Meeting the creator of The Angry Mother Soap Co., I unabashedly thank her for handcrafting such wonderful eco-conscious and skin-friendly soaps filled with the goodness of nature. Because many of us have been longing for Forest Essentials and Lush products, but obviously not very cost effective and even when we manage to lay our hands, instead of using the products we would rather preserve it. Akitoli Suu returns my comments with a full laugh, so genuine and full of heart.
Inventive and creative is the best way to describe this young entrepreneur, eco-conscious and pocket-friendly to describe her products. If you look around her cute and eclectic store located at Thilixu, Dimapur, you’re bound to notice that the décor is made with recycled stuff; the lampshades are made from old college textbooks, organic honey in old bottles, even the wrapping papers the soaps come in are made from recycled paper. She is subtly but surely determined to get us to become more eco-conscious!
She claims, “You can even use the wastewater of the soaps to water your flower and vegetable gardens; plus, it won’t pollute your drainage system. We are passionate about sustainability and for that reason our soaps are wrapped with handmade recycled paper that we make at home.”
But let’s get to the main point here- soaps! Thirty plus varieties of all natural soaps, lip balms and body-butters all handcrafted, using ingredients like Tea Tree Thyme, Black Pepper, Rosemary, Eucalyptus, Anise, Clove, Basil, Papaya, Citronella, Goat’s Milk and many more. There are also some dish washing soaps and even pain-relief balms made from Raja Mircha. “I use fragrance oil for a few soaps which contain around less than 2 % synthetic oils, the rest are all hundred per cent natural,” she explained.
Akitoli revealed that she hit upon the idea to make soaps through a newsletter about sustainable living she was subscribed to. She shared, “I was thinking of how all the stuff we use, have unaccounted for chemicals and it all goes into the river. Initially, I thought let’s make some eco-friendly soaps for the household which my family really liked it and then one thing led to another.”
The art of making natural soap is self-taught, she said adding, “It’s more like cooking or baking, you don’t really need a certificate to be able to make soaps. I’ve had a lot of botched batches; it’s all trial and error. I think the consistency now is where I want it to be.”
There is an anecdote behind the ingenious brand name which has really attracted the attention of people. “I sat down with my sister trying to think of a name, when all of a sudden my mother stormed into the room. My sister and I just looked at each other and came up with The Angry Mother.” Adding to this is talented illustrator Canato Jimo’s images of angry mothers representing all the Naga tribes giving it that extra special touch.
Shy to talk about her success story, Akitoli shares that she has received positive feedback from her customers. While every soap and its ingredients is going to work for everyone, she has had heard some of her customers claim that it has helped their skin improve or healed certain skin ailments.
Beyond soap making, she has a keen interest in Sustainable Living and has worked before in her native village, even forming a Community Integrated Group (CIG) helping women grow seasonal crops to earn a livelihood. She has plans to add more soaps and this time incorporating Naga herbs.
