Anne-Marie Faiola, Author at Soap Queen

Frozen Fragrance Oils

February 3, 2010 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

We’ve had numerous customer questions regarding fragrances ‘freezing’ in transit. So I thought others might be interested in the “fix” as well. Below is a fragrance oil (Hello Sweet Thangto be exact) that we left outside in the cold overnight. This is what the fragrance looked like after a night in the cold. Some of the fragrance components have cooled off enough to harden up and sink to the bottom of the mixture. But have no fear, the fragrance oil can be brought back to life using our simple heating trick.

Before…

Hot Water Bath: Bring water to a boil on the stove, turn the heat off and submerge the fragrance oil bottle (with cap off) in the hot water. This can take up to an hour for the fragrance to get back to normal so be patient! Re-cap and give the fragrance a good shake and store in a comfortable room temperature and your fragrance should be a-okay.

After…

Win Free Soap App for iPhone/iTouch

February 2, 2010 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

We have two lucky codes for two lucky winners for a free full-service version of the iPhone SoapApplication – it works on the iPhone and iTouch. The Soap App calculates your lye and water for your recipes and allows you to change the size of your recipe with just two easy clicks. Soap App works in grams and ounces. Tutorials on using the Soap App are here and here.

Ways to win a code for the FREE Soapmaking App:

1. Post a comment on this blog post and tell me what’s in your Soap Pot this week.

2. Tweet a link to any blog post from 2010 using the following phrase:

“I’m reading the @brambleberry Soap Queen blog! “

That’s it; it’s easy! Winner will be chosen next Monday!

Seek to Serve

February 2, 2010 Filed Under: Business Musings

I listened to a great audio CD on the way to work this morning – an interview with Wayne Dyer by the publisher of Success Magazine. Aside: if you don’t subscribe to Success Magazine and you’re a small business owner, you should. It’s chock full of business advice, interviews with inspirational leaders and practical day-to-day advice on how to stay positive, focused and goal-oriented in good times and bad.

In the interview, Mr. Dyer (author of ‘Excuses Begone’ and other self-help or inspirational books) exhorted his listeners to ask what you can do for others – rather than constantly looking around to see what others can do for you. In the ‘like begets like‘ way of thinking, Mr. Dyer said that if you’re constantly asking the universe to give you more, more, more, the universe looks at you and asks for more, more, more.

In business, this attitude doesn’t need to be about giving everything away. Rather, it’s just a simple mind shift of “How will this help my customer?” when you’re adding new products, asking “How can this help my community?” when you’re deciding where to go to lunch or asking “How can this benefit my staff?” when thinking of employee policy changes.

Try it when you’re making decisions today. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the difference this subtle shift in perspective makes.

Loans that Change Lives

February 1, 2010 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Being socially responsible is one of Bramble Berry’s core values. That means a lot of things (from recycling, to paying extra for green energy, to being a ‘water wise’ workplace), including donating time and money. To that end, since our inception in 1998, we’ve always donated a portion of our profits every year to worthy non profits.

Last year, we started doing some micro-loans as well as straight donations through a lending program called Kiva whose mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty. Kiva is an awesome organization that allows you to loan money to low income micro-entrepreneurs. Why? To help them make great strides towards economic independence as they go down the path to self-employment. And another great thing? You’ll have your money back with in 6-12 months to either re-fund a new loan or take it out to help fund your own needs.

One of our recent loans went to Cecilia, a soapmaker from Ghana who uses the money to purchase raw materials and processing equipment. She lives with her husband and seven children in the outskirts of their town. She is a hard working mother and wants to give her children a quality education. I am so happy that my donation could potentially help her achieve that goal.

Another loan went to a young entrepreneur, Kerlyn Echavarria, who sells perfumes and cosmetics door to door in the Dominican Replublic. She hopes to one day expand into other cosmetic areas like facial creams, lipstick and makeup. Kerlyn is a single mother raising her two-year-old daughter. Kerlyn’s business is successful so far, she is just constrained by how much she can purchase at one time. This loan will help Kerlyn buy more perfume and other cosmetics to expand her business.

