melt and pour Archives - Page 4 of 9

Chamomile Oat Melt & Pour Bars DIY

May 24, 2016 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Melt & Pour Soap

Chamomile is one of my favorite herbs to incorporate in bath and beauty products. It smells amazing, looks appealing and is known for its soothing properties. For these Chamomile Oat Bars, I added chamomile extract to Stephenson Oatmeal and Shea Melt and Pour to create a super luxurious bar. Chamomile Bergamot Fragrance Oil gives a fresh and relaxing scent.

To embed the chamomile herbs into the bar, I placed the herbs into each cavity and covered them with a thin layer of Stephenson Ultra Clear Soap Base. This base is incredibly clear, which makes it perfect for embedding and layering. The chamomile herb does bleed in the soap slightly and may increase over time. I think they still look beautiful, even with bleeding. They can also discolor brown over time.

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Pumice & Poppy Seed Melt and Pour Tutorial

May 10, 2016 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Melt & Pour Soap

Exfoliation removes dead skin, brightens up skin and helps moisturizer absorb better. These melt and pour soaps contain an exfoliating trio of pumice, poppy seeds and Lagoon Green Jojoba Beads. Jojoba beads are smooth and round, and feel gentle on the skin. They are great for delicate facial skin. Poppy seeds are a little larger and rougher, making them more suitable for the body.

This project is suitable for beginners, but does take a little knowledge regarding layering melt and pour soap. The key to layering melt and pour is temperature and patience. Click here to read my top five tips on creating layered melt and pour designs. I scented these bars with the masculine Bramble Berry’s Made to Measure Type Fragrance Oil, but any fragrance oil could be used for these scrubby soaps.

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Neon Geometric Melt & Pour Soap Tutorial

March 22, 2016 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Melt & Pour Soap

If you’re ready to celebrate spring, it may be time to break out a little neon! These Neon Geometric Melt and Pour Bars incorporate bright shades of green, pink, purple and yellow to create a complex design. The geometric shapes are created by pouring the soap while the 10″ Silicone Loaf Mold is propped at an angle. It’s scented with the Yuzu Cybilla Fragrance Oil, which smells fresh, bright and citrusy. These bars would be perfect for Easter, without being “too Easter-y.”

This melt and pour project requires some patience, but the results are well worth it. Before pouring each layer, the bottom layer needs to be cool and firm enough to support the layer on top. This project also requires a solid understanding of melt and pour temperature. It’s crucial to pour the layers while the soap is hot enough that it’s fluid, but not too hot that it melts the layers below. Make sure you have a spray bottle full of 99% isopropyl alcohol nearby to ensure the layers stick together.

This soap is a little tricky, and more suited for advanced melt and pour soapmakers. If you’ve never made melt and pour soap before, the Basic Melt and Pour Layers video on Soap Queen TV is a great place to start. I would then recommend attempting a simpler layered project to get the hang of it. Both the Ginger Patchouli Melt and Pour Bars and the Pumpkin Pie Melt and Pour Soap projects are great places to start.

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Chicks and Bunnies Melt & Pour Soap DIY

February 29, 2016 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Melt & Pour Soap

Spring officially starts on March 20th. I can’t wait for warmer weather, vibrant blooms and longer days. These adorable Chicks and Bunnies Melt and Pour Soaps are the perfect way to celebrate the upcoming season. In particular, I’m going to give them to family and friends on Easter. The kids will love to help me make them and pop them into friends’ Easter baskets. =) ~~Made with the limited edition Chicks and Bunnies Silicone Mold, they look just like classic Easter treats.~~ These molds are now sold out. You can find Easter mold options here.

This project is ideal for beginners, and is a great project to make with kids (with adult supervision, of course). Made with creamy Goat Milk Melt and Pour Soap and scented with the crisp Green Fig Fragrance Oil, they lather up and smell as good as they look. The soft pastel colors are achieved by adding shavings of Color Blocks. If you’ve never used Color Blocks before, check out this Soap Queen TV video to learn how.

