Go beyond the class. Master cold process soap making, one-to-one.
Four private sessions with Shinobu, from the chemistry behind a recipe to natural colour, skin-loving actives and scent blending. Then, if you want it, a real market day to sell what you've made.
Enrolment isn't open yet.
Shinobu is teaching the first intake now. Leave your name and email and you'll hear first when the next one opens — one email, no newsletter.
- Fully one-to-one
- Dates around your schedule
- Best after a first class
Is this you?
- You've made soap once or twice and want to understand why it works, not just follow a recipe.
- You want to make soap for sensitive skin, for your family, and design it around what their skin needs.
- You're thinking about your own small soap brand one day, and you'd like to try selling at a real market before you commit.
Then this course was built for you — whether it's for your family or for a brand one day.
Never made soap? Take a class first and bring what you made. It makes the course land much deeper.
Just you and Shinobu, at your pace.
Every session is private. Shinobu adjusts the content to your interests and level, whether that's the maths behind a lye discount or getting a swirl to behave. You leave each session with soap you designed yourself, and a printed guide to go over at home.
No preservatives, no shortcuts. Everything is cold process, made from natural ingredients, the way Shinobu makes the soaps she sells.
"I do what other classes don't."
— Shinobu Hagiwara, founder of Chiko Soap Handmade Natural
The curriculum
Four core sessions, each with theory and a hands-on batch. An optional fifth session takes you to a real market.
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Session 1
3 hours · NZ$200
Foundations, safety and your own recipe
The chemistry of cold process soap: lye calculation, the difference between a lye discount and superfat, and adjusting water. Then you blend your own oils, design an original recipe and make a generous 600g batch, with a top-design to finish.
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Session 2
2.5 hours · NZ$150
Natural colour and design
How colours drawn from food behave and change over time, and the swirl, flower and drop techniques that show them off. Hands-on colouring and patterning with carrot (a soft yellow to orange), spirulina (blue-green) and more.
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Session 3
2.5 hours · NZ$150
Actives and skin-loving ingredients
The frozen-milk method, adding honey, and herb-infused oils. Essential oil notes (top, middle, base) and blend factors. You make a high-function natural soap around a skin concern of your choice, including colouring and design with mica.
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Session 4
2.5 hours · NZ$100
Scent blending, finishing and curing
Blending essential oils by hand. Temperature and humidity during cure, pH checks and a safety review. Then the professional finish: cutting, bevelling, stamping and your own packaging. No new batch this session, which is why it's priced lower.
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Session 5 · optional
By arrangement · NZ$200
Real business and a real market day
For those who want to launch and sell their own soap: branding, product range and display, taught one-to-one. Then you sell the soap you made at an actual Chiko Soap market stall, serving customers yourself. One studio session plus one market day.
NZ$600 for the four core sessions. Session 5 is priced separately and only if you want it.
The practical details
Format
Completely one-to-one. Content is adjusted to you.
Dates
Arranged with you, session by session, around your schedule.
Where
Shinobu's home studio in Papakura, Auckland. The full address is shared when you enrol.
Bring
An apron and something to write with. Tools and protective gear are provided. You'll receive a calculation textbook and a revision guide to keep.
Questions, answered
Do I need to have made soap before?
We highly recommend experiencing soap making at least once, whether in a group or a one-to-one class, and bringing the soap you made with you, as it will lead to a much deeper understanding. Soap making is chemistry. Even with the exact same recipe, the outcome is influenced by the season, climate, temperature, and humidity.
The key to learning is to continue practicing and making soap on your own after completing the course. This class allows you to gain a wealth of hands-on experience and knowledge in a short period of just four days, saving you the time it would take to learn everything by yourself. This course is perfectly suited for anyone who wants to learn how to safely hand-make natural soap for themselves and their family.
Will four sessions make me a professional?
No, and we'd rather say so up front. Four sessions give you the foundations, the safety, and the habits to keep improving. Becoming good at it comes from what you make afterwards, batch after batch. If selling is your goal, Session 5 is where you test that in the real world, at a real market, with Shinobu beside you.
When does the next intake open?
The first intake is running now and the date for the next one isn't set. Register below and you'll get one email from Shinobu when it opens, before it's announced anywhere else.
Will registering commit me to anything?
No. It only means you hear first. There's nothing to pay and nothing to decide until enrolment opens.
Hear first when enrolment opens
Your name and email, nothing else. One email from Shinobu when the next intake opens.