Emily Chapman Laing
A local business is using soaps and shampoo bars to help Casey achieve their Green Living goals.
Narre Warren woman Deb is the head of family owned and operated soap business L’ada Soaps and Scents.
“We have been making soaps in our family for over 25 years,” Deb said.
“The idea of starting a business was when a friend of mine was using our soaps on her kids who both had sensitive skin.
“She told me how much our soaps had helped to reduce their eczema, and their skin was benefiting so we should think about starting a business to help more families.”
L’ada is the initials of Deb’s family’s names, her husband, and her two sons.
“We all work on the business together, making the products, packing orders, coming along and helping at markets, we are all in this together,” Deb said.
“Our products are now stocked in stores all over Australia, as well as working with many small businesses who include our products in gift hampers, pampering packs, and we also donate to local communities and charities.”
L’ada is involved in the Green Living initiative of the City of Casey, which aims to create a more sustainable future.
“We were involved in the Green Living Festival which ran in 2022 where we were able to help educate members of our community about our products and the many benefits of our soaps.
“We have continued to work closely and the opportunity arose to have some of our shampoo bars included in their Green Living Initiative.
“Shampoo bars are a product that some people find as a hard concept to understand because we have been using liquid shampoos since we can remember, so we decided to go with our shampoo bars to help encourage people to try something new that would not only be beneficial to them, but also our environment.”
Deb thinks it is crucial for the local community to become more educated about sustainability and reducing the amount of waste we produce.
“As consumers we are all time poor now more than ever, and it’s very convenient to go to the supermarket and choose products that are on the shelves, but more and more people are becoming aware of the problems that we are facing with landfill and carbon emissions,” she said.
Deb says one of the largest parts of her job is educating people about the “hidden nasty ingredients in products” and the importance of making sustainable choices.
“By creating sustainable and eco-friendly products we are helping our customers to help the environment and reduce the amount of waste we produce.”
Deb says L’ada shampoo and conditioner bars are made using natural oils and butters and their soaps are made in small batches to ensure high-quality.
They are free from any SLS or harsh chemicals that can strip your natural oils from the scalp.
“Our Shampoo and Conditioner bars are suitable for all hair types whilst looking after the health of your scalp.
“They are also very good for our environment as you are not washing away toxic chemicals down the drain.”
L’ada was a finalist for the Sustainability Award in the 2022 Casey Business Awards.
“It was an honour to receive the recognition for all of the hard work we have put into our products and growing our business over the past three-and-a-half years,” Deb said.
L’ada has branched out to create eco-friendly laundry products, which Deb says she “just cannot live without”.
“We have had our Washing Powder available for our customers for just over a year now and this has been a huge success for us,” she said.
“We make a washing soap and mill it into a powder, so you are using soap to wash your clothes.
“The combination of our Laundry Soap and our Washing Powder will give you a 100 per cent natural wash and is not only better for your clothes and the environment, but will also save you money in the long run as you use less than what you do of your commercially produced products.”