Do you want to lend money to help someone get started? Lend here. You won’t regret it!

In other non-profit news…

“A Lather Goes a Long Way: Soap Hope and The PLAN Fund Announce New Anti-Poverty Partnership”. Read the press release here. Soap Hope donates 100% of their net profits to funds that invest and make loans with women owned microbusinesses. Salah, from Soap Hope also has another company, MyObamaBar.com. Check out the old blog post here to see the “audacity of soap”. I’ve been chatting with Salah via email and she’s thrilled that her sales have grown 20% each month for the last 6 months thanks to the support of the soaping community! You guys rock!

The Great Eyelash Experiment

January 31, 2010 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

It’s a beautiful Sunday evening here in Bellingham, WA. I hope you’ve all had a fabulous weekend and got to relax a little bit today. I’ve spent the day with my fabulous husband and mother in law. And, I also found time to conduct a little eyelash experiment (and who better to share it with than my Soap Queen friends?).

Dear Diary,

Today is the first day on my quest for longer eyelashes. I just received my elongating eyelash kit in the mail from Talika. It’s a plant extract based gel that will “possibly” grow my lashes longer and thicker in just 28 days. Can you imagine? Well, I’m giving it a shot! See ya in 28 days with the results!

XXOO,
~Anne-Marie

PS – Federal Trade Commissioners who might be reading my diary, I paid full retail for the Talika eyelash growth set. It’s not a free sample.

What’s New at Bramble Berry?

January 30, 2010 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

We’ve got some new additions to the line up of products at Bramble Berry.

8 oz Bottles with Natural Pump Tops, Silver Spray Tops or White Disk Caps. Take your pick!

4 oz Jars
Perfect for lotions, balms and scrubs!

Stainless Steel Bath Bomb Mold
Makes a professional looking, mondo sized bath bomb!

Lip Smacking Sweet Flavor Oil
An oh so sweet addition to any lip balm recipe.

Soap Queen TV 2010 Season Begins!

January 28, 2010 Filed Under: Soaks & Scrubs

Soap Queen TV is back with a fun and unique project perfect for Valentine’s Day!

This year we are focusing on other types of projects and techniques including Cold Process Soapmaking, Lotions, Scrubs and so much more so stay tuned!

Soap Queen TV – Massage Candles from Soap Queen on Vimeo.

Massage candles are a wonderfully luxurious treat to make for yourself or that special someone. A massage candle is a blend of skin safe waxes, oils and essential oils that melt at a low temperature, perfect for a warm and soothing massage.

Ingredients

4 oz. Container Soy Wax

1 oz. Deodorized Cocoa Butter

4 oz. Avocado Oil

5 oz. Shea Butter

1/2 oz Ylang Ylang Essential Oil

1/2 oz Patchouli Essential Oil

4 six oz. Candle Tins

4 WU 250 Wicks

Buy everything you need with the click of a button!

From Camels to Cadbury

January 27, 2010 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

I’ve been back in the States going on 2 days now and am just getting back into the swing of things with jet lag and the fun accumulation of snail mail and work projects that built up while I was away.

We were very lucky and had a long layover in London so I went from Camels one night to Double Decker buses the next afternoon. It was surreal to go from sand to the pavement and hustle of London within one 24 hour period.

On our last day, we went to a farm out in the country side and rode camels, Arabian horses, hiked to the top of a hillside to watch the sunset and experienced traditional dancing, food & hookah smoking (Well, it was available. I’m a wimp and didn’t try it). For future reference, camels are really, really tall and when you’re in the air, you feel very high up. And, they’re not smooth at all to ride unless they’re running. When they are running, they’re easy to ride but when they are walking, it’s a core workout!

