Next week , get ready for more dessert-inspired projects using fragrance oils from the limited edition Seasonal Sweets Fragrance Oil Collection. The collection will be gone after the 18th, so don’t miss out on the chance to save on these amazing fragrances! If you missed out on the live introduction on Facebook this week, check out the video below. =)

LIVE on #Periscope: Introducing the limited edition Seasonal Sweets Fragrance Collection! https://t.co/LykgvzEKvv

— Anne-Marie Faiola (@brambleberry) November 8, 2016

Pinterest:

Top left to right, clockwise:

• This DIY Abstract Brushstroke Mug is beautiful! Love the bright, cheery colors.
• A sushi sandwich? Yes please! This method of wrapping the sushi looks so easy.
• This quote really resonates with me right now. Everything is easier with a positive outlook.
• How cute is this Spiked Punch Soap by Small Batch Soaps? I love the texture on top and fun embeds.

Instagram:
This month’s fragrance oil sample is Blueberry Jam. It’s such a fantastic scent and it performs wonderfully in soap. For ideas on how to blend it, and instructions for these cute blueberry cheesecake melt and pour soaps, click here.

It’s so exciting to see people make recipes from my newest book, Pure Soapmaking. Karen of @mookamadethis created the Dark Ale Loofah Bars and hit it out of the park!

YouTube:
Speaking of Pure Soapmaking, did you catch the latest Soap Queen TV video? In the video, I share the Annatto-Yarrow with Embeds Soap. It is a more challenging recipe that results in a totally unique looking bar.

Twitter:

• There is something about a soft, cozy T-shirt that brightens up your day. I wear this shirt often when I need a little morale boost.
• Is bar soap better for the environment?
• I love, love, love kale. Before the kale craze in 2013, Pizza Hut was the largest consumer of kale. But they didn’t put it on pizza!
• It can be tempting to want to create it all. Soap, body butter, bath fizzies, lotion, scrubs, balms…the list can go on and on. But, focus is your friend. Here are tips for focusing your product collection.
• I’m so excited to be speaking at the Grit and Resilience event in Seattle.
• Mark your calendar on November 20th! Kevin of Devinely Designed will be soaping live and giving away some Bramble Berry goodies.
• This Sugar Cookie Scrub Tutorial is such a cute holiday gift idea.

To keep up with soapy social media throughout the week, you can follow me on Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube and Snapchat.  I’m Bramble-Berry on Snapchat. Don’t forget to tag your soapy projects on Instagram with the hashtag #SoapShare so I can see your projects!

The post Soapy Social Media Roundup appeared first on Soap Queen.

When I was writing Pure Soapmaking, I knew I wanted a really unique looking bar of soap. I also wanted a recipe that included several techniques, including embeds and infusions. That’s where this Annatto-Yarrow Soap with Embeds comes in! It’s a fun and funky bar made with natural colorants and essential oils.

This recipe does require some preparation, and the embeds will need to be made at least 2 days ahead of time. They’re colored with spirulina powder and scented with fresh bergamot essential oil. Those embeds are placed into the base, which is colored with an annatto seed infusion. It also has poppy seeds, which adds exfoliating properties to the bar. Calendula is placed on top for a finishing touch. The combination of bergamot essential oil and rosemary essential oil creates an earthy and refreshing blend.

What You’ll Need:
10″ Silicone Loaf Mold

Embeds:
1 oz. Sodium Hydroxide Lye
2.3 oz. Distilled Water
1.8 oz. Palm Oil (25%)
1.8 oz. Coconut Oil (25%)
0.5 oz. Mango Butter (7%)
3 oz. Olive Oil Pomace (43%)
Spirulina Powder
Yarrow Powder
0.3 oz. Bergamot Essential Oil
Optional: Sodium Lactate

Base Soap:
4.7 oz. Sodium Hydroxide Lye
11.2 oz. Distilled Water
6.8 oz. Palm Oil (20%)
8.5 oz. Coconut Oil (25%)
10.2 oz. Olive Oil Pure (30%)
6.8 oz. Rice Bran Oil (20%)
1.7 oz. Chia Seed Oil (5%)
Poppy Seeds
Annatto Seeds
Calendula
0.8 oz. Bergamot Essential Oil
0.8 oz. Rosemary Essential Oil
Optional: Sodium Lactate

Click here to add everything you need for this project to your Bramble Berry shopping cart!

The post Annatto-Yarrow Soap with Embeds on Soap Queen TV appeared first on Soap Queen.

To enter, comment on this blog post with your favorite soaping tip. This tip can apply to other bath and beauty projects, such as lotion, lip balm, candles or bath fizzies. The tip could be simple or complex, there are no limits. Then, sign into the Rafflecopter widget to let us know you commented.

In addition, you can earn bonus entries by completing the various tasks listed in the widget below. From tweeting the contest link to signing up for the Bramble Berry newsletter, bonus entries are easy but completely optional.

