Soap Queen

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Cosmetic Hearing Streamed Live on Tuesday

Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

The Subcommittee on Health has scheduled a hearing on Tuesday, March 27, 2012, at 10:15 a.m. in room 2322 of the Rayburn House Office Building. The title of the hearing is “Examining the Current State of Cosmetics.” A full witness list has yet to be announced. This hearing has been referred to as a “pre-bill” hearing. You will be able to watch the hearing live here on Tuesday at 10:15 EST.

There will be a link that shows up in the ‘gray’ area that says “Watch Hearing Live” and you’ll be able to follow along and see what the expert witnesses and testimony says about our industry.

Bramble Berry is submitting written testimony for the hearing. Debbie May of WholesaleSuppliesPlus will be testifying, live, in front of the committee. Several other industry leaders and small businesses have also been invited to submit written testimony. It is our hope that the message of small business and our role in job creation and designing safe products is clearly communicated.

 

 

For the Love of Coffee (Butter)

Filed Under: Cold Process Soap

There are so many unique and interesting ingredients hitting beauty products all over the market. We’ve moved way beyond just Shea Butter and Cocoa Butter. If you haven’t checked out our butters lately, take a gander; you’ll be surprised at how many we’ve grown to. Coffee Butter is just one of those fun and unique ingredients that we’re intrigued with. It’s luxurious, rich and it feels like it can wake you up on one whiff! Just the smell alone makes me smile. It’s perfect for a mocha lip balm, lotion, body butter or cold process soap recipe.

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Recipe for Coffee Butter Cold Process Soap: 

10 oz coconut oil

10 oz palm oil

12 oz olive oil

4 oz coffee butter

12 oz water

5.1 oz lye for a three pound batch

 

Silicone Loaf Mold

 

Cappuccino Mica

Copper Sparkle Mica

Titanium Dioxide

First Time Making Cold Process Soap?

I strongly suggest getting a couple of basic recipes under your belt before diving into this advanced recipe. There are serious safety considerations (gloves, goggles, no children or pets etc...) to take into account before you get your soaping groove on. Check out Soap Queen TV on Cold Process if you want to get started! It’s a 4 part series that will take you through the basics (and be sure to watch the episode on Lye Safety). If you’re a book worm, Bramble Berry also has some helpful reading on the cold process technique. Check out our E-Book on Cold Process.

This batch was split into three (uneven) layers. The bottom layer (the largest) is uncolored soap batter. The middle(ish) lighter (small)  layer has a pinch of titanium dioxide and the top brown (small) layer is colored with the coffee grounds and Cappuccino Mica. Finally, the last layer is topped off with Copper Sparkle Mica. There is no fragrance oil added to the soap so you’ll get natural and subtle coffee scent with a light exfoliant from the coffee grounds in the top layer. If you want more “umph” to your scent, you can do Turkish Mocha in that top brown layer to help boost up your batch (keep it out of the light layers or else those light layers won’t stay light). Let us know if you’ve ever experimented with coffee soap! There are so many different ways that you can create a coffee soap recipe.

Aloha, Aloha Soap Kit

Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

Today is the first day of Spring. Let’s all stand up and give Spring a big round of applause! In honor of the seasonal change, Washington has decided to give us more of the same liquid sunshine. But in the office, we’re honoring Spring by reintroducing the Aloha Soap Kit from Bramble Berry. The kit comes with a simple Plumeria soap mold and two colorants that will give you a wide range of coloring options. You’ll also receive Tropical Vacation and Island Coconut Fragrance Oils which will sweep you off your feet into a tropical day dream. This beginner kit comes with everything you need to make 2 pounds of handmade soap! Get creative. Have fun and welcome Spring!

[Read more…]

S.O.A.P. Winners!

Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

I know you’ve all been dying to know the winners for our latest S.O.A.P. fragrance testing round – especially the panel themselves! This was our fifth group of testers and we love hearing and seeing the experimentation and the opinions. It’s so great getting your feedback, we only wish we could have more of you! Fragrances go through a rigorous testing process at Bramble Berry before they even make it to the S.O.A.P. panel. For every fragrance the soap panel tests, we’ve personally tested a minimum of 50+ to get that one winner that heads to the final rounds. If you’re interested in that process, here’s a previous post about our testing process and our go-to testing recipe. If you missed the S.O.A.P. mash up blog post, it’s here. And, enough stalling… new fragrance announcement below!

This was a difficult round. The group really didn’t unanimously agree on any particular fragrance, but we think the 3 that ended up winning will really appeal to many of you. And, one of the Panel fragrances will be introduced in a special project kit designed by SoapyLove in the near future. A 4 out of 10 fragrance hit rate isn’t bad! [Read more…]

Happy Birthday Chris

Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

We just threw a family surprise (age redacted) birthday party for Chris. He hates surprise parties but since we’re family, we figured he wouldn’t mind us breaking his rule about not surprising him. We were so happy that everyone made it. In the photo below is Kelly ‘Grandma’ Renoud and Aunt Anamarie (no really, her name is Anamarie and was before I showed up in the family) showing Jamisen his new obsession, er, toy. I know right? How in the world does Jamisen rate presents for Chris’s birthday? It’s Grandparent prerogative. And for the record I love it.
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The toy is awesome (!). It is *best* nesting toy and Jamisen is fully entranced with it. He’s using it as a Hide’n’Seek game (and getting pretty good) but he’ll eventually figure out how to do the nesting thing. Jamisen was puzzled by the beard Grandpa Winston was sporting for part of the day but he warmed up and immediately reverted to his normal behavior, playing “Stick Everything In The Mouth” game. [Read more…]

