Six years ago, Bridget Delaney began making soaps in an effort to find a product compatible with her daughter Jessica’s sensitive skin.
Friends and family became guinea pigs for the endeavour, and its popularity grew. Delaney’s Handcrafted was born, now run by both mother and daughter.
Neither Bridget nor Jessica had any experience of soap-making before they began.
“We started out by reading many books, watching videos on YouTube for hours, and later, attending online courses,” says Jessica. “Our very first product was an oatmeal lavender Castile bar of soap. We continued experimenting to expand our soap line into what it is today.”
They have done all of this from a production site delightfully close to home, and which is culturally significant.
“We built a traditional Cayman-style cottage in our backyard, and that is our soap studio; it’s also our logo,” explains Jessica. “We have since added on for more space, but the original soap studio is our logo drawn by a local artist.”
Today, the product line includes essential oil soaps such as Lavender and Flower Child; fragrance oil soaps named 7-mile Daiquiri and Island Citrus, and candles in a range of scents including Ocean Front and Wild Banana Orchid.
In 2021, to celebrate International Women’s Day, the company released a range of soaps named after important women in history – Maya Angelo, Amelia Earhart, Rosa Parks, Anne Frank, Florence Nightingale, and Joanna Clarke. The company hopes to make these again in future.
And soaps are not all the company offers. Their product range has grown to include candles, linen sprays, bath salts and gift boxes.
Delaney’s Handcrafted products can be purchased at Mr. Arthur’s, Cayman Islands National Museum, Grand Cayman Marriott Beach Resort, Kimpton Spa and Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park. Bulk purchases can also be made.
“We love to help with special occasions with specialised products, for example for a birthday, wedding, shower favours, Mother’s Day, and International Women’s Day,” says Jessica.
The company looks to grow in strength in the future, with Jessica already having gained a diploma in organic skincare formulation and currently working on her organic hair care formulation diploma.
“With these diplomas, you can be on the lookout for new products,” she says.
This article originally appeared in Compass Media’s 2025 issue of CayWoman.
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