Lavender Archives - Page 4 of 4

DIY Wine Aroma Kit

March 17, 2010 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Next week I’m headed to the 2010 “Taste Washington” (a top food and wine show in the Pacific Northwest with classes, tastings and food) and I’ve been researching wine aromas and how to improve your wine palate. You can improve your wine sniffing abilities by training your nose to identify notes in different wines. There are kits out there to help you with this or … I was thinking a little DIY Bramble Berry action might be in order!

Put together your own wine aroma kit for a fun evening or dinner party with your friends. If DIY isn’t your style, this is the kit I’ve been drooling over on Amazon.com: Le NEz du Vin Red Wine Aromas

Common wine aromas that you can find at Bramble Berry

Fruits:Lemon, Grapefruit, Orange, Strawberry

Florals: Lavender, Violet,

Vegetal: Thyme, Pine, Vanilla, Cinnamon, Clove, Licorice,

Animal: Leather, Musk

Grilled: Dark Rich Chocolate, Toasted Bread, CaramelUsing a wine aroma tasting kit is simple: you put your nose into a large bulbous glass with wine in it, identify three or four fragrances and then compare your nose to the tasting notes that the vinter will provide on their website or through a store. Using the wine aroma tasting kit, you can improve your sensory skills by implanting a sensory ‘memory’ each time you need to pinpoint a particular aroma. Or, make a game out of it at your next party – let your guests smell the fragrances on blotters and ask them to identify the notes. Turn learning into something fun and create what you love (with Bramble Berry) =))

Wedding Soap: Romantic Lavender

June 10, 2009 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

These romantic lavender soaps can be made in any color you can think of- just pick your favorite colorant. It’s the Lavender buds and the Lavender Essential oil that really steal the show!

What You’ll Need:
Clear Melt and Pour
White Melt and Pour
Light Gold Mica
Ultramarine Violet Oxide
Lavender Buds
Lavender 40/42 Essential Oil
Brownie Pan or Loaf Mold (that can hold 4 lbs)
Microwave Save Bowl (pyrex)

Step 1: Melt about 16 oz of clear melt and pour soap base. Stir in 1/2 oz of Lavender 40/42 essential oil and about 1/2 tablespoon of light gold mica. Pour soap into your brownie pan or loaf mold. Spritz with rubbing alcohol to eliminate any bubbles.

Tip: To avoid spots and speckles, mix your oxide with a little rubbing alcohol before adding it to the soap base. SoapQueenTV Episode #2 covers mixing oxides (minute 4:00) & using lavender herbs in soap (4:30).

Step 3: For the second layer, melt another 16 oz of clear melt and pour soap base. Mix in 1/2 oz of Lavender 40/42 essential oil and 1/2 tablespoon of ultramarine violet oxide. Spritz the first soap layer with rubbing alcohol to help the two layers adhere. Pour the second layer and spritz again with rubbing alcohol to eliminate bubbles. Let second layer cool.

Step 4: For the third layer, melt 16 oz of white melt and pour soap base. Mix in 1/2 oz Lavender 40/42 essential oil and 1/2 tablespoon of light gold mica. Spritz the second soap layer with rubbing alcohol to help the two layers adhere. Pour the third layer and spritz again with rubbing alcohol to eliminate bubbles.

Step 5: For the fourth and final layer, melt 8 oz of clear melt and pour soap base (we want this layer to be a little thinner than the other layers to really showcase the lavender buds). Mix in 1/4 oz Lavender 40/42 essential oil and between 1/4 – 1/2 cup of lavender buds. Again, spritz the third soap layer with rubbing alcohol to help the two layers adhere. Pour your fourth layer and spritz again with rubbing alcohol to eliminate bubbles. Let cool completely before cutting.

Step 5: Cut these lavender beauties in any shape or size you want. We cut ours with a crinkle cutter and finished them off by putting them in lavender organza bags. Make these as fresh as possible, right before the wedding, because Lavender buds do go brown in soap (eventually). Episode #2 of SoapQueenTV has a shot of an aged Lavender soap around minute 4:47.

*Yields 9-12 fabulous wedding favors.
Interested in making these favors in a larger quantity? No problem! Just keep in mind that the brownie pan can hold up to 3 pounds of soap. This will make anywhere between 18 and 30 bars of soap depending on how small or large you cut the favors. This project is the most cost effective of the three from the last few days because it’s poured into one big slab and cut (rather than individually poured into smaller molds). We recommend 1/2 oz of fragrance oil per pound of soap base. And for the colorants? It’s really up to you. Add as much or as little as you want to create the perfect shade.

