Alegna Soap® is a Long Island soap, bath and body company. Products are made in small batches using plant based oils, butters and natural essential oils.
Angela Carillo decided to take her career in chemistry in a new direction after children left Long Island to pursue their own dreams. Soap making took her on a journey that led her from library research to classes, conferences and communities of other soap makers. Creating new products by mixing and blending ingredients, scents, and colors grew into a passion, and she knew it was time to bring that hobby to a new level.
Alegna Soap® began as a business in 2010 and with the help of family and friends, she built a website, a dedicated studio, a logo and packaging, and started hitting the craft fairs. Her products are now in small Long Island hotels, B&Bs, specialty shops, and online. Some of her soaps are created for retailers who sell it under their own label, and she works with other soap makers by making their products for them.
Angela teaches classes in soap making to adults and to young people in the Long Island school district where she also works. She reached an even wider audience when she was invited to show host Kevin Pereira how to make soap on TV’s Hack My Life. She enjoys getting to know her customers and giving demonstrations in soap making to them. Angela also speaks at Indie beauty industry conferences across the U.S.
Donating her time and products to help others in need is also important to Angela. She was one of a group of soap makers who traveled to Haiti to teach women in tent camps how to make soap as a way to support themselves. Through her initiative, “Soap for Soup,” Angela regularly makes a special batch of soap products from which the proceeds go directly to a Long Island NY food pantry, because of their generous help for a friend of hers years ago.
Work-life balance is important to Angela, as she makes sure to reserve plenty of time for her new role as a grandmother. And, she takes the time to remember what she is grateful for in her life. You can read her reflections on gratitude along with ruminations about soap making on her blog
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