Tutorials on soapmaking, bath fizzies, lotions and more
Happy Halloween everyone! It’s hard to believe it’s almost November already. We celebrated the last week of October with this beautiful and chilly Misty Maritime Moon Cold Process Tutorial. It uses the new negative space embed technique, which creates a totally unique look.
The skies were cloudy and gray most of the week here in Bellingham, WA. Good thing there was plenty of vibrant colors and smells in the office! India was the inspiration for the Color, Spice and Everything Nice promotion, which has a variety of fun projects like this Vibrant Mendhi Cold Process Tutorial. A soapy pattern, colored with the new Radiant Plum Colorant, tops off layers of bright green and hot pink for a totally unique and cheerful soap.
The temperature keeps dropping here in Bellingham, so here at Bramble Berry we decided to embrace it! This week was full of tutorials that are great for fall and the holidays, like these Neroli and Shea Blossom Wax Tart Melts. Scented with clean and floral Neroli & Shea Blossom Fragrance Oil, these tarts are a simple way to comfort you on a rainy day.
Halloween is fast approaching, and with it comes scary movies, trick or treating, carving pumpkins and enjoying lots of candy. At Bramble Berry, Halloween also means spooky soap projects! This week there were plenty of tutorials to inspire you. You can see several fun recipes in this Halloween Project Roundup.
This week had a popular blog post on finishing touches. Between pouring your soap in a mold and giving it away or selling it, a lot can happen. Corners can get dinged or soda ash can form. Luckily, there are steps to make your soap look its best. Check them out in the 5 Tips to Create Professional Looking Soap blog post.
This week was all about bright cheerful color! Jojoba beads are a great way to add a pop of color to your soapy projects. They also provide all-natural, bio-degradable, gentle exfoliation. Check out some tutorials using them in this Sunday Night Spotlight: Jojoba Beads.
This week was all about saving time, planning ahead and being efficient. When soaping, the cleanup can be both messy and time consuming. Oils can get spilled, colorants can get knocked over. And don’t forget about the dishes – a pretty design takes a lot of bowls! While cleaning up isn’t the most fun part of soaping, it can be easy with this Soapy Session Clean Up Guide.
Handmade gifts are a special treat during the holidays. Giving someone a gift you worked hard on is a great feeling. Handmade gifts – especially cold process soap – do take time to prepare. That’s why it’s a good idea to get started now. If you need some ideas, there is plenty of Handmade Holiday Gift Inspiration to go around.
One of the great things about working at Bramble Berry is connecting with other soap makers. For some, it’s a fun hobby. For others, soap making changed their lives. This is the case with Donovan, an 11-year-old soap maker who started making melt and pour creations after he and his mother fell on hard times. Now, he makes creative and fun designs and donates half his profits to the Supportive Housing Coalition of New Mexico.
Even though it’s almost September, here at Bramble Berry we haven’t given up on summer yet! We celebrated the sunshine with a yearly barbecue. Everyone brought a dish to share and we enjoyed each other’s company.
This week on the blog was all about keeping your face smooth and refreshed, no matter what your skin type. The Fresh Face Skin Care Series included several skin-loving tutorials, including Lavender and Aloe Lotion. Made with moisturizing Sweet Almond Oil and lightly scented with Lavender 40/42 Essential Oil, it’s a lovely combination for dry skin. 
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With the end of summer in sight (why yes, it has been raining here all week; thanks for asking), we are making the most out of the sun with recipes to keep skin hydrated. Summer means clothing like tank tops and shorts, which means more shaving. Not to worry, we’ve got you covered with the Sunday Night Spotlight: Foaming Bath Whip + Green Tea Shaving Cream Tutorial.
With moisturizing ingredients like Vitamin E Oil, Green Tea Seed Oil and Green Tea Extract, it leaves your skin feeling soothed and fresh. Foaming Bath Whip can also be used for other recipes, as seen in this Rose Clay Sugar Scrub.
While soap is our first love (and soul mate!) we’re not solely about the soap here at Bramble Berry. This week there were several non-soapy tutorials and recipes, including a Blackberry, Lemon and Basil Sorbet. Full of sweet blackberries, tart lemon and a hint of earthy basil, this sorbet is an excellent way to stay cool during the hot summer months.
This week was chock full of information, from oils and fragrances to organization tips. The Sunday Night Spotlight: Jojoba Oil explains how this versatile product is somewhere between an oil and a liquid wax, and how it can be used in scrubs, lotions, lip balms and cold process soap. Have you used Jojoba Oil in your products?