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Celtic Melt and Pour Soap Tutorial

February 23, 2016 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Melt & Pour Soap

Green is one of my favorite colors for decor and crafts. This might be evident by the number of green tutorials here on the blog. From the lime green shown in the Lime in the Coconut Cold Process, to the soft green in the Creamy Cucumber Lotion, there is a shade for every project. With St. Patrick’s Day just a few weeks away, now is the time to get crafting with green. These Celtic Melt and Pour Bars use Evergreen Mica to create beautiful Celtic-inspired designs. The Celtic Combo Limited Edition Mold used in this project creates four unique designs that are perfect for the holiday.

The first step of this project is filling the details in each cavity with highly pigmented soap using the Injector Tool. This process does take some patience and a steady hand. I highly recommend having a spray bottle of 99% isopropyl alcohol nearby. I like to spray the mold lightly with alcohol immediately before filling in the details. The alcohol helps the melted soap spread easily into the small cavities. Then spray with alcohol immediately after to help disperse any bubbles.

Temperature is also key in this project. After filling in the details, allow the green soap to fully cool and harden. Once you’re ready to pour the white soap on top, be careful that it’s not too hot. If the soap is much hotter than 130 ° F, it will melt the green pattern. Patience is key! To read more about temperature in melt and pour soap, check out the How to Avoid Burnt Melt & Pour blog post.

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Melt & Pour Soap Truffles Tutorial

February 9, 2016 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Melt & Pour Soap

It’s no secret that I have a sweet spot for dessert-inspired soap. From cupcake soap to doughnut soap, beautifully decorated desserts have inspired a lot of fun projects. These melt and pour soap truffles look incredibly realistic, and make perfect guest size soaps. They are scented with Butter Mints Fragrance Oil, which was the number one pick for our Summer 2015 S.O.A.P. Panel. It features rich chocolate-y notes enhanced with zingy peppermint and maple sugar. It’s the perfect scent for these small soapy treats.

For this project, I used Color Blocks to create three colors of soapy truffles. Once hardened, melt and pour is drizzled on top and sprinkled with pink sea salt. Jojoba beads would also look great. I packaged the soap in chocolate boxes to give to friends for Valentine’s Day. They are an awesome, calorie-free way to enjoy chocolate. =)

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Mini Melt & Pour Football Soap Tutorial

January 12, 2016 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Melt & Pour Soap

While I’ve never been a person that just has to watch the game (football, baseball, basketball or soccer), I love the social aspect around watching sports. Sports are a great reason to get together with friends and family, eat delicious food and root for your team. In particular, football is one of my favorite sports to watch. It doesn’t hurt that the Seattle Seahawks have been in the Super Bowl two years in a row (Go Hawks!) =) If you’re looking for a fun project to celebrate the end of football season, these Mini Melt and Pour Football Soaps are perfect! The Guest Mini Football Mold creates four adorably small soaps that fit perfectly in the palm of your hand.

This project is straightforward; simply use the Injector Tool to fill in the lace details with white soap, then pour the brown soap on top. Filling in the details does take a little practice and a steady hand. I find spraying the mold with a thin layer of 99% isopropyl alcohol before using the Injector Tool helps small amounts of soap “spread” into the cavity details. I scented these soaps with Grass Stain and Leather Fragrance Oil for a combination that’s both fresh and slightly smoky.

I’m thinking I need to make this project again during a football party. If you have young children, you know watching football is not exactly the most entertaining activity for them. Placing the white soap into the small details would be difficult for children, but mixing and pouring the brown soap would be doable. Then, the kids and your guests have some football soap to take home with them after the game. =)
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Rose Gold & Charcoal Heart Melt and Pour Soap Tutorial

January 5, 2016 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Melt & Pour Soap

If you’re looking for a sophisticated spin on Valentine’s Day colors, this is the project for you. Pink and black come together to create elegant contrast. The small heart in the center, made with the Mini Heart Silicone Column Mold, makes this project a great way to for show your love this February (or any time of year!) These bars are scented with the light and floral White Magnolia Fragrance Oil.

