Anne-Marie Faiola, Author at Soap Queen

Housecleaning Stuff

July 1, 2008 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

This is a random newsy housecleaning post:

1. There is one spot left for the Soapmaking Weekend Intensive. If you were waiting for any reason, now is the time for action.

2. Thank you Heather W. in California for alerting us to a batch variation in the Cybilla Dragonsblood. If you’ve received it in the last month and it didn’t smell normal to you, email me.

3. Coming Soon! We have a lovely sweet Blueberry fragrance blend coming late July to replace our discontinued Blueberry fragrance. And, you asked for it and so we jumped! Bath & Body Works has a yummy fragrance called “Hello Sugar!” Our version of this blend, “Hello Sweet Thang‘!” will be in stock late next week. Borax is here and will be in stock in 2 & 7 pound sizes later this week.

4. The Fourth of July, $5 off your Bramble Berry order, contest is coming to a close in just a few days. If you’d like to enter, head over to the TeachSoap Forum to register. It takes a day or so to get approved by a real person (Hi Courtney!) so register now even if you’re not going to post your patriotic entry until the last minute. The entry on the left is made by soap artist Lisa from Serah’s. When you check out to her site, be sure to gape in awe at her super creative Bright Balloon’s Birthday Soap.

5. Suprise Contest! I really appreciate everyone that comments and adds to the color and content of the Soap Queen blog. I have 1/2 ounce sizes of the following essential oils: Lavender, Lemon, Lemongrass, Orange, Egyptian Geranium and the Stop Pain Synergy Blend headed to Soap Queen Commenter #53 (number picked randomly by Norman) from last week …. Erin from Heavenly Scent. Erin, email me with your address and I’ll get these out to you right away.

6. Log Mold Update: The flex plastic log mold that we’ve been diligently testing for months now is being manufactured. If you missed what it looks like, click here to see it in use. We expect them to arrive mid-July for sale. Pricing will be $24 per mold.

7. Cupcake Molds will be in stock late July.

Happy Soaping!

How to Cut those Gosh Darned Big Blocks!

June 30, 2008 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

Bramble Berry’s Economy Bulk Melt & Pour Soap Base comes in one big block. This is puzzling and confusing to some new soapers. Adding to the mystery, the soap is poured from many feet in the air, into a bag in a box. This height factor creates thick layer of tiny bubbles on surface of the soap base. The bubbles make the soap appear opaque at first glance – and that’s in addition to the head-scratcher about how to cut the block! However, with the economical price per pound (1.25 – $1.50 per pound), it’s worth the extra effort to cut the soap yourself.

This is how I work with the Bulk Base:

1. Open the box

2. Pull, tug, gravity drop, plop and otherwise ease the soap out of the box.

3. Flip the soap over and peel open the bag

4. Scrape the foamy bubbles from the surface of the soap. When melted, these foamy bubbles create an unexpected frothy look in the finished soap.

5. Hack away at the soap base. You can use a heated knife, a butcher’s knife, a scraper/cutter or even a machete. Whatever method you use, be careful! Oily, soapy hands can easily slip on a cutting utensil, causing unintended consequences (and no one wants your blood in their soap anyways). You can cut just what you need to cut or chop up the entire block. Sometimes, the plastic bag gets interwoven into the soap around the bottom edges. Just make sure to pull it out and not melt the plastic.

6. Put all the pieces back into the plastic bag, push the air out of it, and seal it with a plastic tie. If the soap is not exposed to air, it stays fresher for longer.

There are probably other ways to work with this base but that’s the way I do it. If you have any hints, feel free to post a helpful comment to the benefit of your fellow soapers.

Amy’s Scrub

June 30, 2008 Filed Under: Soaks & Scrubs

Amy has been in Bramble Berry‘s warehouse team for almost a year. She started as a part-time night stocker and has since joined us as a full-time puller. We’re lucky to have her sunny disposition and easy laugh.

Amy is also a thoughtful daughter; check out the adorable foot scrub she made for her mom.

