Tutorials on soapmaking, bath fizzies, lotions and more
You’re shampooed, you’re conditioned, and now it’s time to finish your do with a Pink Sea Salt Beach Spray. This simple spray recipe relies on Dead Sea Salt and Pink Sea Salt to give your hair body and volume while enhancing any natural waves or curls. Finish off the look with an easy-breezy up-do. Now you’re ready for a day at the beach!
Check out the other tutorials in this series: Argan Oil Shampoo & Conditioner
Shampoo and conditioner go hand-in-hand, and we’re following up yesterday’s Argan Oil Shampoo with today’s Leave-In Argan Oil Conditioner. You can either use this conditioner like a leave-in de-tangling spray, or as a traditional wash-off product. It contains hair nourishing Carrot Extract, as well as DL-Panthenol, which is more commonly known as pro vitamin B5.
Check out the other tutorials in this series: Argan Oil Shampoo and Pink Sea Salt Beach Spray
Sunshine, ocean water and hotter temperatures are great for lifting your mood, but unfortunately they can be less than ideal for your locks. To help you achieve healthy, summer-ready hair, we’re rolling out a series of tutorials this week to rejuvenate and refresh your mane.
This Argan Oil shampoo is particularly loving to your hair and scalp. Argan Oil has long been used as an additive to hair products because of its high content of Vitamin E and essential fatty acids. The addition of Nettle and Carrot Extract provide some extra strand-nourishing power.
Check out the other tutorials in this series: Argan Oil Conditioner and Pink Sea Salt Beach Spray
The third step in our pampering home pedicure series is applying this thick, moisturizing foot mask. Featuring rose clay and kaolin clay, this mask purifies and detoxifies the skin as the avocado extract and vitamin E oil moisturize and nourish. For a step-by-step how to guide on giving yourself a home pedicure, check out the free PDF guide. The cute labels for the jars are also available as a free PDF item!
This project is part of the Happy Feet Home Pedicure series. See all the projects here: Moisturizing Heel Balm, Cranberry Seed Foot Scrub, Invigorating Foot Soak and Summer Shimmer Nail Polish.
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This fizzy bath bomb foot soak is step one in our luxurious home pedicure routine. The soak contains 1st Distillation Peppermint Essential Oil, which leaves a pleasant cooling sensation on your feet, while the Epsom Salts are calming and soothing.
The Round Bath Bomb Clam Shell Mold acts as both the mold and the packaging for these little bombs, and you can complete the entire project by attaching the cute tag, which is available for free as a PDF download.
This project is part of the Happy Feet Home Pedicure series. See all the projects here: Moisturizing Heel Balm, Rose Clay Foot Mask, Cranberry Seed Foot Scrub and Summer Shimmer Nail Polish.
The next two weeks will feature all kinds of exclusive tutorials and specials discounts. We took inspiration from rose, lavender and foxglove blooms, winding pathways and secret gardens tucked away behind giant stone castles. Expect lots of light floral scents, rich colors, and tutorials to help you relax and breathe deep. Each day will feature a new special discount, so be sure to watch our Facebook page, Twitter account, Tumblr Blog, newsletter and the Bramble Berry homepage to get the exclusive coupon code. You can find the coupon codes here too!
The series kicks off with this Goat Milk Bath Tea tutorial, which features a soothing blend of essential oils, Epsom salts, and of course, skin-nourishing goat milk.
We’re all about intricate swirls, lovely layers and exotic techniques, but sometimes you want something simple and elegant.
This two-layer soap features a classic black and white color scheme. The key to this technique is keeping the layers smooth and straight. The little something special in this recipe comes from the Bamboo Powder extract, which is a mild exfoliant added to the bottom white layer. This soap was finished with gold mica painting, which popped beautifully against a black background. Who says simple can’t be pretty?
Keep in mind that this soap does have a light grey lather, although it’s almost unnoticeable on your hands. If you’d like a white later, consider adding 1/2 tsp. or even 1/4 tsp. dispersed Black Oxide colorant (less than we used), but keep in mind you won’t end up with the same black color in the photos. Additionally, the gold topped mica won’t last for more than a wash or two, but we still think it’s worth it!
We’re getting back to the basics today with this cute cube melt & pour. This project is great for beginners and it’s also an excellent way to build some basic melt and pour skills. It requires that you keep a close eye on your temperatures because you don’t want to melt the delicate jojoba beads or break the smooth layers. The project also uses the Carnation Fragrance Oil, which is our sample of the month for April.
If you’re a new soaper, the amount of resources, guides and tutorials to sift through can seem overwhelming. To make things seem a little less daunting, we’re collecting the best resources from around the Bramble Berry network. We’re always excited to welcome new soapers in our community, and hopefully this post will serve as a hub of information to get you on the right track.
Some of you may remember the “choose your own adventure” books that were popular 90s. Well, think of this post in the same way! If you want to start soaping, you’ll need to figure out whether you want to tackle melt and pour or cold process soapmaking. Both methods of soapmaking have their own set of techniques, challenges and new things to explore, and there is certainly no reason you can’t master both. We just recommend starting with one so you can focus your learning. Get ready to dive in, immerse yourself in information and choose your own soapmaking adventure!
Nothing beats relaxing on a hot sunny day with an ice cold beverage — especially if it’s a margarita! We took some inspiration from a classic summer drink for this festive and easy salt scrub.
The extra fine Epsom Salts are like sand, and make for a wonderfully gentle exfoliant. The combination of Deodorized Cocoa Butter, Coconut Oil and Jojoba oil help suspend the granules and provide plenty of skin-loving goodness without melting too much — no messy pools of oils will form on top of this scrub! We experimented with Coconut Citrus Sorbet and Lime fragrance oils to get the perfect sweet scent, but you can certainly adjust it to suit your tastes. Scrub up!
Winter is on its way out, and spring cleaning is on its way in! Freshen up your home with this easy to make Springtime Room Spray. This spray takes less than 10 minutes to assemble. We experimented with all kinds of fragrance blends before arriving on the perfect combination of Spring Meadow and Crisp Apple Rose. It reminded us of freshly sprouted flowers on a warm sunny day.
Our Soap Crafting Club had a little bit more of a challenge than we planned for this week. When reports of failing batches came in on the private Soap Crafting forum, we knew something was wrong. After all, the recipe that we were making (Tie Dye from the Soap Crafting Book) had been made at least 8 times and gone through 2 photo shoots and 1 video shoot. It was designed to be fail-safe. We tracked down the culprit to a mis-manufactured fragrance oil that was sent out to the entire group of soapers. Oh dear, chaos, sturm und drang.
The Easter Bunny visited the Soap Queen blog early this year, and he brought these adorable melt & pour massage eggs with him! This is beginner-level melt & pour project is great for kids, and it features two eggscellent springtime fragrances — Eden’s Garden and Sweet Pea.
We also added Oat Extract to this project. Oat Extract is soothing for all types of skin and it’s especially popular in baby products. As with most extracts, add it your melt & pour soap base at 1 teaspoon per pound of soap base.
The Havana Classic series continues today with this super sensory melt and pour project. Loaded with natural additives such as Shredded Loofah, Poppy Seeds, Lemon Peel, White Pumice and Walnut Shells, this is a fun textured bar of soap that exfoliates as it cleans.
Now through March 26 we’re rolling out specials tutorials, coupons and discounts as part of Havana Classic. Subscribe to our newsletter, and keep an eye on our Facebook page, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Homepage and the blog for the coupon codes so you don’t miss the savings!
