Soap Queen

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Archives for January 2013

How to Make Nail Polish Video

Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials

Our Nail Polish base has been such a popular item at Bramble Berry but it can be a little tricky to use. So I made this Soap Queen Short video to show how easy it is to make your own custom nail polish. I’m excited to point out that we now have mini nail polish bottles at Bramble Berry so you can create a full spectrum of color options from one little 4 oz can of base!

To make the nail polish in this video you will need:

Click Here to add everything you need to make this project to your Bramble Berry shopping cart.

Embedded Heart Melt and Pour Tutorial

Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

As we head full swing into February, love is in the air. Here’s an adorable melt and pour project that is great for practicing layers and embedding. I used a unique trick to get these heart cut-outs to sit up on their sides. Read on and try not to fall in love with this soap.

Embedded Hearts

Recipe:

55 oz. Clear Melt and Pour Soap Base

 Shimmer Yellow Color Block

 Perfect Orange Color Block

 Super Pearly White Color Block

 Red Blue Mica

 Mango Peach Salsa Fragrance Oil

 Heart Shaped Soap Cutter

 Glossy Silicone Square Tray Mold

Silicone Loaf Mold

 

  Mini-Scoop

 Click here to add everything you need for this project to your Bramble Berry shopping cart! [Read more…]

#Photography Winners

Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

A couple of weeks ago we introduced the first Make It Monday of 2013 and we couldn’t believe the response we had to it. Over 400 photos were entered into the contest and we were all bowled away by the response! To see all of the photos entered into this contest, check out our Facebook Album:  Make it Monday: #Photography. This post of winners going to be a little different then other Make It Mondays. Because of the number of entries (did I mention it was over 400??!!) I knew it was going to be tough to pick just a few photos to highlight. So we picked some of our faves in five different categories: lighting, closeup, props, backdrop and soap as art. Even then, it was hard to choose. =) Are you ready for the winners? Drum roll please… [Read more…]

Whoomp! Here It Is!

Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Some of you may have already noticed that we’ve recently upgraded our website. Thank you again for your patience while we’ve been ironing out the kinks. There are some new and exciting changes. You should find both searching and ordering easier than ever (woot! woot!).

Here are some notable updates to the overall website:

  • Current warehouse turnaround times are now listed and updated daily on the top of every page so you know when your order will ship.
  • A more refined search engine allows search on both full and partial words. Can’t remember how to spell Cyclomethicone in its entirety? No worries! The new search engine can pick up the term simply by typing “cyclo”.

Homepage [Read more…]

Valentine’s Day Mashup

Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials

Valentine’s Day is just right around the corner (19 days if you are counting!), and I know many of you are going to make some special soapy projects for the wonderful people in your life. From Cold Process and Melt and Pour soaps to Lipstick, Lip Balms, and Massage Candles, here’s a convenient mashup of ideas for making those fun and soapy Valentines.

Valentine's Day Mashup

Ombre Heart Soaps, Chocolate Lip Balms with Cocoa Powder, Lipstick Recipes, Rose Melt and Pour Soaps, Valentine Soap Wraps, MP Loves CP [Read more…]

Beauty in Haiti

Filed Under: Business Musings

Guest blog by Amanda Griffith, from the Lovin’ Soap Blog, author of the Lovin’ Soap E-Zine series (check out Volume 1, Volume 2 and Volume 3) and creator of the Pourable Silicone Kit + e-book. She has also authored many popular blog tutorials like the Buttermilk Bastille Baby Bar and the biz-related post The Importance of Keeping Customers. One of the kits she created, Sunset Over Water is here. -Anne-Marie

On January 10th, Marla Bosworth and I traveled to Haiti to teach a group of women how to make soap. These women live in a government-owned tent camp with no electricity and no running water. They have very little to their names, but they had the desire to learn to make soap. They hope that by making and selling soap – and other beauty products – they can improve their lives one step at a time and eventually move out of the camp into their own place.

