Tutorials on soapmaking, bath fizzies, lotions and more
Within the past few years, photo-sharing website Pinterest has emerged as a haven for DIY-enthusiasts. With so many beautiful images and fun tutorials, it’s easy to spend an entire afternoon browsing. It’s no wonder then that is has also emerged as a full-blown way to successfully market and sell homemade bath & body products. We’re continuing our Bramble Business Series today with an overview of Pinterest and how to use it to your advantage.
You may already be familiar with thyme for its culinary uses — this slow baked salmon with lemon & thyme recipe, for example? Yeah, it’s to die for! Beyond the kitchen though, thyme also has a long history as a purifying plant and medicinal herb. Believe it or not, thyme was used by the Egyptians for embalming, by the Greeks as incense and in Europe in the Middle Ages to ward off nightmares. You can read more about thyme on its Wikipedia page here.
In soapmaking, White Thyme Essential Oil is a soothing scent that works in soaps, lotions and creams.
Our White Thyme Essential Oil is first steam distilled from the flowers of the plant which creates a red thyme oil. The re-distillation produces the more gentle white thyme.
Little Miss Lily has fully gained control of her trunk and can actually sit and play. It is amazing and delightful and so nice. Of course, we don’t leave her on hard surfaces because she is prone to falling over and bonking her forehead/chin/cheek.
Welcome to Friday, everyone! Hopefully you’re staying warm despite the insanely cold weather that has swept through many parts of the U.S (the Pacific Northwest even woke up to snow on the ground this morning). Even with the weather outside, this soap is bright and cheery Dandelion Zebra Cold Process tutorial and sure to liven up your soap lab and who doesn’t love a pink cupcake (which feature a secret ingredient)? Thank you for the amazing comments on the new soapy tools post. A few lucky people will find a brand new Silicone Tool Set on their doorstep next week. Expect to see more Bramble Berry customized soaping tools in the future.
Show Your Love week is over and ended with with a pink salt foot scrub tutorial and a blow out 15% off fragrance oils sale. That sale may have ended, but good news: today is the last day to use the LOVE30 coupon, which is good for 30% off every item in the Mini Heart Bath Bomb kit.
With a certain heart-themed holiday ahead of us, it’s all about pink this week, and the Facebook Photo of the Week is no exception. Take a look:
For everyone in the throes of the winter cold snap, today’s cold process recipe offers a little taste of spring. I made this Dandelion Zebra Swirl for a Great Cakes Soapworks Challenge. The colors are reminiscent of warm days, green grass and freshly sprouted tulips. The key to this technique is having a recipe that moves slowly and stays at a thin trace to get a beautiful layered swirl in the middle.
Welcome to Wednesday, everyone! We’re giving you the momentum to finish out the week strong with an interview with Rachel of The Daily Scrub. Rachel’s positivity and excitement about soaping (and life in general) is infectious, and her creations match that enthusiasm. Her handcrafted soaps tend to feature her signature colorful soapy curls. Rachel has been a member of our soapy community for sometime, and last May she even won our Facebook Photo of the Week contest. Read on to learn more about this inspirational soaper — and her cute Boston Terrier pup Charlie!
Our ‘Show Your Love week’ is almost over. We’ve enjoyed designing special sales, deals and tutorials and we’re not done yet! If phone calls into the office this morning are any indication, this is the biggie that you’ve been waiting for.
From noon Pacific Standard Time today (February 4) until noon Pacific Standard Time tomorrow (February 5), all fragrance oils at Bramble Berry are 15% off. Enter the coupon code SHOLUV88 during checkout to automatically receive the discount. Fine print: this offer does not apply to essential oils, the SoapyLove collection or fragrance oil sample kits. Yes, you can combine this discount with other offers and coupons (including the LOVE30 discount!).
It’s our way of showing you the love!
