With summer quickly approaching, it’s time to prep your skin for the sun. Exfoliation is the key to healthy, glowing skin and this Margarita Salt Scrub Tutorial leaves your skin feeling silky smooth. Curious about which exfoliant is right for your project? The new Exfoliant Sampler Pack allows you to experiment with eight different kinds. If you’re instead looking to sooth irritated skin, the Sunday Night Spotlight: Oats has great info and project suggestions.

Speaking of sun, look no further than our Facebook Photo of the Week for lots of bright sunshine rays. It could bring sunshine to even the gloomiest of days!

This week’s Facebook Photo of the Week comes to us from Jan from Flying Mermaid Soaporium. Jan’s soaps are full of artistic flair and unique techniques, and I love her recognizable style. The soap above is called the “The Aquarius,” and features a hand drawn design rubbed with cocoa powder, tumeric and gold mica. Scented with a blend of Vanilla Select Fragrance Oil and Patchouli Essential Oil, and topped with rose petals and buds, this soap is bursting with personality.

Pictured above (from top left, clockwise) is Flying Mermaid Soaporium’s Oasis soap, Guinness Stout Beer Soap, O’ Fortuna Soap, and Hallelujah Soap. If you’d like to make your own beer soap, we have plenty of tutorials to get you started! The Bramble Beer Soap Tutorial features a layer of gold mica, while the Black and Tan Beer Soap has a rustic, natural look. The Marbled Beer Soap Tutorial is full of tips and tricks for making beer soap.

Find Flying Mermaid Soaporium 

On Facebook

Would you like your photo or project to be featured on the blog? Come join us for soap talk, contests and lots of crafty inspiration on Bramble Berry’s Facebook page and share a photo of your latest project. Your handmade soap might be next week’s feature!

The post Facebook Photo of the Week (April 5th ~ April 11th) appeared first on Soap Queen.

Left to right: rolled oats, Hydrolyzed Oats, Oat Extract, Colloidal Oatmeal

According to CosmeticsInfo.org, an information resource that includes factual, scientific information on ingredients most commonly used in cosmetics and personal care products in the United States, oats can “temporarily protect injured or exposed skin from harmful or annoying stimuli, and may therefore provide relief to the skin.”

Bramble Berry carries several oat related products that can impart nutrients and moisturizing properties to bath & body products. The three main ones are:

Hydrolyzed Oats – This is viscous, dark brown liquid that comes from whole oats. Hydrolyzed oats help skin feel velvety soft, and it’s commonly used in skin or haircare products between 1 – 5%. It is a fantastic addition to lotion recipes.

Oat Extract – This clear liquid  is soothing, moisturizing, and ideal for mature skin. It’s also great for baby products too! Use it in lip balms, skincare or hair care products between .5 – 3%.

Colloidal Oatmeal – Colloidal oatmeal is simply super finely-ground whole oats. It’s often used in lotions to create a barrier, making it ideal for super dry skin. It’s also excellent in face masks, milk baths and soaps. Usage rates vary from product to product, so visit the product’s page for exact rates.

Left: Soothing Baking Soda Oatmeal Bar with Oat Extract and Colloidal Oatmeal. Top: Oatmeal Facial Scrub and Mask with Oat Extract. Bottom: Winter Dry Skin Lotion with Hydrolyzed Oats.

You can also add colloidal oatmeal, rolled oats and oat extract to cold process soaps. The Oatmeal Layers recipe in the Soap Crafting book is a soothing bar featuring lots of oat-y goodness. Oats are typically added when the soap batter reaches a thin to medium trace.

 Add rolled oats or colloidal oatmeal to melt and pour soap when the soap has cooled to around 120 – 125 degrees F. You want the base to be cool enough that it can “suspend” the oats, otherwise they’ll simply sink or float to the bottom! You can find a variety of melt & pour and cold process recipes featuring oats below:

• Oatmeal Melt and Pour Soap
• Oatmeal Stout Cold Process Soap
• Choco Oatmeal Cold Process Soap Recipe

 What are you favorite additives to soothe dry, irritated skin?

The post Sunday Night Spotlight: Oats appeared first on Soap Queen.