This contest is managed by Rafflecopter, which makes entering the contest really simple. Follow the steps below to enter:

1. Sign into the Rafflecopter widget below using your email. This makes it easy to contact you if you win! By entering the contest you will be signed up for Bramble Berry’s newsletter. We do not share or sell your email address to any other party.
2. Select “Leave a Blog Post Comment” on the widget, and leave a comment on this blog post telling us your favorite soaping tip.
3. Receive bonus entries by completing tasks via the Rafflecopter widget. Complete them all to increase your chances of winning!
4. Contest ends on Wednesday, March 9th at noon, PST. Winners will be chosen at random.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Rules and Fine Print:

• To enter, you must comment on this blog post with a soaping or crafting tip.
• We are unable to send a Pure Soapmaking book to international residents. International residents are still eligible to win a Bramble Berry gift certificate.
• Winners will be chosen at random via the Rafflecopter widget on Wednesday March 9th, at noon, PST via the Rafflecopter widget.
• The winners will be contacted via email. If a winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen.

I can’t wait to read all your soaping tips! I will collect my favorites and share them in a blog post after the contest ends. 

The post Share Your Favorite Soaping Tip Contest! appeared first on Soap Queen.

Last week, I had the opportunity to talk about the process of writing Pure Soapmaking at Village Books, a local book store in Bellingham, WA. It was a huge high to talk about the journey with fellow soapmakers, as well as friends and family in the audience. If you weren’t able to attend the talk and signing, you can read about the writing, editing and photography process of the book here.

The best part of the book signing and author talk was being able to connect with people in the audience. Thank you so much to everybody who came. It means so much to me that you took the time to attend the event. To those of you who don’t live in the Bellingham area, it’s equally exciting to see the book in hands of crafters all over the world. Below, the book made it all the way to Moscow, and even made a trip to the Grand Canyon! Thanks again to everybody for all the support, and for sharing your #PureSoapmaking photos. If you have a copy, I’d love to see where the book is being read. Share your photo on social media with the tag #PureSoapmaking so I can find it. =)

Left to right: SoapSweetSoap, CanyonMeg

Of course I had to bring soap from the book to the event. Below on the right are the Aloe Vera Hanger Swirl Soaps, and on the left are the Annatto and Yarrow Soaps and the Baby Oatmeal Bars. Everybody who came got to take one or two bars home, including the employees of Village Books. I’m so grateful to have the support of Village Books; they are an anchor business in Bellingham and our community is lucky to have them. Thanks so much to owners Chuck and Dee Robinson, who helped put this event together.

Below, I attempt to wrangle Lily and pose for the camera at the same time. Clearly, she is not so much of ‘wrangleable’ size anymore. Behind me, Jamisen checks out the soap goodies. He loves handmade soap (!). It was a treat to have my whole family at the event, including the kiddos, my husband, mom, dad, my father-in-law, and brother, sister-in-law and niece. My entire family, especially my husband, was such a huge source of support and inspiration throughout the book writing process. Thanks to all my friends who came, including Kristen, who was my soaping assistant on my first book, Soap Crafting.

Soap Crafting was published in 2013. It’s a little crazy to look back at the blog post about the party for this book launch. Below on the left, Lily and I during the party for Soap Crafting, and on the right, Lily and I during the Pure Soapmaking signing. It’s amazing to see how much both Lily and Jamisen have grown since then.

After the author talk and question and answer session (thanks to everybody who who asked a question!), I got to sit down to talk with attendees and sign books. It was so nice to be able to touch base with everybody personally. A big shout out to Björn who drove hundreds of miles to attend the signing! You guys made me feel like a total rock star that evening. =)

Below, I demonstrated how to use the Hanger Swirl Tool that was used to create the Aloe Vera Hanger Swirl Soap. I loved being able to talk about soap all night and give tips in person. If you’re curious about this tool, you can see it in action in the Crisp Cotton Cold Process Soap, along with the Once Upon a Dream Cold Process Soap Tutorial.

A big thank you to my team and Village Books who helped put this event together. I couldn’t do it all without them!

If you have your copy of Pure Soapmaking, don’t forget to upload photos of your projects on social media with the tag #PureSoapmaking! I love to see your soap and where the book is traveling to.

The post Pure Soapmaking Book Signing & Author Talk appeared first on Soap Queen.

Each new product you receive will also have redesigned labels. After about 12 years of the same labels, we decided it was time for a major overhaul. The labels now have a simple and clean look. In addition, there is more information on each one about the product. For instance, fragrance labels have the origin of the oil, the vanilla content, performance notes and any shipping restrictions. Learn more about the redesign in the New Bramble Berry Product Labels post.

Also new on the website is my book, Pure Soapmaking. I still can’t believe it’s here and in the hands of our wonderful customers. It took more than two years to write the book. As you can imagine, it takes quite a bit of work to write a book. In addition to creating the recipes, it required a ton of research, editing and a week-long photo shoot. Read more in the A Look Into the Pure Soapmaking Book Writing Process post.

