Tutorials on soapmaking, bath fizzies, lotions and more
Inspired by romantic red roses, this Rosy Red Lip Gloss gives lips a natural rosy hue. This lip product is glossy and feels soft on the lips. It’s made with a combination of castor oil, jojoba oil and cera bellina wax. Merlot Sparkle Mica and Rose Pearl Mica give the gloss a shimmery red color that’s flattering for a wide variety of skin tones. Scented with Passionfruit Rose Fragrance and Flavor Oil, the gloss smells as rosy as it looks!
Color has the ability to change one’s mood and inspire. I love working with vibrant hues when soap making; colorful projects always put a smile on my face. If you’re going to make multicolored soap, why not go all out and use rainbow colors? The combination of red, orange, yellow, green blue and purple (and sometimes indigo!) is universally loved and screams happiness.
Starting tomorrow, keep your eyes on the blog for a full week of rainbow inspired projects! Each day will highlight one color of the rainbow, starting with red and ending with purple. Each project will also include one colorant and fragrance on sale for that day. Pictured below are all six projects…be on the lookout for the final project featuring a complete rainbow color palette.
Making cold process soap successfully requires precise measurements of lye and oil. If too much lye is used the soap will be lye heavy, which can irritate or even burn the skin. Lye heavy soap will have a higher pH than perfectly balanced cold process soap. If you are worried that your soap is lye heavy, there are several techniques to test the pH and discover if it is safe to use on the skin. One of which includes using something you may already have in your fridge…red cabbage!
What is pH and what does it have to do with soap? The pH scale measures how acidic or basic a substance is. The scale ranges from 0 to 14. A pH level of 7 is considered neutral. A pH higher than 7 is considered basic or alkaline, and pH level of below 7 is acidic. Cold process soap is naturally alkaline with a pH of around 9-10. This pH helps to gently clean the skin.
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The team and I have been busy testing new fragrances, soapy tools, molds and colorants. It has been a few months (and by “few”, I mean “eight”) since I shared all the new products that have arrived at Bramble Berry. We have quite a few! To find new items as they are added to the site, check out the “What’s New,” section on Brambleberry.com; you can find the link on the top right of the homepage.
Fragrance oils are always an exciting addition as they open up new design and project inspiration. Thanks to the Winter and Fall S.O.A.P. panels, plenty of new fragrance oils have arrived to our warehouse. If testing new fragrances sounds like something you’d like to participate in, keep your eyes on the blog…we will be announcing a new S.O.A.P. Panel soon (hint hint) =) One category of fragrance oils that has bloomed are floral and earthy scents; new fragrances include the fresh, sparkling and bright White Rose Fragrance Oil, and the musky Vanilla Rosewood Fragrance Oil. Vanilla Rosewood is sort of like walking through a forest filled with beautiful vanilla pods, freshly bursting open, and smelling the undertones of all the trees and leaves around our (imaginary) vanilla pod forest. We’ve also added Mahogany Fragrance Oil, Heavenly Honeysuckle Fragrance Oil, Winter Gardenia Fragrance Oil, and Lavender and Cedar Fragrance Oil to the fragrance line-up.
Top left, clockwise: Vanilla Rosewood Fragrance Oil, White Rose Fragrance Oil, Mahogany Fragrance Oil, Heavenly Honeysuckle Fragrance Oil, Winter Gardenia Fragrance Oil, Lavender and Cedar Fragrance Oil
If gloomy February has you seeing grey, this Over the Rainbow Cold Process is sure to cheer you up. Made using the negative embed technique, this soap requires two steps. First, PVC pipes are inserted into the mold, and strapped down using large rubber bands. White soap is poured around the pipes and allowed to harden for three to four days. Once the pipes are removed , the holes are filled with colorful fresh soap. Made with rainbow hues and the juicy Blackberry Sage Cybilla Fragrance Oil, this project reminds me of a tropical vacation!
If you’d like to see another example of the negative embed technique, check out the Misty Maritime Moon Cold Process tutorial. For this soap, the pipes were inserted into the soap after it was poured, resulting in soap within the pipes. Both methods work extremely well, but I found the embeds were slightly easier to remove when the pipes were inserted first as shown here.
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When you own a business, it’s crucial to stand out from the pack. In order to stand out among other businesses, it’s helpful to find or create a niche. The term, “niche,” refers to a distinct segment of a market. Having an identifiable element will catch the eyes of customers that identify with the niche, and may motivate them to buy. Developing a niche also gives your products specific appeal and contributes to strong brand identity.
When first starting a business, uncovering your niche can be difficult. Don’t overthink it; a niche can be as simple as a signature fragrance, ingredient or product design that will appeal to specific customers. In order to develop a niche, it’s important to first consider your strengths and weaknesses in all aspects of your business. Discovering your business strengths and weaknesses is a learning process, and pays dividends beyond finding your niche. Ideally, a niche will build off your strengths.
