May 9, 2025 • 23 mins
When chlorinated pools wreaked havoc on her competitive swimmer daughter's sensitive skin, Evelien Zonneveld turned frustration into innovation. After trying countless commercial products that only made things worse, this Dutch-born Closter mom took matters into her own hands, creating what would become Swimmers Block Bar - a line of all-natural skincare specifically formulated for swimmers.
From her kitchen laboratory, Evelyn meticulously researched, tested, and perfected formulations built around three core principles: eliminating chlorine, cleansing skin, and providing deep nourishment. Her signature products harness the power of natural ingredients like activated charcoal (which absorbs chlorine and odors), Himalayan pink salt, oatmeal, shea butter, essential oils, and vitamin-rich additions that work together to combat the harsh effects of pool chemicals.
What makes Swimmers Block Bar truly special is Evelyn's unwavering commitment to quality and freshness. Each soap, lotion, and body butter is handcrafted to order, using ingredients sourced exclusively from small, family-owned businesses. This dedication extends beyond her own daughter - her products now serve competitive swimmers, casual pool-goers, and even those with skin conditions like psoriasis and eczema who've found unexpected relief in her gentle formulations. With every batch made fresh in small quantities, Swimmers Block Bar represents the perfect intersection of necessity, entrepreneurship, and a mother's determination to solve a problem affecting the entire swimming community.
Ready to transform your post-swim skincare routine? Visit swimmersblockbar.com to discover natural solutions for chlorine-damaged skin, or find Evelyn at local swim meets with her testers and freshly-made products in hand.
EKatora Soaps & Skincare
Evelien Zonneveld
201-362-6155
evelien@ekatorasoaps.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Doug Drohan.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of
the Good Neighbor Podcastbrought to you by Bergen
Neighbors Media Group.
Today we have a special guest.
It's Eveline Zonenfeld.
She is the owner guest.
It's evelyn zonenfeld.
Uh, she is the owner.
Now I I had the name of umikatora soap and skin care, but
(00:32):
actually it is swimmers blackbar.
Uh, online site is calledswimmersblackbar.
com.
Evelyn, welcome to the showthank you so much for having me
so we learned, before we came onair, that, uh, you basically
live in the town next to me, I'min harrington park and you're
in kloster, which, um, you know,bergen, county bergen, I
learned, was um, uh, the dutchsettled this area and they, you
(00:56):
know, because they were, I meannot exactly, I guess, compared
to the netherlands we havebergens here, we have mountains,
we have more hills than, Iguess, in the, uh, the lowlands
of of the netherlands, but, uh,they're the ones who settled
this area.
They named it Bergen.
Klooster is a, I guess Kloister.
It's like a German word.
It could be Dutch as well.
(01:16):
Klooster is a German word forKloister, which is a kind of
church.
So I guess it, you know, beingfrom where you are, it seems
natural that you'd live inBergen County, in Kloster.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
No, yes, actually, uh , it's, it's surprising.
Um, I have been coming to uhKloster for many, many years and
um, when my daughter was born,um, I I visited I was actually
living in fort lee and um, Iwent to closter because of the
(01:51):
swim school, the, the goldfishswim school and every time I
drove into closter, I I feltlike this sort of uh relief
coming over me, like uh, like Ifelt at peace and uh, yeah.
And then, um, um, three yearsago, I actually purchased my
home here and my daughter and Imoved here and uh, yeah, I I
(02:14):
came to understand of the, therich history and the link with
the netherlands, and and uh yeah, how close to was settled.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
So yeah, somehow it was meant to be my office is on
schralenberg, which I tell myson.
Anytime there's a word with twoa's, uh, next to each other.
It's dutch, like harlem, the,the original harlem, but
schralenberg with two a's.
And and yeah, it's a lot ofdutch, a lot of dutch history
(02:44):
area, yes, dutch history.
But anyway, we, you know, we'renot here to talk about holland,
although we love.
I could ask you, why is itcalled holland and the
netherlands and you know, andwhy are you called dutch?
It's like, okay, you live inholland, you're in the
Netherlands and you're Dutch Imean, at least Germans, they
(03:07):
call you Nederlander.
