One thing everyone talks about is target market. I had the hardest time figuring mine out. Until I realized, my target market is tired moms," Simmonds laughed. "Because we only get 10 minutes to take a shower. We have to make the most of those 10 minutes. When you use a nice quality shave bar and your whole bathroom will smell like this soap, it's like a spa experience."

Tired moms, and everyone else that has tried the assorted products, have given rave reviews.

One such customer reviewed her favorite soap on the Cypress website: "These soaps have a super thick, rich lather and will envelope you with an opulent scent. They rinse clean but leave your skin moisturized and silky without the slick feeling left by most commercial soaps.

Thank you for these amazing products!"

Another happy customer said the lavender goat milk lotion has an intoxicating scent—and feels like heaven on her skin.

Customers can order their bars, balms, oils online, or at Hello salon in Tulsa or Inola Drug.

Once people try homemade soap—they see the difference immediately.

“Many commercial products are detergents, not soaps. It's not as harsh on your skin," she said. "And goat milk makes them richer and gives them a creamier lather that leaves your skin feeling silky and soft."