Honeycomb Melt and Pour

Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

Kat from Bramble  Berry’s retail store, Otion, was inspired to make this honeycomb soap technique using bubble wrap. Using bubble wrap has long been a staple in the cold process soapmaking world but in melt and pour, it’s just catching on. This soap is earthy, eye-catching, easy and a great way to reuse your packaging! This project can be made by the most novice of soap makers and all you have to do is line your mold with bubble wrap to get this cool effect. Be sure to check out Otion’s blog for more creative, soaping inspiration! 

March 2012 Bath Bomb Swap Line Up (updated daily!)

Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Here is the official Master List of Swappers for our March 2012, first ever Bath Bomb swap. We will keep this list updated with the fragrances being used and we will also note when we’ve received your soap.

What’s a bath bomb swap you ask? Basically, you send us 12 handmade bath bombs and we send you 12 different bath bombs back. We don’t charge anything but postage to and from for this fun community event. Read about all the details, including size and date deadlines, here.

Interested in signing up? Just email us with what Bramble Berry fragrance or essential oil you are going to use (check the list below to make sure no one else has claimed your scent). [Read more…]

Driven by Data

Filed Under: Business Musings

Quick! What were your top three best sellers for last year?

graphs and charts

When the names of the products sprang to your mind, where did you get this information? Was it a gut “This product is SUPER popular! I’m always selling it and I can’t keep it in stock!” or was it from hard data and metrics? If it wasn’t from hard data and metrics, you could be leaving money on the table. A business best practice that a wise mentor once shared with me is that he makes all decisions on sales and production based on the previous year’s sales.  He doesn’t base decisions on his gut. He doesn’t make decisions based on what he likes. Rather, he uses data to figure out what the customer wants and likes. [Read more…]

Bramble Berry’s Mobile Site

Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

We’ve designed a mobile site for your soap supply ordering convenience (say that five times fast – wowza). Our creative and supportive customers can now place orders at www.brambleberry.com with your smart phone, on the road AND with the wind in your hair. I would prefer to order supplies snuggled up on the couch with my iPad. Let’s just say you have options now! Check out screen shots below if you haven’t see the mobile site yet.

Okay. Okay. Twist my arm. I’ll tell you about my favorite features of the new mobile phenomenon…

Favorite Feature #1: We’ve included the “Buy it Now” button so you can put the project ingredients featured on the homepage right into your shopping cart. [Read more…]

Vertical Sandalwood Vanilla Soap, With a Twist!

Filed Under: Cold Process Soap

You might already know this, but vanilla content in some fragrance oils can really cause discoloration. Have you ever used that fact to your advantage in the design of your soap? I wanted to demonstrate how to incorporate the discoloration and wind up with a really neat bar of soap! And I used a super fun technique that I’m excited to share with you.

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Let’s Swap Some Bath Bombs!

Filed Under: Bath Fizzies

Who’s ready for a swap? We had a great suggestion on our Facebook page to try swapping bath bombs. This is our first bath bomb swap that we’ve ever done and we’re super pumped about it! If you’re interested (and I hope many of you are) check out the details below.

Bath Bomb Swap Details!

Who can participate? Anyone! You do not have to be a professional soapmaker or vastly experienced. Just do the best you can. International soapmakers are welcome, too. The shipping charges will be a little more than for the domestic swappers, but we are happy to ship swap boxes anywhere. In the past we’ve had participants from France, Austria, and more! [Read more…]

Talk It Out Tuesday: Melt and Pour Soap

Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

Welcome to Talk It Out Tuesday!! Today, we’re going to explore some frequently asked questions regarding melt and pour. Most of these questions are specific to the melt and pour bases that Bramble Berry carries, but some are universal. Check out these answers to the most common questions we get about melt and pour soap making. And, feel free to ask your questions below – we will get to them in a future Talk It Out Tuesday.

What’s the difference between your bulk 25 pound bases and the Bramble Berry Bases?

Melt and pour soap bases from Bramble Berry

Our Bramble Berry bases, often referred to as our “house” or “premium” bases, are our most natural melt and pour bases.  They come in many varieties with natural additives such as real goat milk, shea butter or honey. They have a rich lather, and are high in kosher vegetable glycerin. We sell these in 1, 10, and 50 pound quantities, and offer an additional 25 pound size called “premium bases” in white, clear and goat milk. These bases have a crafting point of around 125 for embeds.

The other soap bases we offer are referred to as our “Bulk” bases.  These bulk bases come in 25 pound blocks only, and are available in white, clear, and goat milk. The main differences between the bulk bases and the house bases are ingredients and cost; the bulk bases contain a synthetic lathering agent (sodium lauryl sulfate or SLS) to create a rich creamy lather, and are at a more economic price point than our house bases. This base has a crafting point of around 135 for embeds.

 Are the ingredients in your Bramble Berry melt and pour soap bases all natural? [Read more…]