So it kind of makes senseNederlander, nederlander, but in
America we call you Dutch, eventhough you're from the
Netherlands and you're fromHolland.
So we can get into that anothertime.
Sounds good, so tell me I meanall right, so you're a swim mom,
right, yes.
So tell me I mean all right, soyou're a swim mom, right, yes.
(03:27):
And so what was it?
You saw something that inspiredyou to start a business.
Tell us about what is.
You know, I understand skincare.
If you're in the pool a lot andit's chlorinated, you can get
really dry skin.
I'm sure there's a lot of otherproblems that come up with
people that are in a pool quiteoften.
So what is Swimmerimmers BlockBar all about?
Speaker 3 (03:49):
Yes, so Swimmers Block Bar is all about skin care
for swimmers.
The skincare products that Imake myself are only made with
natural products, naturalingredients that are not harmful
(04:12):
to the skin, and the reason whyI decided to, you know, develop
skincare for swimmers isbecause my daughter is a?
Uh swimmer and she is actuallya usa athlete, and she she's 12
(04:35):
now and she swims um a verytough training schedule of six
days a week for two and a halfhours a day.
She is in the pool and of coursethese pools are chlorinated and
other chemicals are in there aswell.
For good reasons right to tokeep the water healthy for the
(05:00):
swimmers or healthy, you know,free of bacteria, harmful
bacteria but there is a downsidefor the swimmers and the
immediate downside to the skinin this case is that when you
have a little bit more of a youknow sensitive skin, and
(05:21):
especially when you're in thepool for six days a week in
chlorine, it takes a toll oneverybody's skin and I had tried
every product under the sun,literally for my daughter that
(05:50):
you can get in CVS, in regularstores, on Amazon.
I tried it all and even theproducts for sensitive skin
which my daughter has sensitiveskin, and there was one day that
well, two issues A, my daughterhas eczema which flares up
tremendously when being inchlorine.
That much Plus, when I triedthat skincare for sensitive skin
(06:13):
on her, she actually complainedof a burn on her skin and she
wanted to get the cream that shehad on.
She wanted to get it off asquick as possible.
So that made me think like theremust be another type of
solution.
(06:33):
So I started to dive a littlebit deeper into the products
that she was already using, thatI was purchasing for her and I
found out that all of theproducts actually also have
alcohol in them, which obviously, you know, aggravates a already
(06:55):
sensitive skin and a skin thatis exposed to so much chlorine
Plus.
There were other ingredients inthere that are hard to
pronounce for me because theythey are a little bit more, more
chemical and they might, may,be fine if, if you do not have
(07:17):
sensitive skin, or do not do notswim in the pool so frequently
so that sort of prompted me tolook into actually starting to
make a skincare myself based onall natural ingredients, and
that is sort of how this cameabout.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Did you have any background in chemistry or
anything like that to startmaking?
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
No, I did not um I am , uh, I'm literally a mom with a
full-time job and a child witha need, and, um, I uh started to
educate myself, um, so,self-taught, and a lot of
reading, a lot, of, um, you know, background research into you
(08:11):
know what are, uh, better waysto treat the skin, and um, I, I,
you know, started in that wayand started, um to, you know,
purchase natural products myself.
So, so the ingredients andstarted very simple by making a
(08:33):
soap.
So I'm connected to a lot ofcommunities, on Facebook, for
example, where soap makers cometogether and, you know, share
tested recipes, and yeah, sothat's literally how I started
(08:53):
Self-educated, based on thisneed that, yeah, for me,
consists out of helping mydaughter.
And then I started to think youknow, there there's such a large
community of people that usedto pull and that go into
chlorinated pools and that haveskin issues.
(09:16):
Um, so that's how things cametogether.
And yes, and then I started,you know, when I had a formula
that really you know was allbalanced out, with all the pH
levels and what have you.
(09:37):
I started to test the products,together with a small community
of swimmers that I know andthat wanted to help.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
So you didn't have a laboratory of test animals to
test it on.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
Oh, no, no, no, no, no.
I actually took it under theshower myself.
Like you know, I'm prettycritical in the sense of like if
it doesn't work for me, I'm notgoing to you know, ask anyone
else to try it.