Some recipes in the book are made with liquids like milk and beer. Using alcoholic beverages in cold process soap gives the bars a unique look and creates fluffy lather. Working with alcohol does require a few extra steps. For instance, the liquid has to be boiled to get rid of any carbonation or alcohol so the soap won’t overheat and volcano. Learn more in the How to Use Alcoholic Beverages in Cold Process Soap post.

The Charcoal and Cedar Beer Soap Tutorial is made with stout beer from a Bellingham favorite, Wander Brewing. The stout beer gives the soap a rich dark color and fantastic lather. To add some contrast, the soap is colored with activated charcoal and titanium dioxide. A mix of cedarwood essential oil and fir needle essential oil give the bars an earthy scent.

This week’s Facebook Photo of the Week by Susanne with Passionfruit Island features stunning contrast as well. Susanne’s beautiful bars are scented with Crisp Apple Rose Fragrance Oil.

The creamy white soap makes the pink swirl really stand out. I love the different shades of pink in the bars. The shimmery green on top complements the Crisp Apple Rose Fragrance Oil so well. And how cute are the roses on top? For a rosy accent in your products, click through the Pink Clay and Primrose Hand-Milled Soap Tutorial. Rose petals look cute on bath bombs too, as seen in the Pikake Flower Bath Bombs Tutorial.

Above (clockwise, top) are Susanne’s Violet Soap, Denali Soap, Mint Latte Soap and Cinnamon Bun Soap. The layers in Susanne’s Mint Latte Soap are so crisp and beautiful. Learn how to work with layers in the Layered Lilac Loofah Cold Process Tutorial. Get the look in melt and pour with the Violet Glitter Gradient Tutorial.

Find Passionfruit Island
On the web
On Facebook

This week’s Instagram Photo of the Week is stunning as well. The Winter Landscape Soap by Kapia Mera Soap Company was made for this month’s Great Cakes Soapworks Challenge. The detail work is so amazing. I love the layers in the mountain and the wispy tree branches. 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 (Feb. 13th ~ 19th) appeared first on Soap Queen.

To prepare sodium hydroxide lye for soapmaking, it needs to be dissolved in some type of liquid. The dissolved lye solution is then emulsified with oils to create soap. Distilled water is usually the liquid of choice for dissolving lye. But, some soapers prefer to use other liquids such as milk, tea or alcoholic beverages. Using alternative liquids (anything other than distilled water) in cold process soap is an intermediate to advanced soaping technique. It requires a few extra steps to prep and can affect other aspects of the soaping process.

One of the most popular types of alternative liquids for cold process soap is alcoholic beverages. This includes beer, wine and champagne. These liquids contain sugar, which give the soap a stable and fluffy lather. Alcoholic beverages can also give the soap color and are great from a marketing standpoint. Some alcoholic beverages do contain beneficial properties like antioxidants, but it is debatable whether these properties make it through the saponification process.

Making soap with alcoholic beverages poses a few challenges. They contain sugar that becomes very hot when mixed with sodium hydroxide lye. This turns the liquid a deep color due to the sugars scorching and can cause an unpleasant aroma. In addition to sugar, alcoholic beverages contain...you guessed it! Alcohol. Alcohol and the saponifcation process don’t mix very well. In addition, many alcoholic beverages such as beer and champagne are carbonated. Carbonation and the saponification process don’t mix very well either.

The key to eliminating the alcohol and carbonation is to boil the liquid prior to using it for soap. This cooks off the alcohol, leaving behind a liquid that works better in cold process soap. Adding lye to alcohol or carbonated beverages can cause an eruption, so boiling the beverage is extremely important. If using a carbonated beverage, many soapers allow the beverage to go flat for several days then boil it to remove the alcohol. I’ve prepared my alcoholic liquid both ways, with similar results.

Beer, wine and champagne all contain a smaller amount of alcohol than spirits (hard liquor). In general, I don’t recommend using hard alcohol as the liquid in your soap. It can be done, but it’s a very advanced technique. There is a lot of alcohol to boil out in hard liquor, and it will cause your soap to accelerate. If you’d like to use a spirit in your soap, I recommend using a very small amount and supplementing the remaining liquor with distilled water, beer, wine or champagne.

The key to using alcoholic beverages in cold process soap is to boil the liquid first to reduce the alcohol and carbonation. 

To prepare the alcoholic liquid, first weigh how much you’ll need for the total recipe. You can substitute 100% of the recipe’s liquid with beer, wine, etc., or you can substitute a portion and use distilled water for the remainder. Just keep in mind that the more alternative liquid you use, the more natural sugars it will add to your recipe. It may also give your recipe a darker colored batter, because the liquid will darken as the lye is added and the natural sugars scorch.

