Tutorials on soapmaking, bath fizzies, lotions and more
Solid perfume is a great way to carry fragrance with you without worrying about spills. This Cherry Blossom perfume is made with Bramble Berry Solid Perfume Base. It contains several skin-loving oils, like Coconut Oil and Avocado Oil. Cherry Blossom Fragrance Oil is a subtle fruity floral scent, well suited as a perfume scent. This is a unique and colorful twist on a traditional uncolored perfume balm.
Give your cuticles a little winter lovin’ with this nourishing combination of oils. Chia, Argan and Jojoba are packed with vitamins and skin-loving fatty acids, and the additional Vitamin E oil provides a boost of anti-oxidants. This simple oil takes about 10 minutes to create and doubles as a small, thoughtful gift or, economical version of something you spend 10X more for in the salon.
As spring rolls around, you may be looking for some sprightly colorants to liven up your bath & body products. To mimic the color of fresh green grass or newly sprouted flowers, Green Chrome Oxide and Hydrated Chrome Green may be just what you’re looking for. As an added bonus, Green Chrome Oxide is 20% off this month as part of Bramble Berry’s web specials.
Chrome Green (top) and Hydrated Chrome Green (bottom) colorants
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.
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.
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!
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!
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.
I have a favorite sheer lip tint from a large department store brand that I’ve loved for years. It routinely makes ‘Best Of’ lists in magazines; it’s a classic, beloved by most. And, every time I fork over $15 for this luxury indulgence, I feel a twinge of guilt. After all, I can (and should!) make the stuff myself (!). I hit the lab and created something that is my go-to staple almost every day now. Compared to lipsticks from top luxury beauty brand, I think you will find it very difficult to tell the difference. Without equipment costs, this recipe will cost you less than $2.50 per tube, so never pay $15 for lipstick again!
After creating your own deodorant with our Aluminum Free Deodorant Base, you’ll never go back to store-bought deodorants again. Simply melt down the base, add your fragrance or essential oil of your choice and as soon as it’s hardened it’s ready to use.
For this project we used the Sample Fragrance of the Month, the light and refreshing Cucumber Melon Cybilla. With every order you place at Bramble Berry this month, you’ll receive a complimentary .5 oz. sample of this fresh fragrance.
Because underarms tend to be sensitive areas, we don’t recommend more than a 1 % usage rate when adding fragrance oil or essential oil to this base. In this case, we fragranced the entire 4 oz. container with only 1.5 mL of fragrance oil!
Are you excited to make your first batch of cold process soap? Make sure you prep your colorants! In this Soap Queen Short we show you what you need to prepare your colors beforehand to ensure an even pigmentation and give you more time to work with your soap. The more prepared you can be with all of your ingredients, the better your soap design will turn out. We use a few simple pigments and oxides and mix them into some of our favorite lightweight oils like sweet almond, sunflower, and canola.
Learn to Prepare Colorants for Cold Process Soapmaking from Soap Queen on Vimeo.
This link will take you to a great list of our pigments, and below you will see some of our best lightweight oils for mixing colorants:
We also have a battery powered 4-in-1 Mini Mixer that will make the job fast and easy.
For more information on coloring your soap consult some of our other resources like Lori Nova’s great E-Book, Color with Confidence and the Color with Confidence Starter Kit or check out Kathryn Hackney’s E-Book,Cold Process Colorant Master Class.
Really, this could be called ‘Human Massage Oil’ since it’s not just good for babies but boy oh boy, little babies do love it. =) In this Soap Queen Short, I show how to make a baby massage oil and then try it out on Lily. She loved it. If you don’t have a baby, this recipe is also a wonderful massage oil for anyone, especially those with sensitive skin. By the way, Lily nailed her part in this video on the first take – she’s a natural.
Note: The Bulgarian Lavender Essential Oil has been discontinued. The kit now includes Lavender 40/42 Essential Oil.
To make this recipe you will need:
To make the infused Calendula oil follow the instructions in this video or in this e-book and use:
Get everything you need to make this project added to your Bramble Berry shopping cart by clicking here.
We’re continuing the Givember madness today with this fabulous massage oil. Jojoba Oil is a bit of a misnomer because it’s actually a liquid wax, but it’s known for its ability to absorb into skin and moisturize. Jojoba oil also has an indefinite shelf life, which make this an excellent, long-lasting gift.
This massage oil is part of our Romance Gift Ensemble, which includes tutorials on how to make bath salts, whipped shea butter, a spruce-scented candle and a pink salt scrub. Scroll to the end of this tutorial to learn how to make all four! Our Midweek Mayhem continues this week too, so be sure to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on various social media outlets to be the first to hear about all the deals.
Perfect for holiday dinner party or sophisticated evening out to see The Nut Cracker, this Holiday Crimson Lip Stain is as pretty as it is lip loving. It’s made with our Nourish Lip Balm Base, which contains a luscious blend of coconut, sweet almond and avocado oils. Make it to enjoy yourself or give away as a fun stocking stuffer! This lip stain is part of our Givember 2013 ensemble of gifts.
Heading to a holiday party and need a quick gift? This adorable holiday potpourri jar can be assembled in 10 minutes or less! This project incorporates plenty of holiday hallmarks, including cinnamon sticks, cloves and of course, the sweet and spicy fragrance of freshly baked pumpkin pie. Downloadable (free)! labels make this a complete gift giving tour de force.
