This week featured plenty of green and gold inspiration for St. Patrick’s Day. The Celtic Melt and Pour Soap is made with Evergreen Mica. The shimmery evergreen soap is piped into the details of the Celtic Combo Limited Edition Mold for a festive look. To go with the green theme, the soap is scented with Green Tea and Cucumber Fragrance Oil. It’s perfect for St. Patrick’s Day gifts or party favors.
Search Results for: taiwan swirl
Natural Colorant Testing & Inspiration
Adding color is one of my favorite parts of the soapmaking process. Color in soap can convey different places, scents, themes or moods. If you prefer to keep your soap as natural as possible, there are a wide variety of colorant options. Various clays, herbs, botanicals and powders can give soap surprisingly vibrant hues. If you’d like to browse natural colorant options, click here for clays and here for herbs and botanicals.
To demonstrate various natural colorants in cold process soap, I uploaded this photo onto Instagram. I was so blown away by the response (!). Because of that excitement level on Instagram, I decided to do a more in-depth post about the process and usage rates. Check out the natural colorant tests below. Aren’t they gorgeous? In particular I adore the way that rose clay, purple Brazilian clay and green zeolite clay look in cold process soap. I love working with natural colorants and ingredients in cold process soap so much, I wrote a whole book about it! My new book, Pure Soap Making, is available for pre-order now and only uses natural and nature-identical colorants (like pigments and oxides).
Top row, left to right: Olive Leaf Powder, Purple Brazilian Clay, Comfrey Leaf, Medium Red Brazilian Clay
Middle row, left to right: Rose Clay, Alkanet Root Powder, Orange Peel Powder, Sea Clay
Bottom row, left to right: Madder Root Powder, Yellow Brazilian Clay, Green Zeolite Clay, Indigo Powder
What’s New! Fragrances, Tools & More
I love love love product sourcing – finding and testing new products is beyond exciting. All Bramble Berry products go through a grueling testing phase before going live on the website. This is to make sure they are high quality and work well in soap and other products. If you’re looking for some fun new soapy tools and items, check out the “What’s New” section of the website. You can find the “What’s New” tab on the top right of BrambleBerry.com. Below are some of my favorite new products.
Without a doubt, my new favorite category of soapy ingredients are new fragrance and essential oils. I’m constantly dreaming up new soapy projects and designs, and new scents are often the source of my inspiration. One of my favorite new fragrance oil is the Bramble Berry Juicy Couture Fragrance Oil, which is based on the popular women’s perfume, the original Juicy Couture® (no, we’re not associated with them; this is just an inspired fragrance duplication). It smells feminine and features notes of lily, mandarin and a touch of musk. If you’re looking for masculine scent, the new Bramble Berry’s Fierce Type Fragrance Oil is based on the popular men’s cologne. It features notes of citrus, woody amber and white musk accord.
Left to right: Bramble Berry’s Juicy Couture Type Fragrance Oil, Bramble Berry’s Fierce Type Fragrance Oil
Other new fragrances include the rich and creamy smelling Butter Mints Fragrance Oil. This fragrance was the winner of the 2015 S.O.A.P. Panel and performs wonderfully in cold process soap. Looking for a smoky scent? The new Smoldering Embers Fragrance Oil features notes of cocoa powder, tobacco, suede and patchouli. It smells amazing blended with Espresso Fragrance Oil! If you prefer natural essential oils, the new Petitgrain Essential Oil is produced from the leaves and young branches of the bitter orange tree. It smells fresh and green.
Behind the Scenes of Soap Queen TV
This last Saturday, the team and I spent the day creating three full length videos and two shorts for Soap Queen TV. Creating videos for Soap Queen TV is a lot of fun and also a lot of work(!). The projects need to be tested several times (we’re talkin’ 10+ times for those soapy gems) to make sure they work perfectly. The ingredients for each project, and each step of each project, need to be prepped and ready to use. Each video also includes a script to make sure all the proper information is included. It takes a lot of time and manpower of not just me, but also the awesome team at Bramble Berry, to create the videos, but it’s so worth it once the video is released! For those of you watching our Periscope channel Saturday, you got to see some insightful and sometimes-unintentionally-hilarious behind-the-scenes filming. That added an entirely different dimension to our day.
During this filming session, we filmed two Soap Queen TV shorts demoing new soapy tools. These tools are perfect for cutting bars in half horizontally, or slicing off an imperfect top. These tools will be available soon on Bramble Berry, so keep your eyes peeled! Below is a circling Taiwan swirl cold process soap, scented with Energy Fragrance Oil. This swirl technique looks great when cut in half horizontally, then cut into bars.
In the photo below, you can see the bar on the far left has quite a lot of soda ash. The bar to the right has the soda ash shaved off, exposing a beautiful swirl. This tool is also great for perfecting the sides and bottom of bars. In addition, it creates great soap shavings and curls. Watch these tools in action in the Instagram video below!
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Soapy Social Media Roundup
It’s hard to believe that the first week of August is already gone. This summer has flown by. The family and I have been taking advantage of the sunshine with plenty of boat rides, day trips to the beach and outdoor activities. Below, you can see that Lily has become a big fan of control! She loves to help her dad “drive” the boat around the lake, and, sit in the driver’s seat of my car. Her fierce drive to lead is apparent already.
