Bar-spangled manor

Kerri Mixon and her husband David Perez prepare a steam distillation unit during a soap making class that Kerri teaches at their home.

— David Brooks

Kerri Mixon trims the edges off a freshly cut bar of soap before stamping it with her company’s name. The trimmings are also used as a decorative element in other soaps.

— David Brooks

When you step into Kerri Mixon’s Lemon Grove home, you are greeted by the aromas of lavender and vanilla. Inside, shelves lining the walls are stacked with colorful bars of handmade soap; some are white with blue designs, others are a solid pale yellow.

In her kitchen on a recent Sunday afternoon, Mixon layered purple and green colorants onto a mold of soap as she spoke to a group of eight students in her “Soapmaking 220” class.

The class is one of 14 taught at Mixon’s home as part of her Soapmaking Studio business.

Mixon is a San Diego native and a self-proclaimed “master soap maker,” who founded the studio, two handmade soap companies, and other businesses that deal with “all things soap.”

Her unusual profession developed from natural origins; soap making has been a part of her family for many generations, beginning in Georgia.

“My father didn’t want to teach me how to make soap at first. He saw it as a chore that he was forced to do as a kid,” Mixon said. “I made a batch of soap on my own using sage, and afterward he finally started giving me pointers.”

Mixon initially had no intention of pursuing a career in the craft; instead, she studied courses in herbology and aromatherapy.

Her desire for a creative job that incoporated her love of plants, however, made her reconsider the soap making as a career. Mixon began to learn more about the craft and decided to start a business in 1997.

She initially sold soaps only online and later moved to farmers markets as well.

Integral to Mixon’s work is her husband, David Perez. Perez began by covering for his wife at a farmers market table one day. He now handles all the business elements of her soap companies.

“I check orders, mail orders and refill stock,” Perez said. “Besides soap, we sell everything that a person would need to make soap, all the oils, soap molds, rubber gloves, sodium hydroxide (lye) and anything else.”

Ingredients sold at the store include a number of items produced from plants grown in Mixon and Perez’s home garden.

These include lemon verbena, nine different types of lavender, as well as rose, ginger and mint geraniums. The plants can be used to make scents for the soaps, or dried and crushed to add texture and decoration.

On the weekends Perez heads to the La Mesa farmers market, where he sells soaps from two companies he and his wife created.

The first, Pallas Athene Soap, began in 2000 as a vegan product line with only plant-based colorants and fragrances.

Mixon says the second line, Pandora’s Artistic Soap, allows for more “artistic freedom” with the use of animal byproducts, such as beeswax and milk.

Over the years, Mixon’s companies grew steadily. She is now sought after by individuals interested in both the creative and business aspects of the soap industry.

When Mixon isn’t busy making large batches of client favorites or customized bars of soap for small parties, she is teaching one of her Sunday afternoon classes. The classes range from the basics of making soap to turning the craft into a business.