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Still looking for Valentine’s Day gifts for your loved ones? Handmade presents are a great way to show you care, and these Sparkling Strawberry Melt and Pour Bars are the perfect alternative to traditional flowers and chocolate. Give these soaps along with a handmade wax sealed card, and your special someone will surely feel the love!
For this project, iridescent glitter is combined with traditional Valentine’s Day colors for a fun and sparkly twist. The red, pink and gold colors create eye-catching contrast against the White Melt and Pour Soap Base. A combination of Strawberry Fragrance Oil and Champagne Fragrance Oil create a bubbly and sweet scent that’s perfect for the holiday.
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Some people assume that the bath and beauty market is a women’s world, but Burly Stone Soap Co. proves this is not the case. Created by Gates and Maurice, Burly Stone is cleverly marketed towards men with rustic packaging and masculine names. In addition to cold process soap, Burly Stone also specializes in other products for men, such as beard elixir and hand balms; they even have soap for mans best friend! Read on to learn more about Burly Stone, and how they developed their niche market. – A.M.
A collection of Burly Stone’s cold process soap, wrapped and ready to sell.
How long have you been soaping for and how did you get started?
I’ve been soaping for just over 2 years now. It sounds weird, but I started soaping because I was frustrated. I was frustrated that I couldn’t find a big enough bar of soap in scents that I wanted.
What sort of advice would you give to those soapers just starting their businesses?
There’s a lot of competition out there – you need to find away to make your product unique, to find a slightly different niche that gives you a foothold in a crowded market. But don’t let this stop you from going for it. There’s so much success to be had for people who believe in their product – who have passion & let it shine through.
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This week, the team and I filmed several videos for Soap Queen TV. A few weeks ago, we also filmed a few informative product videos for the new Bramble Berry YouTube channel (coming soon!). I also did a Live Google Hangout (watch in the comments) for the Handmade Beauty Box crew. It’s been a lot of camera time this week (!). Making videos is hectic, but balanced by lots of laughing, singing and always, a little dancing. Here is a little behind the scenes peak into our most recent shoots.
I know this will shock you but I don’t wake up looking quiiiiiiiite the way I do on camera. I need help. Below, Amber helps apply some powder, followed by a little gloss and eye shadow. I tend to be pretty make-up optional normally and with my light coloring (hello no eyebrows), it’s amazing how the camera makes all features disappear!
The essentials (phone, smoothie and lip gloss) are never too far away during a shoot. Filming takes several hours (up to a day for full-length Soap Queen TV videos). Tea and smoothies keep my energy level up. The smoothie below was made of a yummy combination of kale, blueberries and some kefir. This recipe is extremely similar if you’d like to make one of your own =)
The bakers rack in the Soap Lab fills up quickly with soap, tools, props and examples to show on camera. Each and every step of a video must be made beforehand in order to keep the shoot as quick as possible. As you can see, the melt and pour soaps have been wrapped in plastic wrap to prevent glycerin dew.
The soaps below were created to demonstrate the beautiful colors produced by LabColors. Shown below are the Lime, Orange, and Red LabColors in the Clear Melt and Pour Base. I love the shape of these soaps which were made in the 12 Bar Oval Silicone Mold; they are so easy to hold in your hand.
Dark red Brazilian Clay was featured in a video, and below I demonstrate how to disperse it into 99% isopropyl alcohol for melt and pour soap use. Because clays tend to soak up moisture in cold process soap, I recommend dispersing them in distilled water. Recently, this clay was used in the Marbled Clay Hot Process tutorial.
Taking a break to get the set re-set is key during a long shoot. I’m pretty much addicted to all things Bramble Berry social media so in between shoots, my phone is generally in hand so I can check Instagram and the answer comments and questions on the Bramble Berry Facebook page.
The video shoots get a lot more giggles-filled towards the end of the day when brains are tired and slightly delirious. Near the end of the day, I almost always struggle to get through my lines without busting into laughter from one-too-many silly flub-up. This was the last take of the day before the weekend. Clearly, my brain was already in Saturday-mode.
Below is a shot of the colorful a sparkly melt and pour project. It was directly inspired by a previous melt and pour tutorial, and updated to show more color. I love the way it turned out! The top layer has lots of glitter and sparkle, and it’s scented with Pink Grapefruit Fragrance Oil.
Of course we have to Instagram the shoot! Below, Amanda snaps a photo of me pouring the top on the Lemon Poppy Seed cold process soap. It was such a popular tutorial, that we decided to make a video. Notice the tea cup, the water and the phone at easy reach behind me. Can’t get dehydrated! =)
Gal-of-all-Trades and my absolute better half when it comes to marketing, Amber always acts as the producer on the videos to make sure we get all the necessary shots. In the shot below, I’m shaving off Color Block pieces to add to the melt and pour.
I can’t wait to share these videos with you! What kind of Soap Queen TV video should we make next?