I have a sensitive skin myselfand my daughter.
We try it also and say yeah, sono, it's, it's no animals are
(10:14):
involved either.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
very yeah, yes so you know that there's a saying
necessity.
Necessity is the mother ofinvention, or all invention and
um, or all invention and um.
You know you're, you're amother and you saw a need.
Now, yes, um it, you know, youmentioned it's, it's, you know,
(10:37):
for your daughter and andinitially it was, uh, you know
about kids, but this is aproduct that any swimmer of any
age would use, right?
Speaker 3 (10:42):
yes, any swimmer of any age can use this product,
and I also made it genderneutral, so the scent of the
smell appeals to both the youknow like yes, it's yeah,
because also with sensitive skin.
(11:03):
So all the ingredients that Iuse are purely natural.
There's nothing added to it, uh,that can cause any harm, and
every ingredient has a benefitto the skin and so also the the
scent um uh is produced in inthe soap comes from an essential
(11:29):
oil, and so I kept the palettereally gender neutral.
And yeah, that's, I think, thekey to what I do.
Nothing is in there if it's notnecessary.
So everything has a purpose.
And on top of that, becausewhen you swim in a chlorinated
(11:52):
pool, the skin also, when youcome out of the pool, you know,
smells after chlorine.
And so the items or theingredients that are in the
skincare products are alsochlorine neutralizing, but
everything is very gentle to theskin.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
How did you learn all this?
How did you find out whatproducts are counteract or
neutral for chlorine, and wheredo you source pink Himalayan
salt and charcoal and all theingredients that you need to
make this?
Now you mentioned the greatthing about the Internet in the
(12:33):
last you know 25 years is thatyou know these communities are
accessible from all around theworld and you can find a
community of people that want tomake their own soaps, or you
know things like that, so youknow that that's really helpful.
You know you want to knit asweater.
Join a you know a knittingcircle online, right so, but how
(12:56):
do you like?
How did you find out whichproducts were actually good for
you know counteracting chlorine,and then how do you source it?
Speaker 3 (13:06):
yes, so again, a lot of research, um into you know
what what helps eliminate thechlorine?
And um, I tried a lot of thingsas well, uh, but one of the
items in one of the soaps um Imake it is called the charcoal
soap.
So charcoal absorbs odors andharmful chemicals or harmful
(13:34):
items in our body and on ourskin.
So one of the soaps that I makeactually is black because I
have charcoal in it just a verysmall amount, but it's enough to
absorb the smell that thechlorine produces in the
(13:58):
Himalayan pink salt.
I have the Himalayan salt, whichalso has a cleansing property
and helps eliminate the chlorine.
Both of the soaps also haveoatmeal in there and lavender
(14:20):
and, of course you know, theshea butter.
All of the products that I usehave the shea butter and cocoa
butter.
So it's again it's thecombination of the all natural
ingredients that eliminate odor,clean the skin and nourish the
(14:43):
skin, because the chlorinestrips it of a certain
protective layer.
If you like our skin.
So to nourish the skin, I havevitamin E oil that I add, castor
oil, jojoba oil.
Some very vitamin C is in thesoaps, so it's all focused on
(15:10):
eliminating, cleaning andnourishing and that those are
the three basics that I stick to.
Now, regarding to the sourcingof my ingredients, is that is
actually a very, very importantquestion and I'm so happy you
asked that.
um, I have found that when youwork with basic ingredients, not
(15:36):
all ingredients are of the samequality and um the products and
this is also a point I made,because I give these products
also to my daughter.
I want the best and because youknow it's like with anything if
(15:57):
you treat your body, you wantto make sure that you know
you're healthy.
you, you know you exercise andso you know whatever you put on
your body also should be good.
And I have found differencesand what I have found in general
.
Um, for me, what works best isthat I work with, with sourcing
(16:21):
the ingredients that I use fromsmall, usually individually
owned businesses, simply becausethey pay a lot of attention to
the quality themselves and I'mnot, you know, sourcing from
(16:42):
mass producers.
It's all from small businessesand also owned by families.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Yes, so it's like a cottage industry supporting
other small industries that havea common goal.
I guess you could say yes,that's great.