I always recommend boiling more liquid than you actually need in your recipe. This is because as the liquid boils, some of it evaporates and you may end up not having enough. If this happens, you can always add more distilled water to the liquid to make up for what was lost. It’s important to have enough liquid for the recipe because the liquid acts as the very important carrier for the sodium hydroxide. For example, let’s say your recipe calls for 10 ounces of liquid. To be on the safe side, I would boil about 12-14 ounces of my alcoholic beverage to account for the volume it will lose. Once it’s done boiling, eyeball the volume measurements and weigh the liquid again to make sure you have enough. If I were to weigh my liquid and only end up with 8 ounces and from the volume measurements, it was clear I was short on liquid, I could add 2 ounces of distilled water to make up for what was lost. Or, I could just use the 8 ounces and consider it a very heavy “water” discount. Click here to learn more about water discounting.

After boiling the liquid, it will be less in volume and weight. Make sure to eyeball the volume and weight the liquid after boiling to find out how much boiled-down alcohol you’re actually working with. 

Once the alcohol has been boiled to remove the alcohol and carbonation, it needs to cool. You can place the liquid in the fridge to thoroughly chill, or you can freeze it and add the lye flakes to the frozen liquid. The colder the liquid, the less the sugars in the liquid will scorch when the lye is added. Less scorching means the liquid will not turn as dark and won’t smell quite as much. But freezing the liquid prior to adding the lye won’t prevent it from discoloring entirely. Adding the lye to the cool liquid slowly also helps keep the soap temperature down and preserves a lighter color.

In my book, Pure Soapmaking, one of the recipes uses a mixture of rose wine and champagne (see the final bars here). After the mixture is boiled to help remove alcohol and carbonation, the mixture is frozen. Then, the lye is added directly to the frozen liquid. As the lye is added to the frozen wine blend, the liquid begins to melt as the temperature increases. The increase of temperature causes the sugars to burn the liquids slightly, causing the color to change from a light pink to a deep orange (see bottom right photo). If the wine blend wasn’t frozen prior to adding the lye, the lye solution would have become much hotter, which would have resulted in a darker liquid.

Freezing alternative liquids prior to adding the lye helps prevent the liquid from burning, but won’t always prevent it entirely! Photos by Lara Ferroni. 

After the lye is added to the liquids, allow it to cool to appropriate soaping temperatures (we like soaping around 100-130 °F). Once the solution is cool, it’s ready to use just like lye solution made with water. Keep in mind that the lye solution made with alcoholic beverages contain sugar. This will cause your trace to move quickly. When working with alternative liquids, I prefer to use a slow moving recipe with plenty of liquid oils.

Using alcoholic liquids with sugars will cause an increase in temperature. This means the soap will be more likely to go through gel phase. This is also true for soap made with honey, milk or purees. ‘Gelling’ and ‘gel phasing’ in cold process soap refers to a part of the saponification (soapmaking) process where the soap gets warm and gelatinous – up to 180 degrees. If you’d like to learn more about gel phase, click here. If you’d like your soap to go through gel phase, keep it warm but be careful to not over insulate as too much heat could cause a volcano. If you want to prevent gel phase, I recommend soaping cooler and placing the soap in the fridge or freezer for several hours up to overnight to keep temperatures cool.

Once the soap is made, soap made with alcoholic beverages still need 4 to 6 weeks of cure time. The smell of the beverage will not last through the saponification process. Using alcoholic beverages does not affect the shelf life of the soap, as all the sugars in the liquid go through the saponification process and turn into soap. The sugars will add to a stable and fluffy lather!

If you’d like to learn more about making soap with beer or other alcoholic beverages, check out the tutorials and blog posts below! In addition, making soap with alcoholic beverages is similar to making soap with other sugary liquids like milk, so you may find those blog posts helpful as well. 
Bramble Beer Soap
Luck of the Green Beer (CP Tutorial)
Black and Tan Beer Soap
Advanced Oatmeal Stout CP
Guest Tutorial: Marbled Beer Soap
How to Add Lye to Milk for Cold Process Soap

The post How to Use Alcoholic Beverages in Cold Process Soap appeared first on Soap Queen.

Now that the book has been out for several weeks, I have begun to reflect on the process of creating the book. If you’ve ever thought about writing a book, let me tell you…it’s a lot of work. Fun? Absolutely. It’s a fun and rewarding gift to share your passion and knowledge with others. But, creating a book requires an insane amount of time and resources. I was lucky to have access to both during the writing process. My Bramble Berry team and family helped me find time to work on the book. They also were invaluable in assisting me with recipes and other aspects of the testing process. It takes a village to create, photograph & lay-out 32, fully-tested, cold process projects!

The first step in writing this book was creating a book proposal for the publishing company, Storey Publishing. This is essentially an overview of what information the book will contain. Below, you can see a few pages of the original 2013 proposal, including the cover page and an overview of some of the chapters. After sending in the proposal to the editors, we began to work on the framework of the book and what information it should contain. A lot of the proposed topics made it into the book, while some did not. This is another reason why having input during the writing process is important. Talking about these topics and how they should be organized with soapers and non-soapers helped to lay out the book in the most cohesive way.