When we got back to our hotel (which overlooked the Red Sea), we were interested to see that there were blankets spread out all along the waterfront with small groups of people eating and hanging out in picnic-fashion. There were a lot of people out picnicing by the water, too. Imagine our surprise the next morning to find many of them still along the waterfront. The had stayed up all night! The photo from the top left is one of the picnic-groups leaving their area and walking away, presumably to go home and sleep.

And then it was off to London for 2 days. London was cold, drizzly and foggy but was steeped in history. We rode the Red Bus for the entire day on the first day, listening to the tour and marveling at the sights. In the evening, we went to go see the musical ‘Wicked’ (which we loved and highly highly recomend). On the second day, we went to the Tower of London and the Tate Modern. It was quite a juxtoposition – a tower that had been around since 1078 and then the Tate Modern, showcasing international modern and contemporary art. It was almost a 1000 year swing in time periods.

We were sad to leave the history-rich city of London but thrilled when we retuned home to Seattle to find that the weather in Washington state was warmer and more clear than in London (How is that possible? We typically have terrible weather in Washington state!).

I was delighted to see everyone at Bramble Berry and was especially thrilled that the 24-hour-turnaround goal had been kept for all of our orders that shipped while I was gone (yay!). A special thanks to Amber for doing such an incredible job with putting her spin on the blog and keeping everyone entertained with her screen printing and mad baking skills. She’s quite a whiz.

Look for a new SoapQueen.TV video tomorrow! Sign up to receive the latest video news at SoapQueen.TV if you want to be the very first to be notified. Also in Bramble Berry news, we sent out a newsletter yesterday. If you didn’t get it and you’re a subscriber, let me know. There was an exclusive recipe in it for subscribers.

Saudi trip to Aramco

January 25, 2010 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

I’m writing this from our long layover in London; I know it’s not as timely as it could be but I wanted you to share in the incredible, once-in-a-lifetime experience at the Saudi Arabia Aramco refinery. We head back to Seattle today and it’s not a minute too soon – I’m homesick!

We had a massive treat a couple days ago. We got out of the hotel by 5:30 a.m. to catch a private corporate jet (yep, that’s the plane in the top photo) to the Saudi Aramco oil fields. The Aramco team flew our entire Entrepreneur’s group across the country to tour their oil fields and learn more about their company.

According to the presentation, Saudi is facing a massive problem. My memory is a teensy bit fuzzy but the demographic information for Saudi’s future will be challenging for them: 70% of the population is supported by 30% of the population and within 10 (?) years, over 50% of the population will be under the age of 18 with no jobs in sight (since Saudi Arabia doesn’t export anything besides oil). Aramco used the opportunity encourage the entrepreneurs in the group to partner with them in their Innovation Zones. They import a lot of industrial products for their oil fields and would like to manufacture those products in-country (to help produce jobs for future generations).

The official line is the Saudi government partnered and purchased Aramco from their U.S. counterparts back in the ’70s. Some of the locals told me that they actually “appropriated” Aramco from a US based company back in the ‘70s for under market value. The truth probably lies someplace in the middle. Today, Aramco produces 1/10th of the world’s crude oil every single day. Their last plant cost multiple billions to build (memory is foggy but I think it was $2 billion) and they repaid it within four months. Saudi Aramco is thought to be (by far) the world’s most profitable company.

We were given a once in a lifetime opportunity to climb the sand dunes at Shaybah oil fields. We all kicked off our shoes and climbed the sand dunes and watched the sunset from these massive sand dunes. Climbing sand dunes is a lot of work (very, very physically taxing) but was so very worth it. It was breath taking and incredibly peaceful.

The Saudi Aramco company prides itself on being a “Little America” so they allow women to work with men and women can drive. When we got to our second destination of the day (three flights on the private jets – it wasn’t much of a hardship), the Aramco men greeting our plane INSISTED the women take off our abayas. Since we typically have understood that we will very much offend the locals and be under possibility of imprisonment if we are caught out in public
without our head coverings and abaya coverings, we were quite hesitant but the Saudi Aramco men wanted us to understand that they are ‘different’ at Saudi Aramco and welcomed us to wear our western-style garb. Even then, several of the women still left theirs on.

