This summer, I was lucky enough to meet Patti, one of our long time Bramble Berry customers and a very talented cold process soapmaker. She recently soaped up with some of our micas (including two new ones – the Matte Yellow and Super Green) and graciously agreed to share her results and thoughts with all of us. Thanks Patti!
Patti swirled some of the micas into the soap directly and then mixed a teensy bit of oil in with some of the micas and swirled on top so that the colors would stay true on top of the soap, no matter what happened.
It took two days to unmold the soap to make sure that all that extra oil up on top would absorb back into the soap. But in the meantime, Patti peeked at the mixing bowl and noticed a few things that gave a preview of what the final bars might look like.
In the bowl, the Super Green turned to a light gold color – sparkly and pretty but not green. But, the Matte Yellow stayed the same nice yellow color. Even though the oil hadn’t fully absorbed into the top, Patti just blotted at the top of the soap (leaving a lovely pattern), unmolded and cut.
The slices turned out wonderfully fall-like and beautiful on top.
It’s pretty clear which colors are which. The Red Mica turned orangey peach, the Matte Yellow stayed totally stable yellow and the Super Green went a lovely yellow and definitely did not stay a pretty green when reacted with the lye. Patti used a fragrance that discolors a bit which is why the soap looks a little darker than you might expect.
Thanks for letting us all in on your experiments, Patti!
I agree. I've never found micas to be totally stable all the time in cold process and always test every mica before I make anything. Pigments are a whole 'nother story and I use them from all the vendors without testing but micas are notorious for ruining batches. We are lucky that brambleberry does any testing at all for us. It's more than all the other companies out there.
AM is being gracious. Anonymous, micas are designed to use in Melt and Pour soap and we are lucky when they work in cold process soap. If you want a tried and true always works, stick with pigments.
Dear Anonymous,
Thanks so much for popping back in to make sure that everything is clear. I value the feedback, anonymous or not.
The explanation about micas and how they are not all stable (which is the case whether they are from us or another vendor) is here:
https://www.brambleberry.com/Using-Colorants-W22.aspx
I'll be sure and update the Limited Edition header for the fragrances right now and the Policies page to make sure that no one else is ever confused about their own personal responsibility for testing products prior to making large batches. I really appreciate that you brought it to my attention.
Please let me know what additional changes I can make to the site to ensure that everything is more clear.
And again, you can sign in. There's nothing to be ashamed about that you need to stay anonymous. I always welcome open dialogue and the ability to improve on whatever policies or products we sell at Bramble Berry.
Happy Soaping,
Anne-Marie
Thanks for the reply. I just re-read Brambleberry's policy page, the opening page for micas, and the opening 'limited' items page. I did not see anything to indicate that 'limited time only'=untested before your response here. Did I miss it? I thought that 'limited time only' referred to the amount of product available or the duration of time it would be sold for as that is how the term is normally used.
Hi Anon,
Thanks for popping in. Please sign in next time – I love to know whom I'm talking to. Open dialogue is always welcome.
I totally understand your concern. Any items you see on the Bramble Berry site that are 'Surplus' items or state 'Limited' have not been fully tested for cold process (unlike the normal fragrance line). They often are great deals (notice the price on the Super Green is a screamin' deal?) and we leap to get them because we know many of our customers would like to have an attractively priced product or take advantage of the latest, greatest trends. The second we get them in, we start the testing process for everything. We carry supplies for making mineral make up, melt and pour, lotions and more – not all of those items work in cold process and we highly recommend test batches for any and all of our products to make sure it works for you the way you want it to with your recipes and variables. If you want a 100% safe bet each and every time, our carefully curated, hand picked CP items on this page will work each and every time for you: https://www.brambleberry.com/Cold-Process-Soaps-W2C146.aspx Everything else you should read the notes on and ask questions when in doubt. Our email is info (at) brambleberry (dot) com and we strive to answer emails within 1 business day. =)
Thank you for popping in and sharing your concern. I hope you're able to make some super cute labels and call it 'Snowy Sunshine' or 'Holiday Sun' or something like that to match the lovely warm color.
I'm actually very disappointed by this posting. Shouldn't the Super Green mica have been tested in cp for discoloration before it was offered for sale? I thought it was my recipe but now I know why my supposed to be green Christmas scented soaps are yellow instead.
This is great. i never thought about using a little oil with mica to give the tops of my soaps more color. I have always shyed away from using mica's because my experience with them in Cp soap has not always been good. Most seem to fade just as these have and others have actually turned to a diferent color.
I am so grateful to people who do the testing work for me…thank you to Patti and Anne-Marie for sharing this!
What an array, these have to be the most colourful hand soaps and natural bathing products I have seen!
WOW! : ) The soap looks wonderful and the colors look great! Thank you for the tip!
Blessings~
Renee`
I love how the top looks – such a beautiful texture. It's good to know how these colors will morph in CP.
Thnx Patti!
OMG those colors are wonderful!!