Beauty In Haiti

The women range in age from 18 to 82 years old. They met after the earthquake and decided to stick together and create a community – that they could be stronger as a supportive group for one another. They began meeting under a tree in the tent camp to support and encourage each other with hope and possibility. They named their group OFEDA (Organisation des Femmes Devouees en Action). [Read more…]

Fruit and Veggie Wash Soap

Filed Under: Cold Process Soap

I’m a huge fan of fruits and veggies of all types! From green smoothies to kale salads, I rarely meet produce that I don’t like. And of course, for me using soap to clean my veggies goes together like…peas and carrots (pun intended!). You’ve probably already noticed that many of your soap making oils are also common oils used in food preparation, and many can be found in your kitchen. Common fixed oils like Coconut, Palm, and of course Olive Oil are food-grade and often used in cooking. Sodium Hydroxide is even used in food preparation. True story! Pretzels, bagels, and lutefisk all have preparation methods involving lye.  Sodium Lactate is also a food additive (FDA listing here). That being said, fixed oils from Bramble Berry aren’t meant for use in your food, because our warehouse isn’t certified for food storage and handling practices. But for a wash-off product like this fruit and veggie wash, the vegetable oils will do just fine!

Fruit and Veggie Wash Soap [Read more…]

A(nother) Big Announcement!

Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

We’ve been full of big news lately, from finding out that we’re having a baby girl (eek!) to launching this year’s Bramble Berry Athletic Club, there’s been a lot of happy hustle and bustle and I couldn’t be more excited. But before you go thinking that’s all I’ve been busy with, there’s another big announcement…a secret I’ve been keeping for almost a year now:

I’m writing a book!!(!!!!!!!!!)

Soap Crafting Cover

I’ve been working with the fabulous team at Storey Publishing on my new print book, Soap Crafting. It has been an amazing, mind-blowing, grueling, exciting experience so far (really, a little bit of everything). The book contains 31 Soap Queen designed and tested Cold Process soap recipes that I hope will knock your socks off. The book shows how to infuse natural colorants, how to dilute and work with LabColors, incorporate fun additives and even includes a glossary of soapmaking terms. Plus, for beginners, there is a ton of introductory information about making Cold Process soap, a basic beginner recipe AND a breakdown of common soap making oils. Whew!

The book is due to come out in August (three months after Bramble Girl is due to arrive if you’re keeping track!), which feels like such. a. long. time. But as the book comes together, I’ll be giving regular updates on its progress. [Read more…]

Bramble Berry Athletic Club: Bonnie Garrity

Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Here’s another one of our BBAC 2012 athletes! Bramble Berry is committed to donating a portion of our profits to charity (and has been ever since we opened our doors!). BBAC is all about bringing YOU in on our charitable contributions. Today’s interview is with one of our star athletes from last year’s team, Bonnie Garrity, owner of Good Earth Spa. You can catch Bonnie’s BBAC teammate Andrea Edgar’s feature here. I hop you feel totally inspired after reading (I know I do!). There’s still plenty of time to apply to be a part of BBAC 2013! Check out the details here.

Marathon Medal [Read more…]

Why a Newsletter is a Must

Filed Under: Business Musings

Newsletters aren’t new. They’ve been around ever since the postal service was first created. Donna Maria from Indie Business Network (a trade organization for the handcrafted soap and cosmetic industry) has blogged about the importance of having a newsletter (as have many smarter business people than I). But, this subject just came up in a phone call I was having with a customer who was trying to determine what to best spend her limited marketing time on. After all, there are SO many social media outlets. This is what I suggested for her limited time allocation – by priority. And, if she can only get to 1 or 2 … just do the two most important:

(1) Blog

(2) Newsletter

(3) Facebook

(4) Pinterest

(5) Tumblr

(6) Twitter

There’s a method to my madness putting an old school, boring newsletter in my top two content marketing (aka: communication) strategy and this post will cover newsletters – why they are important, some best practices and how a newsletter is your strong foundation for a good content marketing strategy.

Why a Newsletter is a mus [Read more…]

Realize Beauty Interview

Filed Under: Business Musings

I’m always on the hunt for new ideas and science to make Bramble Berry’s products even better.  A couple of months ago I ran across this incredible blog, Realize Beauty. Amanda over at Realize Beauty does formulating for products, brand positioning and market development, raw material evaluation, interactive communication, technical writing, market profiling and more! Her blog focuses on personable science journalism and educates readers about cosmetics. I knew I had to introuce you to this great resource. Put her blog on your blog reader so you can keep up with her thoughtful way of explaining consumer cosmetic science. -Anne-Marie

[Read more…]