I noticed you said you make theproducts to order so you don't
keep an inventory.
So if I ordered emollient pinksalt, do you is it?
(17:12):
How long would it take for meto receive it?
Speaker 3 (17:15):
You will have it within two days because the
moment, yes, the moment yourorder comes in, then I make it
in the evening, then I make itin the evening, then the soap
needs to cure, of course, and Ican ship it out the next day or
the day after.
Wow so your kitchen must be hotfor cooking.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
And the other one no, don't eat that, Don't dip the
bread in that one.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
Yes, I'm very religious eat that, don't dip
the bread in that one.
Yes, I'm very religious aboutthat.
So, of course, because I have adaughter and my three dogs, and
yes, and so in the evening thekitchen door closes, everything,
of course, is cleaned before Itake out the materials that I
(18:06):
need to make soap, but thennobody is allowed in because it
is, you know, a process thattakes a some time, and you know
you need to heat things up andmix and then cure.
So, yes, but yes, my philosophyis to bring the soaps and the
(18:29):
body lotions and magnesium bodybutter that I have in the
freshest way as possible, andthat is by not keeping inventory
but making it to order.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Yes, Do you ever go to Goldfish Swim School and say,
hey, you guys want to buy someproduct and keep it on the
shelves?
Speaker 3 (18:50):
I have not gone there yet I have received approval to
sell my products in West Nyackat the Condors.
That is the swim team that mydaughter swims at and I am
selling at meets, so when theyhave a meet and other swim teams
(19:13):
come and the kids are doingtheir events.
Then I have a little standthere and again I take orders.
I have a very small inventorythat I take with me and testers,
so everybody that would like totest can just ask for testers
and I'm happy to give them so um, yeah, yeah so how would people
(19:37):
uh, what's your website?
yes, so the website iswwwswimmersblockbarcom.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
And that's pretty simple to remember
swimmersblockbar.
com, and that's where they wouldplace all their orders.
Could they email you or theycould subscribe.
Yes, they can email me, theycan call yes.
Okay, 201-362-6155.
The email is info atswimmersblockbarcom.
(20:12):
Local right Right here inCloster, New Jersey.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
Local in Closter yes, yeah, that's great.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
That's great, and you know I think people have to
support you know we'll call it aside hustle business.
Right, you have a full-time job, you're a mom.
But you saw this need and yousaw what your daughter's skin,
the effects of having a swimmingcareer does.
And you're like, hey, there'snothing out there that's really
helping, I'll figure it out.
(20:41):
And I think that's the amazingthing about entrepreneurial
spirit is that you see a need,you see that maybe nobody's
addressed it yet or addressed itin the way that you think is
effective, and you go ahead anddo it.
And you know, I think a lot ofpeople have ideas.
You know there's a saying thatnecessity is the mother of
(21:01):
invention and, um, I thinkthere's the antithesis of that
is like the uh, necessity is themother of invention.
And I think there's theantithesis of that is like the
necessity is the mother ofinvention.
And how does it go?
And I think procrastination isthe father.
So there's a lot of people thatcome up with the idea but then
they never move on it and maybethey feel it's just too
difficult.
But I applaud you for saying,hey, let's do it, why not?
(21:26):
And um, you know, I I thinkit's great, we got to get the
word out and obviously youyou're in the right community,
or you're bringing it to swimmeets and people that are, um,
you know, obviously see the needfor it.
But I'd imagine the casualswimmer in the summer would
benefit from this as well, andmaybe there's like you have
triathletes and and then justhave, as a summer season, or
(21:49):
people in pools or lifeguards.
You know lifeguards are inpools quite a bit.
I can imagine there's a marketthere as well.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
Yes, no, definitely, and I even had a mom last week
come up to me and she said thatshe used the soap that her
daughter has.
So it's a girl that's on mydaughter's swim team and she's
using the soap, and the mom wascurious and used it too, and, to
my surprise, she said that ithelped with her psoriasis oh wow
(22:17):
I was like oh my goodness, I'mso happy to hear that.
And yeah, so you know.
I think that's a testimony tothe fact that the soap is all
natural.
There's no chemicals in it atall.
