This charming boutique shop is the humble home to some fine artisan beauty products. You will find over 50 different handmade soaps available for all skin types and ailments. Explore their variety ethically made lotions, balms and scrubs, all created by various artists and artisans for men, women and babies. Nobody is excluded at the Soap Café!

Planet over Produce

The Soap Café’s mission and ethos is to use and produce goods that benefit all humans, animals and the planet they walk upon. The use of toxic free and ethically sourced products reduces the harmful impact on the planet and safe guards our own individual health also. Most of the products found in this store are vegan, however a handful of products do contain ethically sourced honey, beeswax and/ or goat’s milk. These products still ensure that all life forms are being respected in this production process.

The Soap Café also has a refill station. Once you buy a product from the Soap Café, you can return to refill your freshly crafted items made with local ingredients from their store upon bringing your own container. If you want to spice things up a little you can also ask one of their beauty chefs to create a customised product to your liking on the spot!

The Soap Café’s Creation

Store owner Charlene, started experimenting with her own personal cosmetic care back in 1999 due to various skin conditions. She told The Third Eye:

I was fed up of being a guinea pig to orthodox methods. I got in beauty therapy followed by herbalism, aromatherapy, photography, and product design. Almost a decade later, in 2008, Soap Café was officially created from my parent’s kitchen, selling a few soap bars during events. 

I opened my first shop in 2009. The business grew slowly yet steadily from there. It was quite unique for Malta at the time, and most of my energy went into educating the public about sustainable and cruelty free products ;- words like ‘vegan’ and ‘organic’ were not as popularized as today especially in the local scene of cosmetic brands. For quite a few years, Soap Café was ironically more popular in countries such as Japan and Korea rather than in our own country! 

New to the Menu

I create each product with loads of TLC and I’m very proud of each creation because they all have their unique qualities.

Since the Soap Café prides itself in using locally grown and natural ingredients, they love working with seasonal produce. What better way to ravish in the autumn season than with a luxurious pumpkin and chair tea soap bar? You should also keep your eye out for a fresh Christmas range which launches in mid-November.

Regardless of the season, the Soap Café continuously strives to create high quality products. Rather than focusing on having just a large repertoire of goods, they focus on making sure that our packaging, ingredients, and methods fit the ethos of reducing the impact of consumerism whilst remaining profitable. 

The Future of Soap Café

We have been recognized in various countries, we have been listed on magazines in various languages, and we have customers from all over the world. Yet the locals still carry the stigma that locally made products are not as good as foreign brands. Thankfully with the rise of various talented local artist and artisans things are changing rapidly.

Our aim is that in the next decade, Soap Café will be the cosmetic brand synonymous with our beloved Maltes Islands. 

You can also order these delights through the Soap Café’s website here.

The post Fine Scents Brewing | All About The Soap Café appeared first on The Third Eye.

Over the past 30 years, Junior Achievement Young Enterprise Malta (JAYE) has inspired thousands of young minds and set youths on the path for entrepreneurial success. Since 1988, the organisation – formerly known as Young Enterprise – has seen more than 7,000 students take part in their non-formal, hands-on and experiential programmes.

To commemorate their 30th anniversary, JAYE Malta is hosting a gala dinner at the InterContinental Malta on 6 December to celebrate the revolutionary impact that their work – including that of students, mentors, volunteers, stakeholders and friends – has had on the world of education and entrepreneurship, while kicking off another 30 years of achievement.

Lara Degabriele, who took part in the 2014 Company Programme finals, describes JAYE’s mission as “inspiring big ideas in young minds”.

Of course, the first-step behind these ideas was to create a company, something that Lara has always wanted to do. During her time at Junior College, she was the designated Sales and Marketing Manager of the Young Enterprise company ‘MeStories’, which set out to help young children improve their standard of Maltese, through an application featuring Maltese audiobooks.

Lara tells me that her role was, essentially, to get the word out about MeStories, while ensuring that everything the company did adhered to her team’s brand standards. Now a student of the Raindance Film School in London, she says: “In my field, I need to present my ideas and market myself as a brand and, thanks to JAYE, I acquired the knowhow to be able do this.”

Before embarking on her first entrepreneurial venture, Lara anticipated that it would be a rewarding experience. “I knew that it would be a lot of hard work but that the pay-off would be worth it, as I was fortunate enough to form part of a team of underdogs, who were willing to put in 100% of their time and effort into our company. Even though we placed second in the finals, we still came out as winners with regards to how much we learned and the connections we created, as well as the numerous awards that added value to our work,” she says.

In a world where education is often rigid, JAYE Malta emphasises the value that comes with celebrating achievement of all shapes and sizes.

Indeed, having had plenty of experience on stage, Lara also helped her colleagues to prepare for their presentations. “My favourite achievement was when the quietest girl I’ve ever met stood in front of the judges and presented our company with confidence,” she adds. Lara then went on to volunteer with JAYE for a few years after her competition year, helping out at events, offering advice to achievers and even hosting the programme finals. Hers is a brilliant example of the many, many people who have been helped and inspired by JAYE over the years.

Now, if you would like to share your #JAYEStory, contact JAYE Malta Foundation or fill in this form to reserve your tickets for the JAYE Malta 30th Anniversary Celebration.

The JAYE Malta 30th Anniversary Celebration will be held at the InterContinental Malta on 6 December at 7.30pm. For more information and to reserve your seats, visit the @JayeMalta Facebook page or www.jayemalta.org. Tickets cost €50 and are available at a discounted rate of €30 for students.

The post Big Ideas, Young Minds | Share Your #JAYEstory appeared first on The Third Eye.