She said I could share her recipe in case you wanted to make something for your Mom or yourself:
few drops of Fuchsia true tone color
1.4 oz. Jojoba Oil
8 oz. Foaming Bath Whip
2 1/4 cups Sugar
.3 oz. Sweet Pea fragrance oil

The Foaming Bath Butter foams, the Sugar exfoliates and the jojoba oil helps to leave tootsies smooth and soft.

Enjoy!

Hiking with the Fam’

June 29, 2008 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

We’re back from a glorious visit with my parents in Olympia, Washington. If I didn’t live (and love) Bellingham, Olympia would be a wonderful place to live. It’s very green, feels a little small-town-ish yet has amenities like a world-class hospital, a cute downtown and great hiking.

We went on two … ambles. To call them “hikes” would be an insult to the name since we mostly walked, talked and laughed, pausing often to admire the flora and fauna.

These photos were taken by my Dad on a hike to the Nisqually River Basin.

It was a joy to spend time with family and a blessing to experience the natural splendor of the great Pacific Northwest.

3D Loofah Soap – Weekend Soap Project

June 27, 2008 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

Happy Weekend! I hope you have amazing weekend with fun, sun and family. I am going to be gone this weekend (headed to Olympia to hang with my family) and so this project will hopefully suffice for your weekend of fun activities with your family.

3-D Loofah Soap
Supplies:
Clear Melt and Pour soap base
12 Bar Round Silicone Mold (The 3D Round Mold has been discontinued and replaced with our 12 Bar Round Silicone Mold)
Microwave safe container
Saran Wrap
Spritzer bottle filled w/ rubbing alcohol
Colorant optional, not needed if loofah is colored
Fragrance oil
Loofah
Butter Knife

1. Take apart your 3-D mold and place on counter.

2. Get your loofah and place into the mold (if your loofah is large this may be tricky, here is what we did to get ours to fit)
a. Pull a small side of the loofah away from the body.
b. Wrap this layer around the rest of the loofah, enclosing it into a ball.
c. Lay this into your mold, using first your finger then your butter knife to hold it in place.
d. Leaving the butter knife there to hold the loofah in place, assemble your mold.

e. Once the mold is assembled and rubber bands are in place, slide the butter knife out of the top opening, your loofah is tucked nicely inside!

3. Cut your melt and pour into 1″ cubes, put into microwave safe container and cover with saran wrap.

4. Microwave for 30sec intervals until soap is melted.

5. Add your fragrance (and color if you choose).

6. Spray a few times into the mold with your alcohol.

7. Pour your melted soap base into the mold, watch as you do this, the soap will rise to the top and settle a few times as it soaks into and around the loofah. Keep filling until you are sure it is full.

8. Spray the top with alcohol.

9. Slighthy tip the mold side to side and tap on the counter to release any trapped air bubbles. (You may want to repeat this step a few times)

10. Spray the top with alcohol.

11. Let sit for a few hours until hardened. (The longer you wait the easier it is to unmold).

12. Trim the edges of the soap, if you have to cut away a little bit of loofah this is okay. It should still hold together once you get down to it.

Your family and friends will be amazed and delighted by your scrubby soap on a rope triumph.

Nifty Cupcake Carrier

June 27, 2008 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

Thank you Donna Maria from Indie Beauty Network for alerting me to this.There IS a better way to carry cupcakes in style. I can’t wait to get one. It will be a great excuse to make my staff cupcakes so I can waltz into work with my new cupcake courier.

I may be getting a little too excited over this product, but did you notice that it comes with a lid too?Note to friends with kids: I will make your next snacktime food if you just let me sugar your kids up and use this Cupcake Courier to deliver.

Bathing with Food

June 27, 2008 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

Remember that post about Foodie scents being hot? Here’s one crafter that’s all over this trend!

Check out Danae’s Bath & Body shop on Etsy. With Spun Sugar Lotion, Lemon Lotion and delightful Bath Cupcakes, she’s got the food scents down.