And yeah, the nourishingelements help, but yeah, so yeah
(22:38):
, I hope that people will try itand, you know, see the benefits
and find the benefits in it.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Yeah, it and uh you know, see the benefit and find,
find the benefit in it.
Yeah, well, that's uh, you know, hopefully we'll get the word
out there and, uh, you know, andI'll see you on shark tank
someday when you're ready toscale yeah, who knows?
Literally yeah, so, eileen,thank you so much for joining us
today and thank you, that wasgreat, and I'll talk to you
offline about the closermagazine because I think it'd be
(23:08):
great to share your story ohwonderful neighbors.
But uh, we'll talk about thatright after this message from
chuck sounds good, thank youthank you for listening to the
good neighbor podcast.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
To nominate your favorite local businesses to be
featured on the show, go tognpbergencom.
That's gnpbergencom, or call201-298-8325.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Doug Drohan.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of
the Good Neighbor Podcastbrought to you by Bergen
Neighbors Media Group.
Today we have a special guest.
It's Eveline Zonenfeld.
She is the owner guest.
It's evelyn zonenfeld.
Uh, she is the owner.
Now I I had the name of umikatora soap and skin care, but
(00:32):
actually it is swimmers blackbar.
Uh, online site is calledswimmersblackbar.
com.
Evelyn, welcome to the showthank you so much for having me
so we learned, before we came onair, that, uh, you basically
live in the town next to me, I'min harrington park and you're
in kloster, which, um, you know,bergen, county bergen, I
learned, was um, uh, the dutchsettled this area and they, you
(00:56):
know, because they were, I meannot exactly, I guess, compared
to the netherlands we havebergens here, we have mountains,
we have more hills than, Iguess, in the, uh, the lowlands
of of the netherlands, but, uh,they're the ones who settled
this area.
They named it Bergen.
Klooster is a, I guess Kloister.
It's like a German word.
It could be Dutch as well.
(01:16):
Klooster is a German word forKloister, which is a kind of
church.
So I guess it, you know, beingfrom where you are, it seems
natural that you'd live inBergen County, in Kloster.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
No, yes, actually, uh , it's, it's surprising.
Um, I have been coming to uhKloster for many, many years and
um, when my daughter was born,um, I I visited I was actually
living in fort lee and um, Iwent to closter because of the
(01:51):
swim school, the, the goldfishswim school and every time I
drove into closter, I I feltlike this sort of uh relief
coming over me, like uh, like Ifelt at peace and uh, yeah.
And then, um, um, three yearsago, I actually purchased my
home here and my daughter and Imoved here and uh, yeah, I I
(02:14):
came to understand of the, therich history and the link with
the netherlands, and and uh yeah, how close to was settled.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
So yeah, somehow it was meant to be my office is on
schralenberg, which I tell myson.
Anytime there's a word with twoa's, uh, next to each other.
It's dutch, like harlem, the,the original harlem, but
schralenberg with two a's.
And and yeah, it's a lot ofdutch, a lot of dutch history
(02:44):
area, yes, dutch history.
But anyway, we, you know, we'renot here to talk about holland,
although we love.
I could ask you, why is itcalled holland and the
netherlands and you know, andwhy are you called dutch?
It's like, okay, you live inholland, you're in the
Netherlands and you're Dutch Imean, at least Germans, they
(03:07):
call you Nederlander.
So it kind of makes senseNederlander, nederlander, but in
America we call you Dutch, eventhough you're from the
Netherlands and you're fromHolland.
So we can get into that anothertime.
Sounds good, so tell me I meanall right, so you're a swim mom,
right, yes.
So tell me I mean all right, soyou're a swim mom, right, yes.
(03:27):
And so what was it?
You saw something that inspiredyou to start a business.
Tell us about what is.
You know, I understand skincare.
If you're in the pool a lot andit's chlorinated, you can get
really dry skin.
I'm sure there's a lot of otherproblems that come up with
people that are in a pool quiteoften.
So what is Swimmerimmers BlockBar all about?
Speaker 3 (03:49):
Yes, so Swimmers Block Bar is all about skin care
for swimmers.