If you’ve never created layers with melt and pour soap before, I would recommend watching this Soap Queen TV video to learn the basics. Layers require a little bit of patience, but are well worth it. In addition, layers require an understanding of how melt and pour behaves at certain temperatures, so I would recommend getting a few melt and pour projects under your belt before you attempt this recipe. Some fun beginner recipes include the Sparkly Garnet Soap Gems and the Pumpkin Pie Melt and Pour Soap. Looking for a challenge? Check out the Rainbow Hearts Melt and Pour video on Soap Queen TV.

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Color Block Usage Rates in Melt & Pour Soap

December 9, 2015 Filed Under: Tips & Tricks

If you want to add color to melt and pour soap, there are plenty of options. You can use micas, liquid colorants (like LabColors), natural colorants and more (click here to check them out!). One of my favorite ways to color melt and pour projects is with Color Blocks. Color Blocks are small pieces of highly concentrated melt and pour soap. They’re mixed with various oxides, pigments and micas. They are easy to use; simply add a small amount of the Color Block to melted soap and stir. The heat melts the Color Block shavings, which color the soap. Color Blocks are great for preventing clumps and speckles, and incorporate easily into melt and pour bases.

Color Blocks are considered a “what you see is what you get” type of colorant. This means that the color you see in the melted base will be the same color when the soap hardens. The easiest way to get the colorant you want when using Color Blocks is to add small amounts until you reach the desired shade. Check out the Soap Queen TV video below to learn how to use Color Blocks.

While adding small amounts of Color Blocks until you reach the desired shade is easy, it’s not the most precise method. In the melt and pour tutorials here on the blog, I often say to add shavings of the colorant until you’re happy with the shade. If you want to be super exact, you can chop the Color Block into small pieces and add them to your melt and pour by weight. To give you an idea of just how much Color Block is generally needed, I decided to add an exact amount of Color Block to various amounts of melt and pour bases. I wanted to give you an idea of just how concentrated the Color Blocks are, and how far a small amount can go. =)

In the photo above, whole Color Blocks are shown in the top row and .1 ounce of the color block (or 3 grams) is shown in the bottom row. Each Color Block weighs approximately .8 ounces.

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Sunday Night Spotlight: Melt and Pour Bases

November 8, 2015 Filed Under: Tips & Tricks

Melt and pour soapmaking involves melting and customizing pre-made soap bases. Melt and pour soap is quick to make and doesn’t need to be cured like cold process soap. As soon as the soap hardens and cools, it’s ready to go! Melt and pour soap does not require handling sodium hydroxide lye, making it a fun project for beginners and children. It also lends itself better than cold process soap to certain techniques, like incredibly crisp and clean lines.

If you’re thinking about making melt and pour soap, the first step is to choose a base! With so many different options, it can be a little overwhelming. There are a wide variety of bases, each with different ingredients which will affect how they behave, look and feel on the skin. The type of base you use will most likely depend on the design of your project, budget and personal preference.

Melt and pour bases need to be chopped into small pieces before melting. Then the base is ready to customize with color, fragrance and more!

First, it’s important to understand how melt and pour soap is different from cold process soap, and how it is similar. Both cold process and melt and pour soap are created by mixing lye and oils to start the saponification process. When these ingredients are measured correctly, there is no lye in the final bar of soap. During the soapmaking process, melt and pour soap has extra glycerin added. Glycerin is a humectant that draws moisture to the skin. The glycerin content in melt and pour soap is also what makes it possible to melt down melt and pour soap to a liquid texture that’s easy to work with. It’s also the reason that glycerin dew can form on melt and pour soap. You can read more about glycerin dew (aka: sweating) and how to prevent it in this blog post.

Bramble Berry carries several different kinds of bases to meet various needs and preferences. These bases fall into three major categories: SFIC Melt and Pour Bases, Bulk Melt and Pour Bases and Stephenson Soap Bases. Learn more about each type of base below!

