WITH fanciful flavours like Turkish Delight and Bay Rum, Joanne Scanlon's soaps are almost good enough to eat.

The Yangan local said she began the craft about eight years ago and had more recently begun creating decorative, pastry-inspired products.

"I first started after visiting a specialty soap shop in Stanthorpe about 10 years ago and thought I'd give it a go," Mrs Scanlon said.

"At the moment it's just a hobby as a sort of creative outlet, but selling at markets helps cover the cost of making them.

"Over the years I've just taught myself through trial and error, and I started selling at markets again in September."

Mrs Scanlon said she was inspired to try her hand at crafting the cake soaps after watching YouTube tutorials.

"The cake slice soaps are quite popular but they are fairly labour-intensive," she said.

"They're all original designs that I've handpiped and decorated, so they'd take about three hours to do compared to the half hour I'd spend on a standard soap."

Mrs Scanlon's products are all cold-processed soaps using coconut, olive or rice bran oil, and occasionally cocoa and shea butter, with essential oils to add fragrance and colour.

She said that unlike commercial soaps, handmade soaps were often more moisturising.

"Commercial soaps extract the moisturising glycerin out to sell as a byproduct, so handmade soaps are usually gentler," Mrs Scanlon said.

"I've done well at the markets - the Turkish Delight and Blueberry Cheesecake flavours are especially popular."

Look out for Joanne at markets around the Southern Downs.