We have been busy updating the Bramble Berry app to make it the very best it can be. If you’re unfamiliar with the app, it allows you easily keep up with Bramble Berry and Soap Queen on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, Twitter and Tumblr. You can also shop Bramble Berry and access the Lye Calculator and Fragrance Calculator. Click here to get an overview on how to use the app and what it can do. The app is free to use; click here to learn more. Currently, the app is only available for iOS, but we are hoping to make the app available for Android users in the future!

One of the largest updates to the app is the addition of the Fragrance Calculator! The Bramble Berry Fragrance Calculator allows you to easily find out how much Bramble Berry fragrance oil to use in your projects. If you have used the Fragrance Calculator on Bramble Berry, the calculator on the app will feel very familiar.

To use the calculator on the app, open the drop down menu on the top left of the screen. Select “Fragrance Calculator.” Input what fragrance oil you’re using. Then, select what you’re making and how much. The calculator will give you the recommended usage rates for a light, medium and strong scent. If you’re in the middle of prepping ingredients, having the Fragrance Calculator at your fingertips is so convenient.

If you love having the Fragrance Calculator on your phone, the app also includes the Lye Calculator as an in-app purchase. The calculator figures in grams as well as ounces. If you have already purchased the older Soap Calculator app, feel free to contact info(at)brambleberry(dot)com and we can activate the Lye Calculator on the new app for you. The Lye Calculator allows you to formulate and save your favorite recipes. You can also set a reminder for when your batch will be fully cured!

The Lye Calculator feature comes with three of my favorite recipes: Lots of Lather, Moisturizing and Nourishing. You can edit these recipes and create your own from 90+ ingredients. The Lye Calculator also allows for a wide range of superfat options. Read more about superfatting soap here.

If you use the app to create your recipes, I recommend emailing them to yourself to back them up. The app does a great job of saving the recipes, but technology can falter and it’s always a good idea to have a backup. To email recipes, click the send icon in the bottom right corner. Select “Email Recipe.” You can also print the recipes with AirPrint by selecting “Print Recipe.”

Other major Bramble Berry app updates pertain to the payment process. You can now use coupons during checkout, and Paypal has been added as a payment method. The app is organized very similarly to the site, and also has a wish list feature. If you’re signed into your account, the app updates the wishlist on both your phone and desktop. Items in your cart will also stay there as long as you’re signed into the app =)

We worked really hard to make shopping for soap supplies on the Bramble Berry app as easy as can be. To shop the site, open up the main menu on the top left corner. Then select “Shop.” From there, you can select what categories of products you’d like to shop, or use the search function to search for something specific.

At the top of each category is a list of popular items within the category. For example, you can easily find the Clear Melt and Pour Soap Base along with the Shea and Goat Milk Bases at the top of the “Bases” category. If you click on a product, below the product description you’ll also find tutorials and videos to learn how to use the product.

The app is also a great way to follow Bramble Berry on social media, including Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, Soap Queen TV and the blog. If you would like to be notified when I publish my favorite tutorials, allow notifications from the Bramble Berry app in your phone’s settings. Don’t worry, we won’t spam you with notifications – we send one notification a week. This will also allow the app to send a notification for when your order has shipped.

If you’ve used the app, I would love to know what you think and what you’d like to see added. Currently, the app is only available for iOS, but we are hoping to make the app available for Android users in the future!

The post Bramble Berry App Update! appeared first on Soap Queen.

In the Spiced Copper Cold Process Soap Tutorial, mica is used to create bold lines in-between the soap layers. Copper Sparkle Mica is also dusted on the top for more sparkle and shine. It’s a simple design that really stands out. To accent the color, the soap is fragranced Spiced Amber Ale Fragrance Oil.

For more fall color inspiration, check out the Fall Project Ideas & Inspiration post. The roundup features several projects, like the sweet and spicy Pumpkin Pie Melt and Pour Bars. It also includes the Bramble Beer Soap. That recipe is made with blonde ale rather than water. Check out more ideas here.

For inspiration on the go, you can use the Bramble Berry App. The app allows you to see all things Bramble Berry in one place. You can access all our social media channels, including Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. You can also shop on the app at Bramble Berry for an easier phone shopping experience. Click through the Bramble Berry App How-To post to learn how to use it.

This week’s Facebook Photo of the Week by Amanda with Adam’s Garden of Eden is full of fall inspiration. Her Space Bogey Halloween Soap is so gorgeous!

The black soap provides plenty of contrast for the bright colors in the middle, and the frosting and sphere add a nice finishing touch on top. The colorful drop swirl pattern totally screams Halloween. For more Halloween themed soap, click through the Cold Process Spider Webs Tutorial. The Caramel Apple Soaps are another fun holiday project.

Above (top, clockwise) are Amanda’s Rock Star Princess Soap, Dragon’s Blood XXL Bath Bombs, Lavender Silk Soap and Flower Pot Bath Bomb. Her bath bombs are so amazing. For a fun fizzy tutorial, click through the Sparkle Power Bath Bomb Tutorial. The French Macaron Bath Bombs are a unique tutorial as well.