The skincare products that Imake myself are only made with
natural products, naturalingredients that are not harmful
(04:12):
to the skin, and the reason whyI decided to, you know, develop
skincare for swimmers isbecause my daughter is a?
Uh swimmer and she is actuallya usa athlete, and she she's 12
(04:35):
now and she swims um a verytough training schedule of six
days a week for two and a halfhours a day.
She is in the pool and of coursethese pools are chlorinated and
other chemicals are in there aswell.
For good reasons right to tokeep the water healthy for the
(05:00):
swimmers or healthy, you know,free of bacteria, harmful
bacteria but there is a downsidefor the swimmers and the
immediate downside to the skinin this case is that when you
have a little bit more of a youknow sensitive skin, and
(05:21):
especially when you're in thepool for six days a week in
chlorine, it takes a toll oneverybody's skin and I had tried
every product under the sun,literally for my daughter that
(05:50):
you can get in CVS, in regularstores, on Amazon.
I tried it all and even theproducts for sensitive skin
which my daughter has sensitiveskin, and there was one day that
well, two issues A, my daughterhas eczema which flares up
tremendously when being inchlorine.
That much Plus, when I triedthat skincare for sensitive skin
(06:13):
on her, she actually complainedof a burn on her skin and she
wanted to get the cream that shehad on.
She wanted to get it off asquick as possible.
So that made me think like theremust be another type of
solution.
(06:33):
So I started to dive a littlebit deeper into the products
that she was already using, thatI was purchasing for her and I
found out that all of theproducts actually also have
alcohol in them, which obviously, you know, aggravates a already
(06:55):
sensitive skin and a skin thatis exposed to so much chlorine
Plus.
There were other ingredients inthere that are hard to
pronounce for me because theythey are a little bit more, more
chemical and they might, may,be fine if, if you do not have
(07:17):
sensitive skin, or do not do notswim in the pool so frequently
so that sort of prompted me tolook into actually starting to
make a skincare myself based onall natural ingredients, and
that is sort of how this cameabout.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Did you have any background in chemistry or
anything like that to startmaking?
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
No, I did not um I am , uh, I'm literally a mom with a
full-time job and a child witha need, and, um, I uh started to
educate myself, um, so,self-taught, and a lot of
reading, a lot, of, um, you know, background research into you
(08:11):
know what are, uh, better waysto treat the skin, and um, I, I,
you know, started in that wayand started, um to, you know,
purchase natural products myself.
So, so the ingredients andstarted very simple by making a
(08:33):
soap.
So I'm connected to a lot ofcommunities, on Facebook, for
example, where soap makers cometogether and, you know, share
tested recipes, and yeah, sothat's literally how I started
(08:53):
Self-educated, based on thisneed that, yeah, for me,
consists out of helping mydaughter.
And then I started to think youknow, there there's such a large
community of people that usedto pull and that go into
chlorinated pools and that haveskin issues.
(09:16):
Um, so that's how things cametogether.
And yes, and then I started,you know, when I had a formula
that really you know was allbalanced out, with all the pH
levels and what have you.
(09:37):
I started to test the products,together with a small community
of swimmers that I know andthat wanted to help.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
So you didn't have a laboratory of test animals to
test it on.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
Oh, no, no, no, no, no.
I actually took it under theshower myself.
Like you know, I'm prettycritical in the sense of like if
it doesn't work for me, I'm notgoing to you know, ask anyone
else to try it.
I have a sensitive skin myselfand my daughter.
We try it also and say yeah, sono, it's, it's no animals are
(10:14):
involved either.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
very yeah, yes so you know that there's a saying
necessity.
Necessity is the mother ofinvention, or all invention and
um, or all invention and um.
You know you're, you're amother and you saw a need.
Now, yes, um it, you know, youmentioned it's, it's, you know,
(10:37):
for your daughter and andinitially it was, uh, you know
about kids, but this is aproduct that any swimmer of any
age would use, right?
Speaker 3 (10:42):
yes, any swimmer of any age can use this product,
and I also made it genderneutral, so the scent of the
smell appeals to both the youknow like yes, it's yeah,
because also with sensitive skin.
(11:03):
So all the ingredients that Iuse are purely natural.