Then I got to work for three straight months writing the bulk of the manuscript. After the manuscript was finished, I worked with my team or alone to design the recipes and start the slow process of perfecting them. Once that’s done, I submitted the manuscript to Storey and they edited it. This process involved a lot of back and forth, going over each and every step and detail to make sure directions and information were clear. It’s both a blessing and curse to have non-soapers proofreading recipes and soap information. A lot of things needed clarification. But it was good to get an outside perspective on things that may seem common knowledge to me or my team. Below are some of the edits from Storey publishing on the left, and my answers on the right. There were reams of these notes back and forth.

Writing and editing each and every recipe and step was a very intense and long process. 

While that’s happening, I started to send the team at Storey finished soaps so they could look at them and give them the thumbs up or the thumbs down. They said things like: “that’s too busy; remove the ball on the top of the soap.”  The art director had a very specific look and feel that she wanted for the book and anything that didn’t match her aesthetic, she kicked back to us with directions on how to change it. There were many emails and phone calls to come up with a grouping of soaps that the art director was pleased with.

I try really hard not to read reviews, but the last book, Soap Crafting, had a couple poor reviews because soapers had problems with the recipes. This time, I was determined to not have any recipe or instruction related difficulties happen. So for this book, I had four brand new soapers take only the recipes (no photos) to create the soap. Then, I compared their soaps with my soaps. Did they look the same? Did the soap turn out? This process was extremely valuable. I discovered some steps that needed to be clarified, and discovered which photos were crucial for each project.

One thing that was important in this book was recognizing that many soapers are going palm-free due to concerns about deforestation of sensitive orangutan habitat. Click here to read Bramble Berry’s thoughts on palm oil. More than 50% of the recipes in this book are palm-free. The reason that soapers use palm oil in soap is because it adds to the bar hardness, how long it lasts in the shower and acts as a secondary lathering agent – meaning it helps the large, fluffy lather of a bar of soap. Replacing palm oil is most commonly done with tallow, or animal fat. Many people that want natural and organic products also are vegan, meaning they don’t use any animal products. So, it wasn’t going to be as easy as replacing palm oil with tallow in all the recipes.

Over 50% of the recipes in Pure Soapmaking are palm free, including these White Tea Faux Funnel Pour Bars. 

So, we set about researching the chemical components inside palm oil. The reason that palm oil is hard is because of its high stearin or stearic fatty acid profile. I looked at all of the different fatty acid profiles of all the oils and started mixing and matching until I was able to replace over 50% of the palm in the entire book and come up with bars that are hard, last a long time in the shower and lather well. We also tried some insider soaping ideas like adding salt water during formulation to add to bar hardness. Is the lather as perfectly fluffy and large as palm oil soaps? It’s pretty darn close. I’m proud of this achievement and know that it represents the first book of its kind on the marketplace to highlight palm free soaps.

The book photoshoot was an intense couple days. Each day consisted of about 7-8 recipes, and required clean up and setup between each recipe.

After the recipes were perfected and the manuscript was close to done, we needed to photograph each and every recipe. As you can imagine, making 32 recipes in a five-day period and photographing them, cleaning up, and hoping that the recipes turn out perfectly the first time is quite a feat! Organizing all the oils, premixing all of the colorants and making sure that each and every recipe had back up oils fell to the shoulders of my super hard-working assistant Caitlin. To pull off the shoot took weeks of prep that fell on her, and I am so thankful for her organization.

After the five days of shooting, all 32 recipes were created, photographed and even cut!

The photo shoot went smoothly, and there were only one or two soapy mishaps. Again, I’m so grateful for my team who came in on weekends to help set up in between each recipe, clean all the dishes and stay diligent and organized throughout an extremely tight schedule. I’m also thankful we could work with the same photographer as Soap Crafting, Lara Ferroni. In addition to being extremely talented, Lara has a calm and easy going personality which contributed to the success of the shoot. After the five days, we had created each and every recipe, perfectly, on camera…phew!

After the photo shoot came the final round of editing the manuscript (shown above). The editing process is always fraught with anxiety and issues. Like the last book, we worked with multiple editors – some who worked on just grammar and spelling, others that worked on flow and others that worked on continuity. Having so many eyes on the book helped eliminate errors. It’s amazing what you miss when you are proofreading your own writing. After a few more round of edits, the book was finally complete.

It’s exciting that all the hard work has paid off and that so many soapers are getting the book and learning a new hobby, expanding their techniques, or even starting a business. I’d like to acknowledge my family at home and Bramble Berry team that had so much to do with the creation of this book. Yes, my name is on the cover and that is exciting and an honor, but it took the entire team at home and at work to see this book into fruition. Thank you to my team and my family. I also want to thank the soaping community and the readers of this blog! I’m constantly inspired by the amazing talent, dedication and passion of the soapmaking community and feel so honored to be part of it.

If you received your book, post a selfie with it on Instagram or Twitter and use the hashtag #PureSoapMaking for a chance to win one of ten $25 Bramble Berry gift certificates. Today is the last day to enter! I can’t wait to see all your lovely faces with the book. I have been loving all the entries so far. =)

The post A Look Into the Pure Soapmaking Book Writing Process appeared first on Soap Queen.