Find Adam’s Garden of Eden
On Etsy
On Facebook

This week’s Instagram Photo of the Week is a gorgeous Christmas soap made by Stvdio5. The soap is made with charcoal and geranium essential oil, and features lots of stunning detail. The swirl looks great topped with frosting, embeds and an adorable straw. See more beautiful work on their Instagram page.

Post pictures of your crafty creations on the Facebook page each week for a chance to be featured on the Soap Queen blog and receive a sweet soapy package from Bramble Berry. Photos are chosen based on consensus from the Bramble Berry staff, so the best way to increase your chances of winning is to show us lots of photos!

To participate in the Instagram contest, hashtag your pictures with #soapshare. Each Friday, I will pick a photo on Instagram to be featured on the Bramble Berry Instagram account.

For those of you who have been featured on the blog, we now have an official “Featured on the Soap Queen” badge! You can include that badge on your website, blog, pictures, etc. To save the badge, click here. =)

The post Facebook and Instagram Photo of the Week (Sept. 26th ~ Oct. 2nd) appeared first on Soap Queen.

If you’ve downloaded the app you may be wondering, “What now?” First, log into the Bramble Berry Soap app. This allows you to save your recipes in the Lye Calculator. On the left in the photo below is the home screen of the app. In the upper left hand corner (notice the big arrow!) you’ll see a drop down icon. Tap the icon, and you’ll be directed to a plethora of options, including being directed to the blog, social media outlets and the Lye Calculator (see image below on the right). From this menu, select “My Accounts,” near the bottom.

Once you select “My Accounts,” you’ll be directed to a screen that shows you several account options. Login to your Bramble Berry account by entering your email and password that you use on the Bramble Berry site. Once you do, you’ll notice that your shopping cart will update. If you’d like, link to your social media accounts by clicking on the social media outlet and sign in. You may find that you need to allow Bramble Berry access to these apps in the Settings of your phone.
Being logged into social media outlets allows you to interact with us on social media through the app. For example, you can like photos on Instagram on the app (see image on the left below). However, some outlets like Pinterest will not allow you to interact with the content on the app, and prefer you to use their app instead (see image on the right). This will continue to change as different social media outlets update their API (fancy way of saying that they’ll update their code to allow interaction for their platform within our app).

You can easily interact with us on social media outlets such as Instagram on the app!

Without a doubt, my favorite feature of the Bramble Berry App is the Lye Calculator, which is available for purchase in the app. It’s so nice to be able to formulate and save cold process recipes. The calculator figures in grams, as well as ounces. If you have already purchased the older Soap Calculator app, feel free to contact info(at)brambleberry.com and we can activate the lye calculator on the new app for you. No need to pay twice!

The Lye Calculator includes three of my favorite cold process recipes: Lots of Lather, Moisturizing and Nourishing. These recipes can be easily customized by entering your own measurements for each oil, as well as adding adding new oils or butters. The calculator automatically updates the amount of lye and water needed for each recipe once an oil is updated, deleted or added. Let’s try editing the “Lots of Lather,” recipe. You can see the original recipe below on the left. In the upper right hand corner, tap “Edit”. There, you have the option to delete an oil, edit the oil or add a new oil. Let’s add a new oil!
Once you select, “Add New Ingredient,” you will be able to select from a wide variety of oils and butters. Select the butter or oil you’d like, and enter the amount in ounces or grams. Below on the left, I added 3 oz. of Avocado Butter to this recipe. On the right, you can see the lye and water amount has automatically updated. You can also edit the superfat percentage, or calculate liquid soap recipes! Creating your own recipes with the calculator is super easy as well. To add a recipe, click “Lye Calculator,” then tap the “+” icon in the top right corner. 

Once you complete a batch, you can set a reminder for when the batch is done curing. To set a reminder, first select the recipe. In this case, I selected “Lots of Lather.” Then, at the bottom of the screen, select “Batches” (see middle photo). Then click on the calendar icon in the bottom left corner (see right photo). Once you do, a notice will pop up that says “Reminder Set: a reminder has been set for when this batch will be ready.” This reminder defaults for 6 weeks, which is when the soap will be fully cured. You can also take photos of each individual batch.

The app also has the ability to notify you when a new Soap Queen blog post goes up (see photo below), or when your Bramble Berry order has shipped! Personally, when I buy something online I am constantly checking to see if it’s shipped, or when it will arrive to me. Receiving packages is so fun! To receive notifications from the app, make sure the “Allow Notification” setting is turned on for the Bramble Berry App. This can be turned on in the main Settings area of your phone.

One area of the app that is still being worked on is the ability to use coupons. If you are trying to make an order with a coupon, you will need to use a desktop computer, or use the internet browser in your phone. Are there any other functions you’d like to see in the app? We are working out the logistics of creating a Bramble Berry app for Android phones =)

The post Bramble Berry App How-To appeared first on Soap Queen.

Goat milk is another great milk option for soap. If you don’t have fresh milk on hand, you can use powdered goat milk. With goat milk powder, oat extract and colloidal oatmeal, the Goat Milk and Oatmeal Cold Process Tutorial feels gentle on your skin. The brown and white layers get a pop of color from a gold mica line. The colors go perfectly with sweet Oatmeal, Milk and Honey Fragrance Oil.