There's nothing added to it, uh,that can cause any harm, and
every ingredient has a benefitto the skin and so also the the
scent um uh is produced in inthe soap comes from an essential
(11:29):
oil, and so I kept the palettereally gender neutral.
And yeah, that's, I think, thekey to what I do.
Nothing is in there if it's notnecessary.
So everything has a purpose.
And on top of that, becausewhen you swim in a chlorinated
(11:52):
pool, the skin also, when youcome out of the pool, you know,
smells after chlorine.
And so the items or theingredients that are in the
skincare products are alsochlorine neutralizing, but
everything is very gentle to theskin.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
How did you learn all this?
How did you find out whatproducts are counteract or
neutral for chlorine, and wheredo you source pink Himalayan
salt and charcoal and all theingredients that you need to
make this?
Now you mentioned the greatthing about the Internet in the
(12:33):
last you know 25 years is thatyou know these communities are
accessible from all around theworld and you can find a
community of people that want tomake their own soaps, or you
know things like that, so youknow that that's really helpful.
You know you want to knit asweater.
Join a you know a knittingcircle online, right so, but how
(12:56):
do you like?
How did you find out whichproducts were actually good for
you know counteracting chlorine,and then how do you source it?
Speaker 3 (13:06):
yes, so again, a lot of research, um into you know
what what helps eliminate thechlorine?
And um, I tried a lot of thingsas well, uh, but one of the
items in one of the soaps um Imake it is called the charcoal
soap.
So charcoal absorbs odors andharmful chemicals or harmful
(13:34):
items in our body and on ourskin.
So one of the soaps that I makeactually is black because I
have charcoal in it just a verysmall amount, but it's enough to
absorb the smell that thechlorine produces in the
(13:58):
Himalayan pink salt.
I have the Himalayan salt, whichalso has a cleansing property
and helps eliminate the chlorine.
Both of the soaps also haveoatmeal in there and lavender
(14:20):
and, of course you know, theshea butter.
All of the products that I usehave the shea butter and cocoa
butter.
So it's again it's thecombination of the all natural
ingredients that eliminate odor,clean the skin and nourish the
(14:43):
skin, because the chlorinestrips it of a certain
protective layer.
If you like our skin.
So to nourish the skin, I havevitamin E oil that I add, castor
oil, jojoba oil.
Some very vitamin C is in thesoaps, so it's all focused on
(15:10):
eliminating, cleaning andnourishing and that those are
the three basics that I stick to.
Now, regarding to the sourcingof my ingredients, is that is
actually a very, very importantquestion and I'm so happy you
asked that.
um, I have found that when youwork with basic ingredients, not
(15:36):
all ingredients are of the samequality and um the products and
this is also a point I made,because I give these products
also to my daughter.
I want the best and because youknow it's like with anything if
(15:57):
you treat your body, you wantto make sure that you know
you're healthy.
you, you know you exercise andso you know whatever you put on
your body also should be good.
And I have found differencesand what I have found in general
.
Um, for me, what works best isthat I work with, with sourcing
(16:21):
the ingredients that I use fromsmall, usually individually
owned businesses, simply becausethey pay a lot of attention to
the quality themselves and I'mnot, you know, sourcing from
(16:42):
mass producers.
It's all from small businessesand also owned by families.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Yes, so it's like a cottage industry supporting
other small industries that havea common goal.
I guess you could say yes,that's great.
I noticed you said you make theproducts to order so you don't
keep an inventory.
So if I ordered emollient pinksalt, do you is it?
(17:12):
How long would it take for meto receive it?
Speaker 3 (17:15):
You will have it within two days because the
moment, yes, the moment yourorder comes in, then I make it
in the evening, then I make itin the evening, then the soap
needs to cure, of course, and Ican ship it out the next day or
the day after.
Wow so your kitchen must be hotfor cooking.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
And the other one no, don't eat that, Don't dip the
bread in that one.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
Yes, I'm very religious eat that, don't dip
the bread in that one.
Yes, I'm very religious aboutthat.
So, of course, because I have adaughter and my three dogs, and
yes, and so in the evening thekitchen door closes, everything,
of course, is cleaned before Itake out the materials that I
(18:06):
need to make soap, but thennobody is allowed in because it
is, you know, a process thattakes a some time, and you know
you need to heat things up andmix and then cure.
