Facebook and Instagram Photo of the Week (Feb. 13th ~ 19th)

This week was all about new products and techniques. For instance, French green clay, nettle leaf and comfrey leaf were recently added to the Bramble Berry line. Natural colorants look great in soap and other products. If you’d like to give them a try, the Natural Colorants Sampler Pack is the perfect way to do so. There are also new mica sampler packs, including the Green Mica Sampler Pack, Purple Mica Sampler Pack, Blue Mica Sampler Pack and the Rainbow Mica Sampler Pack. Click through the New at Bramble Berry post to see all the recent additions. You can always find new Bramble Berry Products by clicking the “What’s New” button at the top of the homepage, or click here.

Each new product you receive will also have redesigned labels. After about 12 years of the same labels, we decided it was time for a major overhaul. The labels now have a simple and clean look. In addition, there is more information on each one about the product. For instance, fragrance labels have the origin of the oil, the vanilla content, performance notes and any shipping restrictions. Learn more about the redesign in the New Bramble Berry Product Labels post.

Also new on the website is my book, Pure Soapmaking. I still can’t believe it’s here and in the hands of our wonderful customers. It took more than two years to write the book. As you can imagine, it takes quite a bit of work to write a book. In addition to creating the recipes, it required a ton of research, editing and a week-long photo shoot. Read more in the A Look Into the Pure Soapmaking Book Writing Process post.

Some recipes in the book are made with liquids like milk and beer. Using alcoholic beverages in cold process soap gives the bars a unique look and creates fluffy lather. Working with alcohol does require a few extra steps. For instance, the liquid has to be boiled to get rid of any carbonation or alcohol so the soap won’t overheat and volcano. Learn more in the How to Use Alcoholic Beverages in Cold Process Soap post.

The Charcoal and Cedar Beer Soap Tutorial is made with stout beer from a Bellingham favorite, Wander Brewing. The stout beer gives the soap a rich dark color and fantastic lather. To add some contrast, the soap is colored with activated charcoal and titanium dioxide. A mix of cedarwood essential oil and fir needle essential oil give the bars an earthy scent.

This week’s Facebook Photo of the Week by Susanne with Passionfruit Island features stunning contrast as well. Susanne’s beautiful bars are scented with Crisp Apple Rose Fragrance Oil.

The creamy white soap makes the pink swirl really stand out. I love the different shades of pink in the bars. The shimmery green on top complements the Crisp Apple Rose Fragrance Oil so well. And how cute are the roses on top? For a rosy accent in your products, click through the Pink Clay and Primrose Hand-Milled Soap Tutorial. Rose petals look cute on bath bombs too, as seen in the Pikake Flower Bath Bombs Tutorial.

Above (clockwise, top) are Susanne’s Violet Soap, Denali Soap, Mint Latte Soap and Cinnamon Bun Soap. The layers in Susanne’s Mint Latte Soap are so crisp and beautiful. Learn how to work with layers in the Layered Lilac Loofah Cold Process Tutorial. Get the look in melt and pour with the Violet Glitter Gradient Tutorial.

Find Passionfruit Island
On the web
On Facebook

This week’s Instagram Photo of the Week is stunning as well. The Winter Landscape Soap by Kapia Mera Soap Company was made for this month’s Great Cakes Soapworks Challenge. The detail work is so amazing. I love the layers in the mountain and the wispy tree branches. See more beautiful work on their Instagram page.

Post pictures of your crafty creations on the Facebook page each week for a chance to be featured on the Soap Queen blog and receive a sweet soapy package from Bramble Berry. Photos are chosen based on consensus from the Bramble Berry staff, so the best way to increase your chances of winning is to show us lots of photos!

To participate in the Instagram contest, hashtag your pictures with #soapshare. Each Friday, I will pick a photo on Instagram to be featured on the Bramble Berry Instagram account.

For those of you who have been featured on the blog, we now have an official “Featured on the Soap Queen” badge! You can include that badge on your website, blog, pictures, etc. To save the badge, click here. =)