Photo by Lara Ferroni.

Salt is another additive that can be used in cold process soap. Pink sea salt is added to the Brine and Rose Clay Cold Process to create a firm bar of soap. The salt is dissolved in the lye water before being poured into the oils. The bars are then colored with rose clay for a soft pink hue and scented with lemongrass essential oil. The Clam Shell Mold gives the bars a unique shape.

Looking for more natural inspiration? My new book, Pure Soapmaking, has 32 cold process recipes made with natural colorants, infusions and essential oils. It’s so exciting to see people making the recipes. Thank you to everyone who ordered the book, it means the world to me! As a thank you, we are giving away ten $25 Bramble Berry gift certificates. For a chance to win one, post a picture of yourself with the book on Twitter or Instagram with the tag #PureSoapmaking. Learn more about the contest in the Pure Soapmaking Inspiration and Contest post. Don’t wait, it ends on February 15th.

If you also love to eat natural ingredients, you’ll love the Baked Buffalo Cauliflower “Wings.” They’re a tasty and healthy alternative to traditional chicken wings. The recipe couldn’t be easier. All you need to do is bake the cauliflower and cover it with with hot sauce and a bit of lemon juice. If you like you can dip the wings in blue cheese dressing. This recipe is  perfect to bring to a party or get together.

For a recipe that’s completely calorie free, click through the Melt and Pour Soap Truffles Tutorial. These cute and realistic truffles are made with Shea and Clear Melt and Pour Base. They’re finished with a pink, white and brown soap drizzle and pink sea salt. They’re scented with sweet Butter Mints Fragrance Oil. Package them in leftover chocolate boxes for a last-minute Valentine’s Day gift.

This week’s Facebook Photo of the Week by Lisa with Willow Tree Luxury Artisan Soaps is another sweet treat. Her Desert Sage soap has so much beautiful detail.

The color palette in Lisa’s soap is beautiful. The blue, white and purple complement each other perfectly. I love the golden mica line that divides the layers, as well as the swirl and piping on top. If you’d like to learn how to make cold process soap frosting, check out the Whipped Cold Process Soap Frosting video on Soap Queen TV. For more dessert inspiration, watch the Sparkling Champagne Soap Cupcakes video.

Above (clockwise, top left) are Lisa’s Pink Velvet Peony Soap, Monkey Farts Soap, Black Raspberry Vanilla Soap and Love Spell Soap. To learn how to create a swirl similar to the Monkey Farts Soap, click through the Blue Rain Drop Swirl Cold Process Soap Tutorial. The Silky Berry Cold Process Soap has a drop swirl pattern and Tussah silk fibers.

Find Willow Tree Luxury Artisan Soaps
On the web
On Facebook

The Citrus Sunrise Soap by RISE Soap and Body Co. is stunning. The orange slices were dried in the oven for a couple hours before being embedded in the soap. They give the bars such a unique look. I love the bright layers and mica line too. See more of their beautiful soap 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. =)

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If you have received your book, there is still time to enter the #PureSoapmaking contest on Instagram and Twitter to win one of ten $25 Bramble Berry gift certificates! Simply post a selfie with the book and use the hashtag #PureSoapmaking. Contest ends Wednesday, February 15th. If you’re feeling shy, feel free to post a photo of the book in a creative way. Check out some of the adorable selfies below; even furry friends are getting in on the fun. =)

Top row: wildgardencreations, kennacote, ashley_thomas
Middle row: kritterinc, sudzylove, sweetsophiallc
Bottom row: winn_martinez, avitals_aspiaries, sevenseassoap

In addition to the selfies, the #PureSoapmaking hashtag is filling up with photos of handmade soap. If you’ve made soap from the book (or inspired by the recipes), tag your projects with #PureSoapmaking so that I can see them. Below are some projects that soapers are creating; can’t wait to see more. =) In the top left corner is the Baby Oatmeal Cold Process Soap, made by Shelly of Lion & Rose Soap. You can see her full blog post on the project here. Side note: I met Shelly in person (squeeee!) on Indie Business Cruise and she was delightful, authentic and hard-working. I hope I get more chances to hang out with her in person.

Top left, clockwise: lionandrosesoap, shiehdesignstudio, sweetrevengesoapery, spicypinecone

Below on the right, you can see the final cut of Sweet Revenge Soapery’s Indigo-Annatto Negative Space Funnel Pour. They turned out great! This technique is a two-part process that involves filling negative space with soap. If you’d like to see this process in action, check out the Misty Maritime Moon Cold Process Tutorial. Below on the left is the Annatto and Yarrow Cold Process project made by Amy Warden of Great Cakes Soapworks. It’s one of my favorite projects from the book, so I can’t wait to see her bars cut.

