KUCHING: Since 2017, Themuq has been thriving well until today thanks to its unique handmade soap made from raw materials that can be found in the rainforest.
Noor Azlina Ahmad Tajudin, who started her Themuq brand, has made a lot of natural soap products and other health products as well such as massage oil, perfumes and others.
Well in her eight years of running the business, she faced numerous challenges in the beginning but has received much support from family and friends.
Sarawak Tribune: What inspired you to venture into the natural soap making?
Noor Azlina: It all started when my daughter has eczema when she was over one year old. At that time, It was hard to see her suffering. Every night, she would scratch her skin until she bleeds and she cried in pain from the scratch.
The bedsheet would be covered with bloodstains in the morning. So in my mind, I have to do something for her so that she would not have to experience this throughout her life. We have medicine recommended by doctors and specialists. It is good but because the medicine contains steroids, it made her skin thin and it worsened.
So I wanted to find an alternative solution, hence, I started my own research and development in the use of natural products made from neem for her skin. From there, I managed to create a natural soap product from neem and used it on her. Her skin was improving when I used it so I am happy with it. I shared the good news to my friends and from there, they shared it to other people.
What kind of raw materials are you using now in your soap products?
The first soap I produced is from neem tree and, after that, I proceed to expand the use of natural ingredients. Tumeric, huma black rice, coconut, daun sembung, charcoal, clay and others that are good for the skin.
However, some of the raw materials are hard to get from the rainforest. In Sarawak, there are no suppliers that sell raw ingredients so I had to buy some of them from West Peninsular and these are very costly. In terms of research and development (R&D), I had to do it myself with many trials and errors to ensure that the product is good for use.
Why is it that natural products are expensive?
The prices of natural products are expensive because it involves natural and organic materials that are hard to acquire from the rainforest. Like myself and other artisans, we cannot sell our products at cheaper prices because the natural material we use are hard to find and hard to produce. We want people to understand that. If they do not understand why we have to do this, it is hard for us artisans to continue make a living from our business.
What drives you to continue pursuing the soap-making business?
I have sacrificed a lot into this and I am passionate about it because
I want to help people who suffered eczema like my daughter and other skin conditions. What drives me to pursue this is when I get feedbacks from my customers and they are happy with the result after using my products.
For example, the neem soap is one of the top products sold and my customers said that their skin improves and is in good condition after using the soap. Until today, some of the customers repeated their orders from me since 2017.
I want to mention my husband for allowing me to pursue this business and he supports me since the beginning. He has always been supportive of my decision to do this business because he wants me to succeed and he has seen my success when my daughter skin improved because of my neem soap. He is also the one who funds me and provide the capital to start this business. Whenever I wanted to buy raw materials, he would help me to buy them for me.
Where are your customers mostly from and how can they find you?
Well, most of my customers are not only Sarawakians but also from throughout Malaysia. Actually, there are not many local customers buying from me but mostly those from West Malaysia and Sabah.
They can find me on Instagram. I only have Instagram to help with my business, so customers can check out my business account and they can order from me the products they want to buy.
Another way for me to sell and promote my products is to join in events organised by private or government agencies, so they can visit my booth if they are in the events.
As it is a health product, does the Minister of Health recommend this to the public?
They did come to check out my products but they did not say that my products cannot be sold. It does not need the confirmation from the ministry because my soaps are handmade and organic.
I did mention to them that my products have been sent and tested in a lab. However, they recommended, if I want to go further, I need to send it to the Health Ministry and get certification. In the long term, I have plans to send over my products for testing to the ministry.
What are your hopes for the future of your business?
First of all, as an artisan, I hope that there will be a place where all artisans can display products in one shop in Kuching. Some of us are part-time artisans and we have other things that need to be attended to.
If we can have a place or a shop where our products can be sold, then people will not need to go here and there to look for us. It is easier for people to come to a place that have all the natural products that they need.
For me personally, I hope Themuq will continue to thrive and to help other people to have healthy and better skin. I want to educate the public the importance of using natural products because these are safe and have no side effects on the skin.
