The Bramble Berry App has been available for about six months now, and I’ve been so happy with the response! I love that crafters have a free tool and resource to bring all things soap to their finger tips. The app started as a concept to create a handheld Bramble Berry Lye Calculator. It soon grew into a full-scale tool to keep up with Soap Queen and Bramble Berry on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, Twitter and Tumblr! It is the perfect app to get soapy inspiration and create and collect recipes. Currently the app is only available for iOS, but may be available for other platforms in the future.
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 =)