ShawneeDispatch.com

Since her youth, Marci Handley has enjoyed experimenting.

"I had a chemistry set when I was a kid, and I was always mixing things together and making a mess," she said.

So when a friend was in need of guest favors for a baby shower several years ago, Handley decided to combine one of her favorite hobbies with another interest - bath products. Now, what began as party favors has turned into a business, as Handley has launched her own line of bath products, Makes Some Scents.

Handley said she's always been something of a bath connoisseur.

"I'm a big take-a-bath person, and I have used a lot of other people's things," she said. "I've tried to incorporate the best of the best in what I make."

The former English teacher started out with bath salts, doing research online to find the best ingredients. Conscious of those with sensitive skin, she decided to make them hypo-allergenic, without any harsh sulfates or preservatives. The resulting products were a hit.

"Every time I would give them for favors at baby showers, people would just go nuts and say 'You should sell these,'" Handley said.

But Handley wasn't sold on making a business out of her hobby until she gave a gift of bath salts to her hairdresser at the Mane Images salon, 12207 Johnson Drive. The hairdresser loved them so much, she asked Handley if she could sell them in her shop.

Now a stay-at-home mom, Handley said the idea of earning some extra money was appealing.

"I also wanted to create quality products that weren't over-the-top expensive," she said. "You go to a department store for these things and think 'Wow, there must be some sort of magical elixir in here that makes it worth the money.'"

So Handley has expanded to bath oils, which she calls "syrups," and body scrubs, in more than 60 scents. All of her products are available online at makessomescents.com in addition to being for sale at the hair salon.

She also created a line of products called "Naturally Naked," using only pure essential oils and no colorants. In all of her products, Handley said she picks scents that she'd like to use herself, and she enjoys coming up with fun names for each. Though most of her products appeal to women, she created scents for children and men, as well.

Handley said though the business is new, she's spent a lot of time testing the products, and she is constantly experimenting. Her goal is to expand locations where her products are sold, but doesn't want her products to become too pricey.

"I'd love to take it as far as I can," she said. "But I'm real cognizant of where our economy is right now, and people need fuel more than bath salts. That's very important to me, keeping them high-quality, but affordable."