This permissive attitude only went so far however. When I asked, in a public Q & A session, if the women and children are allowed to live with the 700 worker men who work in this very very very remote section of Saudi, the man feigned puzzlement and said “Thank you for your comment.” Still having the mic, I said, “No, that’s a question. Are women and families allowed to stay with their husbands in your staff housing?”

He looked at me sideways, barked a short laugh, turned his back to me and said “No. No women. It’s very simple!” And when we were boarding the plane to go home, one of the women put her abaya on as she was cold and he said to her “Ah, you look much prettier in that.”

The trip to Aramco was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I am so thankful that we were given the opportunity. And, if I could only figure out how to manufacture one of the parts that the Aramco company needs, I would be one happy businesswoman. I wonder if I can convince them that they need a lot of handmade soap?

Saudi Arabia is Going Straight to My Hips…

January 22, 2010 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

Greetings from Saudi! It’s going exceedingly well, despite some surprising cultural norms around the way women dress and are treated (separate eating areas, separate meeting rooms etc). Being in Saudi has been a bit of a shock with all of the women in their burkas and abayas. It’s odd not to see women working in shops or driving. Women are still not allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia and up until a few months ago, they could not work in shops where men worked (‘mixing’ was illegal and now is just heavily frowned upon). That said, there are some incredible parts of the culture that are heart warming (emphasis on family is strong) and some surprising – like, they have Krispy Kremes here! It’s like an oasis in the desert to see American comfort food. In fact, we ate at a ‘South of the Border’ Mexican joint last night. That was hilarious. Saudi Arabia is a ‘dry’ country – no alcohol at ALL in the entire country yet look at the ‘chandelier’. It’s made out of empty beer bottles that they can’t drink here. And the coaster? Is it a ‘margarita’ if there is soley Lime Juice and a salt rim?

Food is another big part of the culture here. I’ve been eating a lot. It probably has to do with the no-waist abaya; there’s no waistband to remind me I’ve eaten too much. This is just a small fraction of the desserts that we had at one of our first functions here. Doesn’t it all look insanely good?

In our Hilton (a little liberal oasis), they have a small little non-head-scarf wearing area for the American women (though we do have to sit on our women’s section for all the educational classes behind one-way mirrors; we can see the men and the speaker but they can’t see us). My husband and I were able to meet some local dignitaries (as evidenced by their golden robes). My husband’s company does work in Saudi Arabia so it was great to strengthen his relationships in the country.

The head scarf is a strange thing for me to wear. I’ve always been an exceedingly opinionated, strong willed woman. To not have men look me in the eyes or take my order at restaurants is a new experience. My husband is always by my side on this trip as women traditionally are accompanied by a man. When we were in the hotel lobby the first day, I turned around and my husband lost me. With me turned around, I looked like every other woman in the lobby. He found me again, surprise, confusion and a whiff of panic in his eyes, “I thought I lost you. You can’t tell who you are from behind.”

Another difference here is that there are separate sections in restaurants for women & children and then one just for the men. My husband typically is the only man in the area. Many of the of the other men have left their women and children in the ‘family’ area and are seated by themselves in the ‘men only’ area. It’s just one of the interesting and different cultural norms that I am getting used to.

As if the schedules didn’t keep us busy enough, the internet is quite spotty and expensive in our room. I’ve been missing Facebook, Twitter and interacting with friends and customers on this blog and the Teach Soap forum. It’s yet another thing I took for granted in the States. I’ll try to post another update on Sunday. Until then, happy soaping! =)

On the Way to Saudi

January 16, 2010 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

Greetings from London’s Heathrow Airport where my husband and I have just toured the airport, via multiple buses, for the last three hours. The giant tour was unintentional. We have a 7 hour layover and had heard of a ‘Yotel’ – a short stay sleeping pod – in Terminal 4. We chased the rumor down, with the aid of the Yotel website and several kindly (but misinformed) airport employees, only to find that we had to leave passport control to get to the sleeping pods and that it might take up to 3 hours to get back to our gate. So, no Yotel for us.