While I try to eat healthy the majority of the time, it’s important to treat yourself every now and then. But if you can treat yourself and squeeze in a vegetable at the same time, why not? These rich, chocolatey cupcakes contain a whole cup of roasted beets, adding a subtle earthiness to their flavor. The frosting also contains beets, resulting in a striking hot pink color. When I brought these to the Bramble Berry office, they were gobbled up in no time. Some could not taste the beets at all, and one team member said they were the best cupcakes he ever had…success!
Now that the SuperBowl is over, our Seahawks soaps made (congratulations to the Seahawks on your win!), it’s time to turn back to our DIY obsessions. Consider this a deluxe Sunday Night Spotlight — today we’re not only introducing you to the wonders of Pink Sea Salt, we’ve got a bonus foot scrub tutorial as part of Show Your Love. Read on to learn more about this versatile salt and how to make a nourishing scrub for yourself.
Pink Sea Salt comes in four different sizes: Coarse, Medium, Small and Extra Small. The coarse salt is great as a garnish on cold process soap or melt and pour, while the smaller sizes can be used in scrubs. Bramble Berry’s Pink Sea Salt is mined from salt beds in the Himalayan Mountains, and it is believed to be the purest form of salt available. You can find variety of tutorials using this wonderful salt on the Soap Queen blog. Some of our favorites include:
From left, clockwise: Coarse, Medium, Small and Extra Small Pink Sea Salt.
Aside from actually making the products, one of the best parts of crafting is creating fun packaging to enhance your soaps, bath bombs or scrubs. As part of Show Your Love, we’re giving you a few simple ways to jazz up the bail jars that make great containers for the Mini Heart Bath Bombs or the Pink Sea Salt Foot Scrub (tutorial coming soon on the blog!).
This week was full of fun and easy projects, perfect for a beginner crafter. Our Super Simple Shoe Polish is a great inexpensive alternative to store bought polish, and adding a little brown or black oxide really helps to liven up worn or faded leather. We also kicked off our Show Your Love promotion by making these cute and easy Mini Heart Bath Bombs. Interested in giving these bath bombs a try? Order soon because everything in the recipe is 30% off until February 7th =)
Our Natural vs. Organic post is full of information for the beginner and advanced crafter. If these terms have ever caused you confusion, it’s a good read.
Looking for some culinary inspiration for your Super Bowl party? Out of the numerous chili recipes entered into our Chili Cook Off, Kari’s Chili Verde with Pork was the winner (click through to get the recipe to make it yourself). Everybody in the office loved the tangy verde sauce and hearty chunks of pork. It was incredibly delicious!
But let’s get back to my favorite topic…soap! This week’s Facebook Photo of the Week comes to us from Josie of Josie’s Beauty Boutique. Her “Don’t Eat Me Because I’m Beautiful” soap is lovely, and I was impressed to hear that she has only been soaping since November! She definitely got some bonus point for that cute and clever soap name too.
This Valentine’s Day, skip the chocolates and the roses in favor of some handcrafted goodies. From now until February 5, we’re rolling out several special tutorials and discounts as part of Show Your Love, our special treat for you and your special someone. Keep your eye on the blog and subscribe to our newsletter to be first in the know about special deals, discounts and lovely soapy tutorials!
With so many buzzwords used in beauty product marketing, sometimes it can be hard to discern what you think you’re buying versus what you’re actually getting. “Natural” and “Organic” are often thrown around to tout the purity of many beauty products — soaps especially — but the two terms mean very different things. One is a legally regulated term, and the other is much more vague. Read on to learn more about the important differences between these two labels.
Bramble Berry carries several certified organic products. From left to right: Organic Rosemary Essential Oil, Organic Melt and Pour Base and Virgin Coconut Oil.
We’re in the midst of winter, and your leather shoes may need a little TLC after sloshing around in the rain or snow. Boot and leather polishes can get quite expensive, so we devised our own special recipe: a little olive oil mixed with a little beeswax acts as a great all around boot conditioner and water repellent. You can even add a pigment to revive dull or faded leather. Lay it on thick for maximum leather protecting power!