Left to right: greatcakesoap, sweetrevengesoapery

Several bloggers were sent a kit from the book. It has been fun to see the finished photos and videos of the projects. In particular, it’s so interesting to see how soapers put their own unique spin on the projects. For example, several bloggers received the Aloe Vera Hanger Swirl Kit. Emily of Soap & Restless and Shieh Design Studio created a wonderful textured top, and accented the top with small white soap balls. It looks amazing! See Emily’s full post on the project here. Kevin of Devinely Designed also created the Aloe Vera Hanger Swirl, and came up with a completely different look using a drop swirl, check it out here.

Emily of Shieh Design Studio and Soap & Restless created a beautiful version of the Aloe Hanger Swirl Soap. See her project here.

Zahida of Handmade in Florida also made the Aloe Vera Hanger Swirl and created a look that’s completely her own. The recipe calls for aloe vera plant puree, so Zahida used fresh aloe from her garden. Check out Zahida’s video of this project here. Holly of Missouri River Soap created the same project and made a video tutorial. Rather than the spoon plop technique, Holly used a drop swirl and her soap came out beautifully. Watch the full video here.

I’m in love with Zahida’s rendition of the Aloe Hanger Swirl Cold Process! Watch her video here. 

Thank you all again for the support and enthusiasm over Pure Soapmaking. It means so much to me. If you live in Bellingham or the surrounding area, I would love to meet you at my book signing at Village Books this Friday, February 12th at 7 p.m. Find out more about the signing here. If you can’t make it to the signing, I will be Periscoping my talk and Q&A session so everyone all over the world can be there. If you can’t tune in to the live stream, you can watch it later on Katch. Check out my Katch channel here.

Don’t forget to enter the contest on Instagram and Twitter! Simply upload a selfie with the book and use the hashtag #PureSoapmaking. The last day to enter is Monday, February 15th, so there is still plenty of time. I can’t wait to see your lovely faces and soapy projects!

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Lara Ferroni. I all of her photos. Swoon.

There are a wide variety of natural ingredients that can be used in cold process soap. From natural colorants and exfoliants to essential oils and extracts, new soapy ingredients are always popping up. Recently, adding fruit and vegetable purees to cold process soap has become extremely popular. Natural purees can add color and skin-loving properties to your bars. In addition, natural purees in bath and beauty products are fantastic from a marketing standpoint. Who doesn’t want a bar of soap made with their favorite fruit or veggie?

In general, there are no limits to what kind of natural purees you can add to soap. In my new book, Pure Soapmaking, there are recipes that include purees of blueberry, cucumber, tomato, aloe leaf, banana and potatoes. Here on the blog, you can find soap made with purees of pumpkin, strawberry, carrots and avocado. If you can blend it into a smooth consistency, you can (most likely) add it to cold process soap.

Adding purees to soap is an advanced technique. If you have never made cold process soap before, I highly recommend getting a few basic batches under your belt before using purees in your soap. It’s important to get an understanding of how soap behaves without additional sugar, water and fats. A solid grasp on how “normal” cold process soap behaves will allow you to alter your techniques and recipe accordingly when you begin to add uncommon ingredients. Remember: soapmaking is a science. Tweaking a recipe with extra ingredients (like purees) alters the chemical reactions between the lye and oils.

Purees add extra sugar, fats and water to your soap. Each type of puree will affect your soap recipe a little differently. The amount of water, fat and sugar will vary depending on the ingredient and how the puree was made. Before adding your puree, it’s important to consider the properties of the fruit and vegetable and how it will affect your batch. For example, a strawberry puree will add extra sugar and water. Using an avocado puree will add extra fats and water, but not much additional sugar. A cucumber puree (shown below) adds mostly water and a very small amount of sugar.

Each puree will add different properties to your soap. For example, cucumber puree (shown above) will add extra water to the soap, but very little sugar. Photo by Lara Ferroni. .

It’s also important to consider the source of the puree and how it was created. Many soapers choose to make their purees for soaping at home, so they have complete control over the ingredients. If you are purchasing the puree from the store, read the ingredients carefully. Avoid purees with added sugar, thickeners, preservatives, colors or other additives. These extra ingredients can have unpredictable results on your soap. Look for purees that only contain the vegetable or fruit and water.

Water discounting is a great way to avoid glycerin rivers (shown above). Learn more about how to avoid glycerin rivers here, and how to water discount your soap here.

Most purees can be created by placing them into a blender or food processor until completely smooth. Some ingredients may require a small amount of additional water to achieve a smooth texture. Don’t forget to always use distilled water! If adding extra water to your ingredient to blend into a puree, I highly recommend using a water discount in your recipe. Natural fruits and vegetables contain water. If you’re adding the vegetable/fruit in addition to extra water to make a puree, all that extra water can throw your recipe off balance. Too much water is not dangerous to your recipe. But, it can increase the chances of glycerin rivers, and will increase the time your soap needs to stay in the mold and cure. Read this post to learn how to water discount your recipe, and the benefits of doing so.

Adding purees such as avocado (shown above) also adds extra water to the soap, which can cause glycerin rivers. 

