Why Doesn’t Sunday Self Feel Like What I Buy at Target?

Small-batch body care, made with texture and experience in mind.

If you’ve ever picked up a Sunday Self product at a market and thought, “This doesn’t feel exactly like the scrub I buy at a major retailer,” you’re absolutely right. It isn’t supposed to.

One of the interesting things about selling handcrafted products in person is hearing the comparisons people naturally make. A sugar scrub gets compared to Tree Hut. A candle gets compared to Bath & Body Works. A bar of soap gets compared to whatever is sitting on the shelf at a big-box store.

And honestly? I get it.

Those are the products people already know. They’re familiar. They create a reference point for what a scrub, candle, body cream, or soap is “supposed” to feel or smell like. But Sunday Self was never created to duplicate something you can already grab during a Target run.

Small Batch Is a Different Experience

Sunday Self products are made in much smaller quantities than the products lining the shelves of major retailers. That means I’m not trying to make thousands of identical jars that need to move through a massive manufacturing, distribution, and retail system. I’m creating products in small batches, tweaking formulas when needed, testing things myself, and deciding what I want the Sunday Self experience to feel like. Sometimes that means a sugar scrub may be firmer than one you’re used to.

Handcrafted texture won't always look or feel like something mass-produced.

Sometimes a handmade soap may look slightly different from the bar beside it.

Sometimes a candle fragrance may be softer, moodier, warmer, or more layered than the giant scent explosion you associate with a national candle chain.

Different doesn’t automatically mean better. It doesn’t mean worse either. It means different products are being created for different experiences.

I Don’t Want Sunday Self to Feel Like Everybody Else

I recently had someone compare one of my sugar scrubs to Tree Hut. My first thought wasn’t, Oh no, I need to make mine feel more like Tree Hut. It was actually the opposite. Because if Sunday Self products looked, smelled, felt, and performed exactly like something you could already buy from a huge national brand, what would be the point?

I want our products to have their own personality.

I like a substantial sugar scrub. I love rich body creams. I like candles that make a room feel warm and inviting rather than simply smelling “strong.” I love creating scent combinations and product names that feel like little moods: Soft Reset. Quiet Luxury. Warm Intentions. Between the Lines.

Sunday Self is supposed to feel like Sunday Self.

Handmade Also Means Human

Turmeric + Charcoal soap: Handmade means each batch can have its own little variations.

There’s something else I love about small-batch products: there is an actual person behind them.

Hi. It’s me. 😂

I’m the person pouring the candle, filling the jar, applying the label, testing the formula, taking the product photo, packing the market bins, building the display and then standing behind the table talking to you about what I made.

That human element means there may occasionally be subtle differences from batch to batch. Handmade soap especially can have little variations in color, design, or appearance. To me, that’s part of the charm. You’re not picking something off an assembly line. You’re taking home something that was actually made by somebody.

There’s Room for Both

This also isn’t a declaration of war against Target, Tree Hut, Bath & Body Works, or anybody else. Trust me, I shop at plenty of big stores too. Mass-produced products serve a purpose. They’re convenient, widely available, familiar, and often priced in ways that are possible because of the enormous scale at which they’re produced. Handcrafted products offer something different.

There’s room for both.

The question isn’t necessarily, “Which one is better?” Sometimes the better question is simply, “What kind of experience do I want?” And if what you want is something made in smaller batches, with a little personality, a little intention, and an actual human being obsessing over whether the label is crooked before it ever reaches you...

Well, that’s where Sunday Self comes in. Because handmade was never supposed to feel mass-produced. And we’re perfectly okay with that. 🖤

Make EVERY day a little more Sunday. 🤎