Lookin' good: Zoe Taran, 11, has developed her own line of beauty products Lookin' good: Zoe Taran, 11, has developed her own line of beauty products (December 17, 2003)

By Jane Knoerle
Almanac Staff Writer

Look out Estee Lauder. Your future competition could very well be Zoe Taran of Portola Valley, who at age 11 is producing her own line of soaps, lip balms and candles.

Zoe had a trunk showing of her products November 15 at a Nordstrom children's fashion show. She was introduced to the audience as the show's youngest designer. Her products are also available at the Eyes on You beauty salon, 433 California Ave. in Palo Alto.

A book on beauty for preteens, which she received on her 11th birthday, first interested Zoe in making facial masks from such products as oatmeal, avocado and facial clay. She then began searching out information on other beauty products, finding a book at Borders on making soaps. "The first soaps I made were scented with rose and lavender and were kind of boring," says Zoe.

More books and more research on the Internet followed, and today from her library of 30 books and her own creativity, she has produced a luscious line of glycerin soaps, as well as lip balm and candles.

There were a few mishaps on the way. One early attempt at making tiny flower soaps, scented with citrus, failed when the soaps melted after being left on the dryer. Now she has her formulas down pat.

Glycerin soaps are especially appealing for teens and pre-teens as they are hypo-allergenic for sensitive skin and use natural ingredients. Since they contain no animal oils, the soap rinses clean and leaves no sticky ring in the tub. They are translucent and take to color well.

Zoe is an alchemist with the kitchen as her laboratory. She stirs the melted glycerin on the stove in a double boiler, adding a few drops of color and scent from many boxes containing glass vials.

The soaps are appealing to both kids and adults. There are bright red pouting lips scented with strawberry, a bar of sparkly pink that spells out princess, a peach-scented peach-color kitten, bright yellow ducks smelling of pink grapefruit, and some strange green feet "that guys like."

Making glycerin soaps is much easier than making candles, says Zoe. While glycerin rinses out of pans easily, candle wax does not. She loves candles, however. "I have about 15 in my room," she says. Her aromatherapy candles are scented with cinnamon, lavender and sweet orange.

Zoe's products are attractively packaged. The soaps come in cellophane bags with a smart label. The kitten or princess bar sells for $5; the smaller yellow ducky or blue car is $3.50. She also has her own business cards, printed "Zoe: Beauty products with love."

With Zoe, making soaps, candles and lip balm is more than a rainy day pastime; it's a business. She keeps careful and complete records on her computer, and is always on the lookout for new ideas and ways to improve her products.

"Every time we go into a store, she heads for the beauty section," says her mother, Randy Taran. Her favorite high-end products are those by Laura Mercier. She also likes many of the items sold at The Body Shop.

Zoe, who is a sixth-grader at Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School in Palo Alto, says her favorite pastimes are taking long baths, using different beauty products, shopping, soccer and hiking.

She lives in Portola Valley with her parents, Randy and David Taran, and brother, Benjie.

Of future plans, she says: "I'd love to make this my business. I'd like to make all kinds of beauty products and also design clothes."

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