We fly through the night tonight to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and arrive at 4 a.m. By that time, we will have flown through two different nights in two different time zones (Washington State night and London night). We are already flagging a bit but are still in high spirits. Though I am not wearing my abaya yet, I will be sporting the fashionable garb before I step off the plane in Jeddah.

I am looking forward to the learning and education that the Entrepreneur’s Organization has planned for us and hoping to be able to blog from my trip but if not, you’re in good hands with Amber who will be supervising and writing the blog while I am gone. As for me, I’ll have the sleepless-night-on-plane thing down pretty well by the time we land.

Valentine Cold Process Soap

January 14, 2010 Filed Under: Cold Process Soap

This advanced cold process recipe is for the patient soapmakers our there. But I promise your patience will be rewarded with a beautiful and detailed bar of handmade soap. This recipe is divided into 3 stages and is actually a combination of 3 separate recipes. So take a deep breath, grab your ingredients and let’s make some Valentine’s Day Soap!

Cut-Out Heart Recipe:
7.8 oz. Olive Oil
7 oz. Coconut Oil
6.5 oz. Palm Oil
1.2 oz. Beeswax
3.18 oz Lye
7.43 oz. Water
1-2 teaspoons Burgundy oxide
Flexible Brownie Pan Mold

Layer One Recipe (pink)
18 oz. Olive Oil (16 + 2 oz.)
2 oz. Coconut Oil
2 oz. Palm oil
2.9 oz. Lye
7.22 oz. water
2 oz. Olive Oil
1.8 oz. Baby Rose fragrance
2 teaspoons Pink Oxide
2 teaspoons Fuchsia LabColor (diluted)

Layer Two Recipe (cream)
18 oz. Olive Oil (16 +2 oz.)
2 oz. Coconut Oil
2 oz. Palm oil
2.9 oz. Lye
7.22 oz. water
2 oz. Olive Oil
1.8 oz. Baby Rose Fragrance
1 Tablespoon Pearly White mica

Helpful Notes

The entire recipe fits two 2 lb. molds or one 4lb mold. You may have some extra soap left over too so have another little mold on hand (check out some of our heart molds).

Baby Rose fragrance oil tends to accelerate trace, so this recipe is specifically formulated to reach trace slowly. For this reason it’s important to prepare layers one and two in separate batches rather than making one big batch and splitting it (which is what you’ve see me do in the past).

Safety First! If you’ve never made cold process we highly recommend reading this blog post and watching this DVD or reading this book. Please do not make Cold Process Soap for the first time with just this blog post.

Instructions

Put your gloves and goggles on now. Are they on? You shouldn’t be making soap if they’re not.

STEP ONE:Make the recipe for the cut-out hearts by combining and heating your oils, mixing in your lye water followed by the Burgundy Oxide. After reaching trace, pour 1/4″-1/2″ of soap into the Flexible Brownie Tray. Let sit for 24-48 hours or until the soap is firm enough to remove from the mold. Use a cookie cutter or craft knife to cut 9-10 heart shapes and smooth the edges with your finger if needed.Set hearts aside.

STEP TWO:Line your wooden mold(s) and have an extra mold or storage container on hand. We used freezer paper with the shiny side up (towards the soap) so it peels off easily. Learn to line your mold here.

STEP THREE: To start the second recipe, sprinkle the lye over the water in a heat safe container. Stir well taking care not to inhale any fumes. Set aside and allow to cool until the water is clear with no bits of lye in the bottom.

STEP FOUR:Measure out 2 ounces of olive oil in a head safe container. Measure out 1.8 ounces of Baby Rose Fragrance Oil.Set aside but keep with in arms reach. We’re going to add these both at the very end.

