Woman mixes skin aid

By Tami Althoff
The Oklahoman

EDMOND - When Kathy Morris was told there was a solution for her dry skin, she was skeptical.

Morris suffers from familial polyposis -- a disease that has also taken most of her intestines and colon. With this condition, dehydration and dry skin are a constant problem, she said.

"I think good skin is extremely important. If you let your body run down, the next thing is your mentality," Morris said. "It's an uphill battle to keep my skin in shape. I'm always looking for new products."

Morris' days of searching ended last summer when she ran into Andrea Fredericks at the Edmond Farmers Market. Fredericks was at a booth selling Salt Soothers, a line of bath salts and oils she created while she was a part-time student at the University of Central Oklahoma.

"I was kind of dubious, at first," Morris said. "I started with the oil, and I really liked the results. It left my skin soft and supple, and I noticed it was taking away my wrinkles to some degree. I went back the next week and got some salt scrub."

Morris has been a faithful customer since.

In search of a solution
Fredericks, a wife and full-time mother of two, hears stories like Morris' almost every day. She can relate. If it hadn't been for her own skin problems, Salt Soothers would not exist.

"When I moved back here from California, my skin was so dry. I was putting on lotion five times a day," Fredericks said. When over-the-counter and prescription products didn't work, Fredericks began researching the healing properties of different oils and salts. She learned Cleopatra bathed in olive oil, so she tried it herself. She mixed the olive oil with a jar of bath salts her daughter had given her the previous year as a Mother's Day gift and liked the way it exfoliated and softened her skin. Still, she wanted something less greasy.

Through the Internet, advice from her professors and trial and error, Fredericks came up with a combination that worked -- Dead Sea salts imported from Israel and a combination of 12 different oils.

Fredericks began sharing the mixture with her friends and family, eventually taking the product to farmers markets and craft fairs. She enlisted the help of her family along the way.

"My daughter Page has been with me from the very first mixture to the final product," Fredericks said. "She helps by choosing the aromas we use in our scrubs."

Fredericks' husband Bill helps mix, bottle and label, as does her son, Austin.

"During our first production, the entire family pitched in on the assembly line," Fredericks said.

Since then, Salt Soothers has exploded. The products are available through Fredericks' Web site, www.saltsoothers.com, and they are in retail shops across the country. Recently, Fredericks made the products available to schools and other organizations as a fund-raiser item.

Fredericks said the business has outgrown the house. She and her husband are looking for land in Edmond to build a house and retail shop.