Rebatch – Double Boiler Method

February 26, 2009 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Cold Process Soap

What you need:

Rebatching Soap Base (make it yourself or buy a premade base)
Fragrance or Essential Oil
Mold (the less detail, the better)
Optional: Herbs
Colorant (liquid works best)

Double Boiler
Grater
Large Bowl
Spoon

Step One: Grate down the soap. katwOman recommended a SaladMaster so if you have one of these, you could try that as well. The key is to have small pieces of the soap. They mix in and soften up nicely (compared to trying to melt down an entire block).

Step Two: With the water in the double boiler burbling gently, place approximately 1 Tablespoon of liquid (water, tea, beer, wine) and the grated soap in the top pan of the double boiler.

Step Three: Stirring occasionally (every few minutes) for approximately 20 minutes, wait for the soap to soften into a gelatinous mass. Once it gets to a gloppy, thick oatmeal phases and looks sort of translucent, you know you’re ready. You can add more liquid but the more water or liquid you add, the softer the soap and more difficult to pop out of the molds.

Step Four: Stir in fragrance and color. I like to use approximately 1/2 ounce of fragrance or essential oil per pound of soap. Labcolors work best to color rebatch soap because they are easy to incorporate.

Step Five: Use a large spoon and glop the soap into any plain mold and gently tap the mold on the counter to get rid of any air pockets. The more detailed the mold, the more difficult it is to get the soap to easily release. You can freeze the soap if you’re in a hurry but it’s best to just wait it out if you can stand it. If you don’t like a more natural “back” of the soap bar, you can use saran wrap (below, right) to smooth out the backs of the soap.

That’s it – you’re done. You’ve completed a soap project in under one hour that can be totally natural and has a rustic and country chic look.

We Love Our Commentors!

December 28, 2008 Filed Under: Business Musings

The last five days off have been glorious, filled with family time and much laughter. I feel less stressed out than I have since my honeymoon! The time off has been delightful. Thanks for the break. But, it’s time to get back to work (inventory at Bramble Berry and Otion this week) and get focused on what will help move me forward in the New Year. Like last year, I’ll be soliciting you to tell me what your goals are for the new year. Fifty-four of you chimed in last year and I’m hoping for even more this year. Expect this upcoming week to be filled with tips on best practices for meeting your goals in the new year. And, like last year, I’ll randomly award one commenter a goody packet of essential oils, overpoured and underpoured colorants and random mis-pours from the Bramble Berry warehouse.

I’m telling you this now so you have a few days to plan the upcoming year and spend some time thinking about the things that will really move you forward in your personal and professional lives. Quality goals take planning, effort and quiet contemplation. Take some time in the next few days to plan your goals out and then, on Wednesday, hopefully you’ll share a few of them with the Soap Queen community.
I also have goodies for those of you that comment faithfully and often on my posts. I really appreciate the feedback (and need it to know what you’re interested in!). I know it takes time and effort to read this blog and comment. I don’t take your participation for granted. In the last week, 36 of you have given of your time and commented on posts. In a randomly drawn number (by my husband), Mary from Annie’s Goat Hill will get a little package of Bramble Berry love headed her way, including samples of all five of our Lavender Essential Oils, three Labcolors, our latest fragrance Marrakesh and a sample of our not-yet-released Salty Marinerr fragrance. Thank you for participating in the Soap Queen blog. It’s an honor to have your readership.

Great use of color & stamping

July 9, 2007 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

The Chamomile Lavender fragranced soap above is a great use of color and stamping. Irena at Ginger’s Garden does a wonderful job mixing color, scent and decorative touches like these adorable dragonfly stamps.

Tires that Smell Like Lavender

May 20, 2007 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

In an attempt to appeal to the female consumer, Kuhmo Tires has come out with a tire that smells like Lavender.

Because women spend so much time at ground level, smelling their … tires?

Another marketing gimmick, another day. Rather than coming out with something that actually appeals to the fashion savvy woman (purple tires anyone?), the Korean company designed a product that a. probably won’t smell much b. if it actually smells, it’s bound to smell like an unattractive mixture of lavender, rubber and road kill and c. if it really does smell, will irritate allergy suffers everywhere.

I don’t want to sound like a negative naysayer all the time. I applaud the innovation that goes into coming up with good, marketable ideas. I just wonder how much focus group-ing that Kuhmo did. I don’t recall any one of my friends ever mentioning that they wanted their tires to smell good. The market, in my limited circles, was not crying out for this innovation.

But, if you are one of the ladies out there that would like your car tires to smell like Lavender, head over to TireRack.com and buy yourself a tire for $119.

Performance? Safety? Nah, I just want my tires to smell like Lavender.