STEP FIVE: In a microwave safe container that will hold at least 2 pounds, melt the Coconut Oil and Palm Oil (making sure to mix the palm oil well). Add the remaining 16 oz. Olive Oil and mix well.

STEP SIX: Mix the Pink Oxide with a tiny bit of Olive Oil to work out any clumps and set aside. Keep your diluted Fuchsia LabColor close at hand too.

STEP SEVEN: (Are your goggles and gloves on? Keep ’em on!) Slowly add the lye water to the oil mixture. Gently mix using a stick blender in short bursts. Add the Pink Oxide mixture and Fuscia Labcolor and blend until fully incorporated. What you see for color is what you will get so if the color is not dark enough, add more Fuscia Labcolor until it is your idea of a perfect pink color.

STEP EIGHT: Heat up the 2 oz. of Olive Oil for 45 seconds in the microwave. Add your fragrance oil to this warmed up olive oil. Add the fragrance and oil mixture and stir with a spoon. Then gently use your stick blender to give it one or two bursts. Baby Rose accelerates trace even with the extra gentle addition method and careful stick blending so be prepared to pour quickly.

STEP NINE: Once trace is reached (which will happens fast), spoon the soap into the mold filling it only half way and tamping it down on the table to get rid of any air bubbles.

STEP TEN: For the third recipe, repeat steps 3-9 using the Super Pearly White Mica as your colorant.

STEP ELEVEN: Place the heart cut-outs at even intervals through out the soap, leaving the tips of the hearts peeking out of the top. The spacing depends on how wide you want your soap slices to be.

STEP TWELVE: Insulate and allow to set-up for a few days before cutting.

Cutting the Soap: Remove the soap log(s) from the mold. Using a sharp non-serrated knife slice the soap so there is one heart on the front of each slice. You may need to trim the bars a little to clean up the hearts.

Allow the soap to cure for 4-6 weeks

Easy Whipped Shea Butter

January 13, 2010 Filed Under: Lotion

I was experimenting with some shea butter the other day and came up with a pretty cool (and easy) recipe. Here’s what I stumbled upon…

Ingredients
14 oz Shea Butter
5 oz Coconut Oil (76 degree melt Coconut Oil)
6 ml Cranberry Fig Fragrance Oil (or your choice)
Electric Mixer
4 ounce jars

Instructions
Combine all ingredients and whip for 6-7 minutes in an electric mixer on medium/high. Spoon into jars. That’s it. You’re done!

Easy, right? Who knew something great could come out of an afternoon of experimentation in the soap lab? I’ve been using it on my elbows and feet and totally love it!

Is There a More Charming Pastry?

January 12, 2010 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

Frequent readers of this blog and Twitter followers (thank you to my tweeps!) know that my crew and I spent last weekend filming new Soap Queen TV Episodes. Filming for an entire weekend takes serious sustenance so we had a dozen cupcakes delivered from Cupcake Royale (my favorite cupcake shop in Seattle). Believe it or not, we had 2 cupcakes left over. I dropped them off at my talented friend’s house, artist Lisa McShane. Instead of eating the cupcakes (talk about dedication to her craft!), she painted them. Didn’t she do a great job? The bottom left is the enchanting Red Velvet and the top right is the charming Chocolate Salted Caramel.

[Cupcake Aside: After starting on this blog earlier today, I had to stop in to Wink Cupcakes in Queen Anne to get my cupcake fix. If only Cupcake Royale had a Queen Anne store; then I would have been completely sated. As it is, I’m still craving one of their Chocolate Salted Caramel cupcakes. The mini-cupcake from Wink didn’t quite fulfil the void like a Chocolate Salted Caramel can. (I’m probably being unfair. In reality, it never stood a chance. The Chocolated Salted Caramel are just. that. good.)]

Check out Lisa’s blog, 1,000 Paintings and Etsy site, Lisa McShane Art. If you’re in the mood for a sweet pastry painting for your wall, definitely snatch up a piece of Lisa McShane original art. You’ll be in good company; we purchased this piece last month.