In the photo above, I used an avocado puree (avocado + distilled water) along with French green clay and spirulina powder for color. You can find the full tutorial here. I promoted gel phase by insulating, because I wanted the spirulina powder to be nice and bright. You can see it went through a partial gel phase in the center of the soap. Because of the extra water within the avocado puree, the soap also developed glycerin rivers. This soap is totally fine to use and actually looks pretty great! But, it wasn’t the look I was going for. I remade the soap with a steep water discount and placed it in the fridge and it turned out much better.

Once the puree has been prepared, I prefer to add it at thin trace. This makes the purees easy to incorporate with a stick blender or whisk. As a rule of thumb, if the puree contains a lot of sugar (ex: fruits), expect it to speed up trace. If the puree contains little to no sugar (ex: cucumber, avocado, tomato, pumpkin), expect it to thicken trace very slightly, or not at all. When working with a puree for the first time, I like to use a slow moving recipe to be on the safe side. I also prefer a simple design with no complicated swirls when using purees. If attempting a swirled soap with purees, have a backup plan! That way, if the puree speeds up trace you don’t have a ruined batch.

Adding sugar to cold process soap not only speeds up trace, it also increases the temperature. Ingredients such as milk, fruit juices and honey, which contain natural sugars, increase the temperature of soap. To learn more about working with honey in cold process soap, click here. Higher temperatures increase the chance of the soap going through gel phase. ‘Gelling’ and ‘gel phasing’ in cold process soap refers to a part of the saponification (soapmaking) process where the soap gets warm and gelatinous – up to 180 degrees. Click here to read more about gel phase. Gel phase is not harmful to soap. But, soap can volcano when it becomes too hot. If the puree contains a lot of sugar, I recommend soaping at cooler temperatures and placing the soap into the fridge or freezer after pouring into the mold to help it stay cool throughout the saponification process.

Just how much puree to add will depend on personal preference. A safe place to start is 1 ounce per pound of soap. Adding too much puree can throw off the balance of lye and oils. Worst case scenario, adding too much puree could cause mold and bacteria growth in the soap. If you’re worried about this, stick with a lower usage rate.

Now that the soap has been made…what about the shelf life? The pH level of cold process soap does not allow for mold and bacteria to grow. While the oils within the soap can go rancid, mold and bacteria will not grow. If oils go rancid in cold process soap, DOS (dreaded orange spots) can occur. Click here to learn more about DOS and how to avoid it. It’s hard to say exactly how fresh ingredients affect the shelf life of cold process soap, because it will vary greatly depending on the recipe and environment. Like soapmaking oils, fresh ingredients can go rancid within the soap. But, the pH level will not allow it to grow mold and bacteria unless a lot of puree is added.

Adding purees to cold process soap may affect the shelf life, but the pH of soap does not allow mold to grow. 

A great example of this is the Strawberries & Cream Cold Process Soap. As you can see above, the puree started to turn brown in the soap. But, the soap is not growing mold. The pH level of the soap does not allow it to do so. The soap is still safe to use. It just doesn’t look quite as pretty as it did when it was freshly cut. In my experience, fresh purees can cause DOS more quickly in soap as well. I recommend using soap that contains fresh purees within 6 months after curing, just to be on the safe side.

I do not recommend using purees in rebatch soap or melt and pour soap. In cold process soap, the puree goes through the saponification process along with the oils and lye. The harsh pH environment of cold process soap kills the components in the fresh ingredients that could grow mold. If adding purees to melt and pour or rebatch, the puree does not go through the saponification process. Fresh purees will go bad very quickly in melt and pour and rebatch soap, and will most likely grow mold as well.

Looking for some fun puree recipes to get you started? Carrot puree was added to the Buttermilk Bastille Baby Bar on Soap Queen TV. Carrot puree is known for its antioxidant properties and gives the soap a soft yellow-ish orange color. For this recipe, I used baby food but you could certainly use handmade puree. When using purees from the store, just make sure the only ingredients are the vegetable (ex: carrot) and water.

Another popular puree in cold process soap is pumpkin. Pumpkin puree is easy to find at the store, and it behaves well in soap. Depending on how much you use, pumpkin puree gives the soap a very gentle orange color. A great example of this is the Pumpkin Spice Swirl Cold Process Soap. After adding the pumpkin puree to trace, the soap turned a soft orange hue. To help lighten the color, I added a bit of titanium dioxide. This helped the orange color in the swirl really pop. For this recipe, I used a 15% water discount to compensate for the water in the pumpkin puree. Click here to learn how to make your own pumpkin puree.

Phew! I hope this post has helped you grasp working with purees in cold process soap. Like I stated previously, I highly recommend getting a few cold process recipes under your belt first before adding purees to your soap. They affect every stage of the soaping process from recipe development and trace, to temperature and cure time. If interested in more recipes using purees, my book Pure Soapmaking is full of ideas and inspiration.

What is your favorite puree to use in cold process soap? I have a hard time choosing, but I particularly love aloe and pumpkin! 

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