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Vendor Spotlight – Bazaar Barz

Hello everyone, Kev here welcoming you to the second edition of the Oddmall Vendor Spotlight! This will be a recurring series to share with you all some of your local vendors and attendees of Oddmall shows, highlighting their incredible talents, wonderful personalities and amazing creations. 

This week, we talked to Nicole about her business, Bazaar Barz! This company local to Northeast Ohio specializes in artisan soap with natural ingredients and beautiful design! With a wide variety and custom scents, these soaps have been a huge hit to those who appreciate the high quality and wonderful aromas. However, in the words of Nicole, “It’s still soap though. So you know, don’t eat it.” 

While her current love may be creating her cold-processed soaps, Nicole finds herself newer to the Canton area. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Nicole made her way to Ohio where she met her husband. “I met [him] while I was an undergraduate at the College of Wooster and the rest was history,” she remarks. However, as any Los Angeles resident, acting has long been an interest of Nicole’s, as she is a member of SAG/AFTRA and has been a passionate actor for nearly 20 years.

Nicole began making her own products and attending vendor shows nearly a year ago, becoming a regular at Oddmall events in that time. It was actually at her very first ever craft show that she came up with her delightful slogan, “Purposefully palm oil free, accidentally vegan.”  “It was Uncensored, and I was just explaining to a customer my soap and listing off the ingredients when it dawned on me,” Nicole shared. “I never set out to create a vegan brand, but as of right now, all my soap is vegan.”

When asked about the cold-processing, she does say it often feels like a science or cooking  experiment. “I feel like a mad scientist sometimes. Once the ingredients are mixed together appropriately, I play around with micas and fragrances. Layering and improvisation!” Her process not only gives a pleasant aroma, but an incredibly unique design and color scheme; each bar being varied in design!

Beyond the process always comes the hard part; the design and inspiration. Nicole mentions her process varies, whether it be the name that comes first or the scent. “I’m a nerd,” she admits, finding herself in good company. “Recently, I compiled a list of Greek characters and wrote down what I thought of when their names come to mind. Persephone has been my most popular bar so far from this collection. Other times, I’ll find the fragrance and go from there.”

However, it was at Hallowondrous where a new creation became the talk of the event. Skeleton Crew, a soap designed specifically for that Oddmall show, sold out almost entirely to vendors and attendees alike. As her first attempt with embeds, in short a soap within a soap, it was a huge success!

As a new business, Nicole continues to work on the growth of Bazaar Bars. Currently, you can find her products available on her Etsy page, and as always at future shows! 

Want to be featured in your own Vendor Spotlight? Contact Kevin at Kevin@Oddmall.info or fill out the application here!