Chocolate Layer Bath Cupcake. $7 here.

Snickerdoodle & Buttercream Bath Cupcake. $7 here.

Orange Vanilla Bath Cupcake. $7 here.

Trendy? We’re Trendy!

June 26, 2008 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Thank you iVillage for calling us “Trendy!” We’ll take that compliment with pride. Here’s what they said:

The trendiest of trendsetters have their cosmetics custom-made, ensuring that the products always perfectly match their features. Keep an edge above the rest and do it yourself with Bramble Berry Mineral Makeup Kits, which include everything you need to create your own personalized cosmetics. Just mix the ingredients and create your own foundations, blushes, bronzers and lipsticks with the pigments that work best for your skin tone. It’s even good for the environment. Go you!

Custom Cupcake Mold

June 26, 2008 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

It was bound to happen – the merging of soap and cupcakes. We just got this photo from our custom mold sculptor. It’ll take a while to make this into an actual mold; it’s still in the putty stage. But,soon, there will be a cupcake soap mold. Cheers all around!

Weight Versus Volume

June 26, 2008 Filed Under: Cold Process Soap

The candles below are an example of the weight-versus-volume.

Both of the candles have the same weight (8 ounces) yet look at the difference in volume (height).

The candle on the left is a traditional paraffin based wax. The mottled looking candle is made out of a palm stearic soy combination.

This example illustrates why soapmakers prefer measuring oils by weight to ensure precise lye usage.

Where Is Matt?

June 25, 2008 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

If you haven’t seen Matt or his dancing antics before, you’re in for a treat. It’s a video, so FeedBlitzers, ya’ gotta head to the blog to see it. The clip is more than just a cheap world traveler being silly. It makes me recognize the common threads we all share; language and cultural barriers are surmountable.

It’s Wedding Season!

June 25, 2008 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

We love Beauty News NYC.com. Thanks for the wonderful write up!

Read the entire article about our Wedding Favor Kits here.

I must say that we do disagree with just one teesy thing in the article…melt and pour soaping is totally for the novice crafter. It’s as easy as baking a from-the-box cake. I can see how it might appear intimidating though – the thought of making your own soap. Where do you even start? What is soap even made of? There are really only three easy steps to basic melt and pour and our Wedding Favor Kit.

1. Melt the soap in the microwave.
2. Add a dash of fragrance and a touch of color.
3. Pour the soap in your cute soap mold and let cool. Done and done!

Once you master these basic steps, you can let your creative juices start flowing! Check out our site www.teachsoap.com for more tips, tutorials and instructions. And, BeautyNewsNYC? Thanks for the write up and shout – out. Any time you want to progress to another technique, just let us know. We’re happy to help!

American Flag Contest Entry

June 25, 2008 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

This soap by Sweet Caroline in South Carolina is scented with Salty Carmel Ice Cream scent, perfect for a food inspired soap. Enter your own Fourth of July Flag Soap Creation and get $5 off your next Bramble Berry order, just for entering. You can upload photos here.

Heavy Metal Gold(en) Crests

June 25, 2008 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

These medieval soaps were made by Debbie over at SoapyLove Daily Ditties utilizing Bramble Berry’s new Heavy Metal Gold mica. This ultra concentrated gold cosmetic colorant is a more deep, luscious gold than traditional Sparkle Gold. It’s got a hint of green and black in the blend to tone the yellow down.

In a unique twist, Debbie paired the gold with white melt and pour rather than the customary clear. The effect is positively majestic. She painted the molds, dusted the soap and poured multiple layers to get these effects.

You can experiment with your own creative twist and design a customized Coat of Arms based on your interests and personality. Find Heavy Metal Gold mica here, Coat of Arms mold here, and suitable fragrances (Smokey Patchoulior perhaps Moonlight Pomegranate).PS – If you’d like to meet the Artist in person, she’ll be at Otion on July 19 & 20th teaching at the Soapmaking Weekend Intensive.