Our Story

In late 2016, while searching for a hobby to get into, I, Tea (she/her), came across some youtube videos made by Royalty Soaps. I was in love with the idea of soap making from that point on. I had no idea a person could make soap with their own hands. It's literally artwork and magic (science)! I knew that I had to be a part of this in some way.

I spent the next year and a half formulating, testing, and experimenting with different ingredients, fragrances, and products. I came up with the name, logo, and the first line of products: Artisan Soap, Bath Bombs, and Bubble Bars.

June 4th, 2018, I opened up shop for the very first time! I was an anxious mess the entire time I was uploading all the pictures to Etsy. The listings started to gain attraction so fast; within a few days of opening I received my first 2 orders! They were from my mom & best friend at the time lol but my first real order was placed during the last week of June.

 

After a month in business, we reached 10 orders and one 5 star review already! It was such a good feeling to know that things I made were able to bring someone else happiness! It was all the motivation I needed to keep going... However, I had forgotten what made me happy along the way.

In August of the same year, I launched my first themed box! It was Legend of Zelda themed.The box was received so well! It was kind of a shock to see that take off as quickly as it did. I soon abandoned the Artisan Soap and solely focused on Bath Bombs & Bubble Bars as those were the products that were selling really well. The orders started to pour in and my social media began to flourish, gaining 1,000 followers in no time!

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In 2019, we had a logo change! I wanted to give a more personal feel to my work and by modelling the shop mascot after myself. From here, things started to become a struggle creatively. I changed products very frequently, I kept losing motivation to create new bath products... That entire year I struggled with it, but kept pushing through it all to make my customers happy! I also began to dabble in other product types.

In September 2020, I finally let go of bath bombs and moved on to something else, Whipped Sugar Scrubs. The recipe never gave me issues like the Bath Bombs gave me. I figured the issue from before would just fade away and not come back!

My main focus was for the scrubs to be based on anime characters! I had just gotten back into watching anime seriously and my mind was racing with ideas. I noticed many people who I connected with in the anime community relied on certain fictional characters to provide them with comfort and joy. They were struggling with their mental health just like I am. I tied this into my business by combining this with self care and then created my top selling product of 2021!

In December 2020, I introduced my 2nd line of anime character themed Whipped Sugar Scrubs! The response to them was more than words can describe! We were constantly selling out of them; I was buying more inventory than I've ever bought before just to keep up with the demand. We also sold other shower related products such as Whipped Soap and Body Wash.

 

February 2021, CiAyeTea became a 2 man show!! My wonderful boyfriend, Dre (he/him) joined my shop and we became legal business partners. We left our daytime jobs and this business became our sole income.

The shops success started to slow down during the Summer of this year. I wasn't doing too well again around this time. My motivation for making the shower products we sold at the time was dwindling. Since this was our sole income, I couldn't just stop creating and reflect on why this burnout kept happening, so I continued to work. Eventually I started to resent everything I made. Something had to be done.

 

April 1st 2022, it finally happened! We completely rebranded!! I went back to my roots (and the whole purpose of starting the business) and officially started selling Artisan Soap again! This feeling is one I haven't felt since I opened back in 2018. Although I don't regret going through all the changes I did, I will always beat myself up for neglecting my true passion. 

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October 14th, 2022 we debuted our sister store, Geek'd Apparel! Dre is the mostly in charge of running this portion of our business. I do contribute to the designs, of course, but this is his baby lol.

Our first designs were mostly tailored to anime fans, but we did have some gamer inspired merch. We hope to expand our designs as much as we can and build accessories that our customers would be proud to wear!

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Due to the love and support of all our customers and supporters, Geek'd Soaps still stands today! We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you all and we are eternally grateful for this! The best has yet to come...