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Star Anise Melt & Pour Bar Tutorial

October 29, 2015 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Melt & Pour Soap

I’m a huge, huge fan of black licorice. I know the flavor is a bit polarizing and my stance might be a little controversial…but I think it’s delicious! While anise and licorice are completely different, they smell very similar. Produced from the seeds of the anise star, Anise Essential Oil has a wonderful warm and slightly medicinal smell. These Star Anise Melt and Pour Bars are made with a fresh combination of Anise Essential Oil and Orange 10X Essential Oil. The orange notes brighten the anise and create a fantastic blend.

To create a rustic look that complements the smell, real anise stars and cinnamon sticks are embedded into the top of the soap. I just love the way the anise stars look. They give a great holiday feel without being “too Christmas-y.” The green color in these bars come from a natural blend of green zeolite clay and spirulina powder. The anise star can be poky, so keep that in mind when washing with these bars. You may prefer to wash with the bottom of the soap to avoid any scratchiness or peel off the clear melt and pour layer that the scratchy hard embeds in them. Or, you may prefer to use these bars solely as hand soap. They’re just too pretty not to use in some way =)

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How to Make Soap Gems on Soap Queen TV

October 22, 2015 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Melt & Pour Soap

Soap gems and crystals are making a big comeback! Beautiful to look at, it’s easy to understand why they can be found in numerous boutiques, craft stores, Etsy shops and large chain stores. Interested in making your own? They are a great project for both beginner and advanced crafters. In this video, I’ll show you how to create gems using two techniques. One technique is quick and easy and creates an emerald gem. The other involves an extra step but results in a more realistic amethyst gem appearance. If you’ve never made melt and pour soap before, I would recommend checking out the Basics of Melt and Pour Soap video series to understand the basics of working with melt and pour.

I love this project because there are so many options for colors, fragrances and shapes. Have fun experimenting with different shades to create your favorite gems, rocks and crystals. In this video I use the 9 Cube Soap Silicone Mold and cut the soap into various shapes. If you don’t have a soap making mold, this project can also be made with recyclable materials such as plastic food containers. If you give this project a try, be sure to share it on our Facebook page and Instagram with the hashtag #SoapShare!

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Romantic Rose Gold Melt & Pour Bars

September 24, 2015 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Melt & Pour Soap

Micas really shine in melt and pour soap (literally!). In a clear base, you can see all the shimmer and dimension in the individual colorants. It’s probably one of my favorite way to use micas. Learn what else you can add them to in Sunday Night Spotlight.

These Romantic Rose Gold Melt & Pour Bars really show off the individual micas. The details in the Tray Floral Wallpaper Mold are filled in with gold, black and pink colored soap. It provides contrast and creates a romantic color palette. The base is colored with a bit of Rose Gold Mica, which is a gorgeous mix of warm gold and dusty pink. Baby Rose Fragrance Oil is added to go with the romantic color palette. Use one of these bars to add some shimmer to your normal bath routine!

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Sparkly Garnet Soap Gems Tutorial

September 15, 2015 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Melt & Pour Soap

Full of sparkle and shine, it’s easy to see why soap gems are making a serious comeback. These Sparkling Garnet Soap Gems were inspired by the sophisticated January birthstone. Garnets actually come in a wide variety of colors, but the deep red hue is the most popular. Garnets are said to signify friendship and trust, making these Garnet Soap Gems a great gift!

Merlot Sparkle Mica is added to Clear Melt and Pour Base to achieve the rich, scarlet color. Pomegranate and Black Currant Fragrance Oil give these soapy gems a juicy scent, with notes of citrus and soft florals. Once cooled and hardened, the soap is cut at random angles to achieve an authentic gem appearance. This project is easy to customize, and is perfect for beginning crafters. As a bonus, a wide variety of micas and glitter are 20% off, including the Merlot Sparkle Mica and Fine Iridescent Glitter.

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