So, yes, but yes, my philosophyis to bring the soaps and the
(18:29):
body lotions and magnesium bodybutter that I have in the
freshest way as possible, andthat is by not keeping inventory
but making it to order.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Yes, Do you ever go to Goldfish Swim School and say,
hey, you guys want to buy someproduct and keep it on the
shelves?
Speaker 3 (18:50):
I have not gone there yet I have received approval to
sell my products in West Nyackat the Condors.
That is the swim team that mydaughter swims at and I am
selling at meets, so when theyhave a meet and other swim teams
(19:13):
come and the kids are doingtheir events.
Then I have a little standthere and again I take orders.
I have a very small inventorythat I take with me and testers,
so everybody that would like totest can just ask for testers
and I'm happy to give them so um, yeah, yeah so how would people
(19:37):
uh, what's your website?
yes, so the website iswwwswimmersblockbarcom.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
And that's pretty simple to remember
swimmersblockbar.
com, and that's where they wouldplace all their orders.
Could they email you or theycould subscribe.
Yes, they can email me, theycan call yes.
Okay, 201-362-6155.
The email is info atswimmersblockbarcom.
(20:12):
Local right Right here inCloster, New Jersey.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
Local in Closter yes, yeah, that's great.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
That's great, and you know I think people have to
support you know we'll call it aside hustle business.
Right, you have a full-time job, you're a mom.
But you saw this need and yousaw what your daughter's skin,
the effects of having a swimmingcareer does.
And you're like, hey, there'snothing out there that's really
helping, I'll figure it out.
(20:41):
And I think that's the amazingthing about entrepreneurial
spirit is that you see a need,you see that maybe nobody's
addressed it yet or addressed itin the way that you think is
effective, and you go ahead anddo it.
And you know, I think a lot ofpeople have ideas.
You know there's a saying thatnecessity is the mother of
(21:01):
invention and, um, I thinkthere's the antithesis of that
is like the uh, necessity is themother of invention.
And I think there's theantithesis of that is like the
necessity is the mother ofinvention.
And how does it go?
And I think procrastination isthe father.
So there's a lot of people thatcome up with the idea but then
they never move on it and maybethey feel it's just too
difficult.
But I applaud you for saying,hey, let's do it, why not?
(21:26):
And um, you know, I I thinkit's great, we got to get the
word out and obviously youyou're in the right community,
or you're bringing it to swimmeets and people that are, um,
you know, obviously see the needfor it.
But I'd imagine the casualswimmer in the summer would
benefit from this as well, andmaybe there's like you have
triathletes and and then justhave, as a summer season, or
(21:49):
people in pools or lifeguards.
You know lifeguards are inpools quite a bit.
I can imagine there's a marketthere as well.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
Yes, no, definitely, and I even had a mom last week
come up to me and she said thatshe used the soap that her
daughter has.
So it's a girl that's on mydaughter's swim team and she's
using the soap, and the mom wascurious and used it too, and, to
my surprise, she said that ithelped with her psoriasis oh wow
(22:17):
I was like oh my goodness, I'mso happy to hear that.
And yeah, so you know.
I think that's a testimony tothe fact that the soap is all
natural.
There's no chemicals in it atall.
And yeah, the nourishingelements help, but yeah, so yeah
(22:38):
, I hope that people will try itand, you know, see the benefits
and find the benefits in it.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Yeah, it and uh you know, see the benefit and find,
find the benefit in it.
Yeah, well, that's uh, you know, hopefully we'll get the word
out there and, uh, you know, andI'll see you on shark tank
someday when you're ready toscale yeah, who knows?
Literally yeah, so, eileen,thank you so much for joining us
today and thank you, that wasgreat, and I'll talk to you
offline about the closermagazine because I think it'd be
(23:08):
great to share your story ohwonderful neighbors.
But uh, we'll talk about thatright after this message from
chuck sounds good, thank youthank you for listening to the
good neighbor podcast.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
To nominate your favorite local businesses to be
featured on the show, go tognpbergencom.
That's gnpbergencom, or call201-298-8325.
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