Soap Queen

Tutorials on soapmaking, bath fizzies, lotions and more

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Show Your Love: Chocolate Chip Beet Cupcakes

Filed Under: Soap Queen Cuisine

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!

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Show Your Love: Pink Salt Foot Scrub

Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials

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.

Extra Small Pink Sea Salt

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.

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Facebook Photo of the Week (January 25th ~ January 31st)

Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

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.

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Show Your Love: Mini Heart Bath Bombs

Filed Under: Bath Fizzies

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!

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Natural vs. Organic

Filed Under: Tips & Tricks

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.

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Super Simple Boot Polish

Filed Under: Home Crafts

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!

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Facebook Photo of the Week (January 18th ~ January 24th)

Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Soaping is a hobby that requires practice and persistence, and when a project turns out beautifully it’s all worth it. But unfortunately mistakes happen, and sometimes soap doesn’t turn out as you’d expect. To help you diagnose any soapy issues, Soap Behaving Badly is a comprehensive overview of a wide variety of soaping mishaps caused by fragrance oils, including ricing, acceleration and seizing. It’s a must read for both beginners and advanced soapers! If you are interested in learning more about preventing soapy blunders, our Explaining and Preventing Soda Ash, Why Did My Soap Turn Brown? and How to Prevent Fading and Browning posts are there to help.

The aftermath of our soapy fragrance testing. Check out Soap Behaving Badly to see what happened to (and how to salvage) these poor bars.

But let’s focus on projects that were successful! This week we shared a super easy and refreshing Infused Aloe and Rose Water Toner recipe. If you’re looking for more of a challenge, we also shared our Striped Berry Champagne Cold Process Tutorial featuring ombre layers separated by thin lines of mica for definition. If you’re a fan of ombre, check out these other DIY projects:

Tired and hungry after all that ombre crafting? This Ombre Layered Cake Recipe is sure to pick you up! Speaking of sugary treats, this week we also shared this Brown Butter and Basil Shortbread Recipe, which is a fun spin on the traditional cookie. As for the the Facebook Photo of the Week, the whipped soapy frosting on top certainly looks good enough to eat!

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Soap Behaving Badly

Filed Under: Tips & Tricks

I started my soaping adventures when I was young (ah, sweet 16), and have learned that not everything turns out perfectly the first time. Sometimes despite your best efforts during a soaping session, you’ll get batches that just don’t quite turn out right. It’s just an inherent (and disappointing!) part of soaping. I’m a firm believer in ‘practice makes perfect,’ and being persistent in mastering your technique will help you achieve what you want in your soap, consistently. While there are hundreds of soaping variables that can cause problems, one huge factor that can determine the success of your soaping session is the fragrance or essential oil you use.

All Bramble Berry Fragrance and Essential oils go through a thorough testing process to ensure they perform well in cold process soap.

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Infused Aloe and Rose Water Toner

Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials

We’re in the middle of winter, and your skin may need a bright, fresh pick-me-up. This simple facial toner contains just three ingredients: rose water, witch hazel and lavender infused aloe vera liquid. Witch hazel is a great astringent, and aloe vera liquid is soothing for chapped or irritated skin. In combination with the gentle scents of lavender and rose water this is an easy, skin-loving mix.

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Sunday Night Spotlight: Silicone Tool Set

Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

As every soaper knows, an intense soaping session requires intense tools, and this silicone tool set is up for the challenge. After years of soaping with lower quality tools that always seemed to break, I created these super durable and easy to clean silicone tools that can withstand temperatures between -40 to 446°F. They’re ideal for cold process or hot process soaping, as well as any other project you can throw at them.

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Soapy Social Media Roundup

Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Two weeks into the new year and we’re off to a running start. I’ve kept up with the S.M.A.R.T. goals I set for myself this year (thank you Carrot app, my VitaMix and Bellingham-based Dandelion produce delivery). I’m excited to track my progress along with everyone else who told me about their goals. There’s big plans for Bramble Berry this year, and we have lots of awesome promotions and campaigns planned, as well as adding to our continually growing product line. Be sure to check our What’s New page frequently to be first in the know about new items.

For now, take a look at my favorite social media happenings from the past two weeks for all of our social media accounts:

Pins:

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S.O.A.P. Panel-ers revealed

Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Thank you to everyone who Tweeted, Pinned, Instagrammed and Facebooked entries to be part of the 2014 S.O.A.P. Panel. We are truly surrounded by a community of talented crafters, and it was difficult to whittle more than 90 entries down to just eight panel members.

After much debate, we finally choose the soapers who will help us add a few brand new fragrances to the Bramble Berry line. To learn more about the S.O.A.P. Panel, check out this post. Wondering what S.O.A.P. means? It stands for Soap Opinion Awesome Panel! To meet the 2014 S.O.A.P. Panel, read on:

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