The crinkle cutter adds detail to the goat milk bars. If you want more detail in your soap, you can use plastic molds. The molds can be used for cold process soap, but do require a few tricks to get it out with all the details intact. Using hard oils in your recipe helps the soap release faster. Sodium lactate is another ingredient that helps the soap release easily. Read more in the Unmolding Cold Process Soap from Plastic Molds post.

Now you can find more soaping tips and tricks in the palm of your hand. The new Bramble Berry app is now ready to download and use. It allows you to shop the store on your phone. You can also browse Bramble Berry’s social media outlets, like the Bramble Berry Facebook page. While it is only available for iPhones and iPads (on iTunes) right now, that may change in the future. Read more in the New Bramble Berry App post.

The app also allows you to see blog posts, like the Interview with Sami of Poor & Pretty Apothecary from your phone (all our social media, in one handy place!). A crafty person her whole life, Sami started making soap when she was 13. Now, she makes a variety of products including sugar scrub and sea salt hair spray. Read more about Sami and what inspires her to create in her interview.

In the mood for more beautiful projects? You’ll love this week’s Facebook Photo of the Week by Elika with Laffy Daffy Soap Co. The soap is made with fruity Summer Fling Fragrance Oil.

The rainbow color palette and crisp layers in Elika’s soap are stunning. The star on top is a beautiful touch as well. For more rainbow inspiration, click through the Rainbow Spheres Tutorial. Rainbow colors look great in cold process soap too, as seen in the Over the Rainbow Cold Process Tutorial.

Above (clockwise, left) are Elika’s Rainbow Bliss soap, shark soap, My Sweet Pea Soap and sword soap. If you love the geometric look of the Rainbow Bliss soap, check out the Geometric Soap on Soap Queen TV. For a fun angled look in cold process soap, click through the Dragon’s Breath Cold Process Soap Tutorial.

 Find Laffy Daffy Soap Co.
On Facebook

The Instagram Photo of the Week also features a beautiful rainbow color palette. Soap With Hope’s bars feature amazing layers and bright colors. It looks so amazing! Check out more beautiful photos on her Instagram page.

Post pictures of your crafty creations on the Facebook page each week for a chance to be featured on the Soap Queen blog and receive a sweet soapy package from Bramble Berry. Photos are chosen based on consensus from the Bramble Berry staff, so the best way to increase your chances of winning is to show us lots of photos!

To participate in the Instagram contest, hashtag your pictures with #soapshare. Each Friday, I will pick a photo on Instagram to win a copy of the Soap Crafting book, and share on the Bramble Berry Instagram account. 

The post Facebook and Instagram Photo of the Week (April 11th ~ April 17th) appeared first on Soap Queen.

The new Bramble Berry app allows you to easily shop Bramble Berry from your phone. In the app, you can also access your Bramble Berry wishlist and check the status of your orders. The app allows you to browse the website just as you would on your computer. You may shop via the search function on the top, or via featured products and categories. Below, is an example of what the melt and pour base section looks like on the app. On the left is the general category page for melt and pour bases. Once you select “Bramble Berry Bases,” it takes you to the page shown on the right. From there, you can click on individual products for more information, or to add to your cart and wishlist.

In addition to easy Bramble Berry shopping, the app enables easy browsing on Bramble Berry social media outlets, including the Soap Queen blog. While browsing the blog via the app, you can comment on blog posts and email them to yourself to bookmark and read later. On the left, you can see that each blog post is easily accessible by scrolling. Once you select a post, you are taken to the post in full screen. See the little share icon on the very top right? Click that to send the post via message, email, Twitter and more.

Want to connect with other soapers on the Bramble Berry Facebook page? You got it! The app connects directly to the Facebook wall, allowing you to scroll through the inspirational soapy photos posted by the soapy community. Want more crafty inspiration? The new app also connects to the Bramble Berry Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr page. Below is a photo of what the social media outlet navigation looks like. The images update automatically with new blog posts, pins, tweets, ‘grams and posts on the Bramble Berry Facebook wall.

Several of the social media outlets including Pinterest and YouTube have interaction limitations. For example, when viewing Pinterest you are not able to like or comment, and YouTube does not show our responses. We are aware of these issues, and are looking into ways to get them fixed.

The new Bramble Berry app also connects to the Bramble Berry lye calculator app, which is available for purchase. Having the lye calculator on your phone makes re-sizing and formulating recipes on the go simple. The calculator figures in grams, as well as ounces. If you have already purchased the older Soap Calculator app, feel free to contact info(at)brambleberry.com and we can activate the lye calculator on the new app for you. In the photo on the left below, you can see the lye calculator in the menu near the bottom. Once you click “Lye Calculator,” you will be taken to a screen to purchase and download.

So whatcha waiting for? Click here to download to view in iTunes. After you’ve used the new app, I’d love to hear what you think! 

The post New Bramble Berry App! appeared first on Soap Queen.