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Sharon Lombardo prepares her handmade soap for sale. Lombardo will be featured on DIY TV in the spring.

Cleaning up for DIY TV

Lomardo’s soap featured in national

cable production

A local soapmaker may enjoy her own 15 minutes of fame next spring when a network television show will feature her handiwork.

On Nov. 12, a crew from the Do It Yourself cable network channel traveled to Owen County where they interviewed Sharon Lombardo, owner of Anna's EsSCENTials Bodycare, for an upcoming episode of a show about unusual cleaning methods, called "Queen of Clean."

Lombardo, who has lived in Owen County for 10 years, five of which were part-time, has been specializing in soaps made from olive oil and herbs and made by hand for five years. She makes the soap from scratch in her studio on the second floor of the old Peoples Bank Building in downtown Owenton.

Lombardo named her business after her grandmother, Anna, who was a great influence in her life.

The film crew was at Lombardo's studio for almost four hours, during which time she answered questions about her work and created a batch of soap in her studio for the filmmakers. The goal of the segment was to show the soapmaking process and discuss various ingredients and the way they affect the skin. Lombardo said she was able to describe the many ingredients she uses in her soaps, including olive oils, wheat germ and other specialty oil, and additives such as almond butter, oatmeal, honey and goat's milk.

When first contacted by the Do It Yourself network, Lombardo said she was taken aback because she had never heard of the network.

"I don't have Dish network, and when they first called, I didn't take it too seriously...News was broken to me that it was a very big deal and it was a big show and a lot of people watch it," Lombardo said.

Lombardo was contacted for the segment because the producers liked the look of her web site (www.annas-soaps.com), which they had learned about through her membership in a national organization called the Handcrafted Soapmakers Guild.

According to Lombardo, they told her if she was anything like her web site, she was exactly what they wanted for the interview.

Although she was nervous about being filmed, Lombardo said the crew was very professional and made her feel very comfortable.

"I love making the soap and talking to people about it, but having to stand up in front of people and be on camera was different," she said.

The crew also filmed shots of the Owen County Courthouse and the downtown area of Owenton for background. Lombardo said she was surprised at how long it took to complete the interview, but said it was interesting to see how those things are done.

The segment featuring Lombardo will be edited down to five minutes. It will be aired as part of a show that will be taped in Phoenix next month. Lombardo has also made soap for each member of the studio audience of the taping.

Making soap

Lombardo has been making soap for about five years. A friend in California introduced her to the craft.

"As soon as I heard about it, I was intrigued, although I can't say why, and after my very first batch of soap turned out great, I was completely hooked," Lombardo said. "I love the entire process, from start to end."

Lombardo said it was obvious to her that she could combine her interest in health-related issues and her "slight artistic bent" into the process. She said she read everything she could get her hands on and decided on olive oil as her basic oil because of its special skin-care properties.

Lombardo makes 30 to 35 different soaps, using fragrance oils or essential oils. The most popular, she said, are the herbal and essential oil soaps.

"I like making soap because it is therapeutically satisfying, and because every batch has its own character, different from the others," Lombardo said. "It is an adventure which never grows old. That artistic part of soapmaking is fun too."

Lombardo is very detail oriented when it comes to making soap, and keeps careful records on each batch she makes. She has only had one batch fail in five years.

"I use notes constantly to remind myself of steps I want to take to improve them... either with a new additive or a different way to use color or something like that," she said.

For more information about soapmaking or to order a product, visit Lombardo's website, www.annas-soaps. com, or call her studio at 484-2333.