Can you believe tomorrow is the 1st of February already? Time flies when you’re having fun! Yesterday the team and I filmed several videos for Soap Queen TV and the new Bramble Berry YouTube channel. Look out tomorrow for a behind-the-scenes post into the shoot. We filmed two cold process recipes, along with a colorful and sparkly melt and pour soap. Below is an Instagram photo of the melt and pour project. Based on the Rainbow Hearts Melt & Pour project, this soap was updated slightly to feature more hearts per bar.
Today we did a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) activity day and of course, are in the midst of prepping for the Super Bowl tomorrow. Do you have fun Super Bowl plans? Jamisen is starting to pay attention to the sport, while Lily simply enjoys wearing her Seahawks gear. I picked up some cute Seahawks cookies from a local bakery to celebrate and those are sure to be a huge hit. On Friday, some of the Bramble Berry team showed their support with plenty of blue and green; go Hawks!
If football is not your cup of tea and you’re looking for some fun crafty projects for the weekend, check out my favorite pins, ‘grams and tweets from the week below.
Pinterest:
Top left, counter-clockwise:
Instagram:
This past week has been full of colorful projects for a fun promotion starting in February. Below on the left, is a cold process soap made with Ultramarine Blue Pigment and Ocean Rain Fragrance Oil. On the right, is a chamomile soap made with Yellow Oxide and Chamomile Bergamot Fragrance Oil. I can’t wait to share these tutorials with you!
. Twitter:
I hope you are all having a great weekend, and enjoy Super Bowl Sunday tomorrow! To keep up with the latest soapy social media throughout the week, you can follow me on Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest, Vine and YouTube.
While cold process recipes are an office favorite, it’s also fun to try other techniques. The clay tutorials ended this week with two easy-to-make recipes, including the Marbled Clay Hot Process Soap. The recipe uses a Crock Pot to “cook” the soap, which speeds up the saponification process. Then, the soap is swirled with dark red Brazilian clay and yellow silt clay for a marbled look. The soap is topped with calendula and scented with Fresh Mango Fragrance Oil and Kumquat Fragrance Oil and smells bright and fresh.
Flowers are a great way to add interesting detail to your soap. In the Pink Clay and Primrose Soap Hand-Milled Tutorial, rose petals add a feminine touch. The soap has a floral aroma from rose water and Ylang Ylang III essential oil, and has a soft pink color from pink Brazilian clay. It’s a perfect handmade gift for Valentine’s Day.
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Hand-milled soap is a fantastic option for crafters who prefer not to work with lye, but still love the look and feel of cold process soap. Hand-milling (also called rebatching) involves melting down pre-made cold process soap and adding a small amount of extra liquid. If you’d like to see this process in action, check out this How to Make Rebatch Soap video on Soap Queen TV.
For this recipe, rose water is used with pink Brazilian clay to give a light rosy hue. Topped with rose petals and scented with Ylang Ylang III essential oil, this Pink Clay & Primrose Hand-Milled Soap project is wonderfully feminine. This project would make a great gift for Valentine’s Day! These downloadable labels make packaging and giving to loved ones easy.
Screenshot from a recent Bramble Berry newsletter.
Earlier in the week, I asked the question, “Is a newsletter right for you and your business?” Newsletters are a fantastic method for sharing content with your customers, and ultimately making sales. Of all the online marketing strategies, newsletters have the potential to be the most lucrative. If you have decided to invest in producing a newsletter, it’s important to do it right. If the first few newsletters are not done well, subscribers may not want to look at them in the future.
To help make the process easier, here are five important factors to consider when building your newsletter. If you have questions or concerns about various areas of marketing, including social media outlets, let me know in the comments. I’d be happy to share my tips for success!
1. Grab Your Audiences Attention: Write a Better Subject Line.
When the newsletter arrives in an inbox, the title (aka: subject line) is the first thing a reader sees. The subject line may be the deciding factor on whether or not a reader opens your email. Stay away from boring titles such as “November Newsletter.” Make the title short, snappy, catchy and enticing! Study the subject lines of the emails you receive; what kind of title motivates you to open the email rather than delete it? Consider what the purpose of your newsletter is. Do you want to show off new products, or maybe inform your customers of an event? Decide what the purpose of the newsletter is, and construct a subject line around the intent. Nobody likes to feel that they were tricked into opening an email.
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If you’re a regular reader of the blog, you know cold process is my favorite method of soap making; it’s how I originally learned to make soap, and is my “first love.” But, there are multiple ways to create gorgeous soap, including hot process soap making. Hot process soaping is a fantastic (and quick!) method that results in a rustic style bar of soap.
The main difference between the cold process and hot process methods is temperature. In cold process, hot oils and lye are combined to initiate the saponification process. The soap is then set aside for several days to harden and set up. In hot process, hot oils and lye are combined to begin saponification, and then introduced to heat via a Crock Pot or double boiler. The additional heat speeds up the saponification process and “cooks” the soap before it goes into the mold. This cuts down dramatically on the wait time! Make sure when making hot process soap, that your recipe does not fill up the Crock Pot more than halfway. Hot process soap tends to expand, and you don’t want it overflowing!
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