The Sad Girl Story – Extended

If you’ve read my “About” page, then you know that the beginning of SGSC was not your typical “beginning of business” story. I didn’t have some epiphany one day about opening a self care business. It was never my “dream”, in fact nowhere close. Despite all of that, Sad Girl is here – And im hoping it’s here to stay.

To really learn the story, we have to go back to December 2019. I was at the lowest point I had ever been in with my mental health. I was depressed, hopeless, and even suicidal. In my mind at the time, there was nothing left for me in this world. My partners were supportive, but I was beginning to feel like a burden I wouldn’t expect anyone to hold. I needed something, anything, to occupy my mind. To bring some sense of accomplishment to my life, no matter how small. At the time, baths were one of the only ways I could take care of my personal hygiene. They were the least labor intensive thing, as standing in the shower was just too much for me at the time. I loved to use bath bombs, they were just an extra something that made my bath feel like a luxurious experience, but I felt something missing from the store bought bombs I always got. I felt that I was not getting quality for the prices I was paying. I wanted more, so my partner suggested I make my own.

I researched the process (albeit not nearly as much as I should’ve) and started collecting the necessary ingredients to begin. As soon as everything had arrived, I jumped in, head first. Rookie mistake. Within 5 minutes of beginning my first batch, I had this foamy, volcanic mess on my floor. It looked like a 2^nd grade science project.

I felt so defeated. I’m fairly certain I cried, but I honestly can’t remember. But what I do remember, is something along the lines of “Okay, that failed, so let’s just give up”. As much as I wanted to just admit defeat, my partners kept pushing for me to try again.

My second attempt was no better than the first, but I was determined at that point. Bath bombs had just become a challenge, and I was going to win. It probably took around ten attempts, to get anything remotely resembling a bath bomb..and it wasn’t great. It hardly fizzed at all, there was virtually no color, and you couldn’t smell the fragrance at all. Again – I felt defeated. I had done all this work, so much trial and error – and I had failed…again.

What I didn’t realize back then, and something I’m still working on understanding today, is that I will NEVER be perfect at this. As much as I can hope and wish and dream, perfection will never come, and that is okay. I spent about 2 months trying to get my recipe down. When I finally got a product that I was happy with, I started making 2-3 batches a day. Probably around 10 bath bombs per day…you can see my problem? By the end of the second month, I had an entire storage container (you know, the cube ones?) full of bath bombs.

I decided to make a post on my personal facebook page, asking if anyone would have any interest in bath bombs. I was selling them for what it cost me to make them. The response was….more than I expected. I sent out probably 10 packages in the two weeks I started advertising. And this was just to family and friends. Once I had sold quite a few, I decided I needed a new recipe. I had done a lot more research since I had first begun, and I knew I could make them better.

At this point my interest had developed into all things bath related. I started researching the process for soaps, sugar scrubs, and body butters. I had what seemed like 50 projects at once, and this was exactly what I needed at the time to keep me busy.

As I started accumulating more product, I started listing more things for sale to my friends and family. By February, I had named my “business” Sad Girl Self Care. The name meant a lot to me, it was the perfect name for my business, which grew from my motivation to keep myself grounded, and make something out of nothing, when I felt like I had nothing to offer.

Stay tuned for more.