‘Soap is my love’
Ukrainian woman finds magic in life by making soap in Corner Brook
Liubov Brych knew when she came to Canada that she wanted to continue with the small soapmaking business she had started while living in Hungary.
As she adapts to her new life and learns a new language, the Ukrainian woman has turned her goal into reality, making and selling soap through her small business, the Ukrainian Soap Workshop.
LEAVING HOME
Brych and her husband, Pavlo Brych, came to Canada in March 2023 in search of a new life as they looked to leave behind life in their war-torn homeland. Today marks the two-year mark of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.
Talking about the Ukrainian war is difficult, she told Saltwire through a translation app. She said the war in Ukraine started a long time ago and it changed everything, forcing many Ukrainians to leave their homes.
“Without belongings. Without anything,” she said.
The economy was bad, and she and her husband decided to go abroad to work and find stability.
They settled in Hungary, which was close to home, and stayed there for five years before coming to Canada.
Brych has degrees in political science and journalism, but in Ukraine she worked in real estate and had a small agency preparing documents for visa applications. She used those skills in Hungary and helped people prepare documents for admission into Poland, the Czech Republic and Belgium.
NEW LIFE
Going to Canada had been a dream of hers since childhood, but it is sad that it took the war for that dream to come true, Brych said.
“It was a very difficult decision, but I knew that we would be able to live peacefully here and help our relatives who remain in Ukraine. Because life in Ukraine is very difficult,” she said.
Her parents are dead, but she left a brother and sister and their families behind. Her husband’s mother is still alive, and he has many relatives.
Their kindness doesn’t stop with helping family, as Brych said they also donate what they can to other refugees and people still living in Ukraine.
COMING TO CORNER BROOK
The Brychs spent two months in St. John’s before going to the west coast and settling in Corner Brook.
They chose Corner Brook because of the natural surroundings, the mountains and the sea.
“It is very beautiful,” she said, adding it’s much like the small village that her parents had lived in.
Brych quickly found work at the Glynmill Inn in housekeeping and worked there for four months. She has been working as a baker at the Pretzelmaker in the Corner Brook Plaza for six months.
Brych said she was most surprised by the calmness of Corner Brook and its people.
“Everyone is very friendly, and everything is very, very stable.”
Learning English has been the biggest challenge and Brych said she is learning it on the spot by communicating with people.
“It is not difficult, but it is a little inconvenient because I would like to communicate with people and tell many things," she said.
"I have a higher education and I could share my experience and learn new experiences. Mainly the problem of not knowing the language, it blocks this communication."
SOAPMAKING
Making her soap is one way she can form connections and communicate with people.
She started making soap as a hobby in Hungary.
“I had a lot of free time and I wanted to do something useful. I’m not a hairdresser. I’m not a manicurist. And I decided to find something for myself that would be interesting to me," Brych said.
At first, she made her soap for friends. Later, others started to buy them and liked her products. “And it became my small business,” she said.
"I came to Canada with the specific goal of practising soapmaking here. Soap is my love.”
She has gotten some help from the Association for New Canadians in setting up her small home business, which she calls a family business because her husband helps with the work.
“I very often come home from work tired and exhausted, but I go into my little workshop, and it lets me go. It is not difficult for me to do it after work because it brings me great pleasure,” she said.
'SOME KIND OF MAGIC'
“This is an extremely interesting procedure," Brych explained.
"It’s like some kind of magic when you mix different ingredients and, in the end, you get a nice-smelling natural soap.”
Brych creates her own recipes using an international soap calculator. She uses a lot of natural ingredients in her soaps –– things like rice, honey, oatmeal, seaweed and Moroccan clay.
“I also add interesting components,” she said, adding that some of her soaps contain Mate tea.
She makes soaps that are good for people with allergies and makes special soaps for different occasions.
HOW TO GET THEM
Brych has been selling her soap through her Ukrainian Soap Workshop Facebook page and at Island Treasures and the Glynmill Inn.
She plans to debut her new collection of soaps today at the Corner Brook Winter Carnival multicultural food and craft fair at the Royal Canadian Legion from 2-6 p.m.
Besides her soap, she also makes bracelets from natural stone and various pendants.
Brych says she and her husband plan to stay in Corner Brook because they feel comfortable and safe there. She’s busy working full time, so the soap-making business will remain a small home business for now, she said.