Next week on the blog, get ready for a collection of tutorials inspired by the classic film, The Sound of Music. These projects will include lots of florals, Snowflake Sparkle Mica and fresh scents. I can’t wait to share them with you! The film is meaningful to me because it’s one of the only films my folks would let me watch as a kid so I have almost all the songs memorized. I love social media and connecting with you all on there; if you missed anything, check out my favorite pins, ‘grams and tweets from the past two weeks.
Left to right, clockwise:
- This idea for “Polka Dot Soup,” as an activity for sensory play looks so fun. I’m sure Lily would have a blast grabbing the various color chips!
- I love projects that take one object and make it into something completely new. This Tea Cup Candle Sconce Bird Feeder Tutorial is such a clever idea for recycling old cups.
- What could be better than cookie dough? Cookie dough fudge of course!
- I love the cold process design trend of a solid layer with a swirl top. This “Skipjack” Drop Swirl by Petals Bath Boutique is a great example of this technique.
I have been experimenting with the “Circling Taiwan Swirl,” and absolutely love the results! The soap below was made with Energy Fragrance Oil, Titanium Dioxide, Black Oxide, Fizzy Lemonade Colorant, Electric Bubble Gum Colorant and Super Pearly White Mica. I almost don’t want to cut it! =)
We have been busy planning new projects for several episodes of Soap Queen TV. On the left are shimmery champagne cold process cupcakes, made with Champagne Fragrance Oil. On the right are melt and pour gemstones inspired by rose quartz. Some comments on Instagram said these melt and pour gems reminded them of meat, so I may need to tweak the colors slightly, haha =)
Snapchat:
Find me on Snaphat via “bramble-berry” for behind the scenes peeks into soaping sessions, upcoming tutorials and random insights into my schedule. The video below is my Snapchat story from Wednesday, which includes a live demo of the beautiful 12 Color Linear Swirl Cold Process Soap. Be on the lookout next week for a full length episode of Soap Queen TV!
Twitter:
- Sugar is sneaky. Sometimes the food that seems to be the “healthier” choice, is not at all. A great example of this is at Dunkin Donuts, where a smoothie contains more sugar than a donut.
- These Avocado Shampoo Bars from the Nerdy Farm Wife look amazing! I love the rustic simplicity.
- If you have a huge weight lose goal (or even a small one), this article has some great insight. The author lost 100 pounds, and learned a lot about himself along the way.
- Do you drink too much caffeine? Check out this infographic to find out.
- Speaking of caffeine, here is what happens to your body after drinking a can of Coke. Scary stuff!
I hope you all have an fantastic weekend! To keep up with the latest soapy social media throughout the week, you can follow me on Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest, Vine and YouTube and Snapchat. To watch my ‘stories’, which include sneak peeks into future projects, add me. I’m Bramble-Berry on Snapchat.
Facebook and Instagram Photo of the Week (July 11th ~ 17th)
This week was all about the 1960’s, with inspired tutorials like the Groovy Peace Sign Melt and Pour Tutorial. The Peace Mold is iconic and creates an unforgettable bar of soap that symbolizes peace and love. The swirled effect is achieved with LabColors dropped into the mold before the soap is poured. The soap is scented with Flower Child Fragrance Oil.
The Basic 12 LabColors used in the tutorial are 25% off until midnight tonight! Just use the code: BASICLAB at checkout.
Central Soapers Workshop Round-Up
Even with all the fun and explosive (haha, punny!) personal drama lately, I couldn’t miss the Central Soapers Workshop. Man, what an amazing line-up of speakers! It’s been 4-5 years since some of us were in the same room together. It was great to catch up with friends. Soapmakers are the most warm and friendly community of people that you’ll find anywhere and hanging out with them is always a blast (sorry, can’t stop with the explosion references).
Big thanks to my amazing and always-patient husband for letting me leave him with the two toddlers, living out of suitcases in a friend’s guest room. He is a trooper and a strong support for me and our family.
Sunday Night Spotlight: Cocoa Butter
Cocoa butter is a hard vegetable fat with a distinct, chocolate-y aroma that is extracted from the cocoa bean. A major ingredient in chocolate, cocoa butter is commonly used in bath and body products due to its skin-loving properties. Because of its hard texture and warm smell, cocoa butter makes a fabulous addition to soap, lip products, body butters and more.
Cocoa butter is available in two varieties: deodorized cocoa butter and non-deodorized. Naturally, cocoa butter has a deep eggshell color and a warm, chocolate smell. Deodorized cocoa butter is deodorized via steam injected into the melted cocoa butter to “drive off” the components which contribute to the odor. The product is then treated with diatomaceous earth (clays) which remove the color agents. The result is a butter that is lighter in smell and color. When deciding between the two, consider how your project will be affected by the color and smell of cocoa butter. Because of its naturally chocolatey scent, cocoa butter can hide some delicate fragrances, so keep that in mind when working with more faint fragrances.
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Clay Recipe Roundup
With a wide selection and skin-loving properties, clays make a great addition to bath and beauty projects. Clays can add color to a project and oil-absorbing properties, making it a versatile additive. Brazilian clays are a popular variety, and come in multiple colors, including pink, purple, dark red, yellow and natural. Other popular choices include sea clay, rose clay, kaolin clay and bentonite clay.
The Brazilian Clay Sampler pack is a great way to try out a variety of clays!
In cold process soap, clays are a fantastic natural colorant option. In the Waves of the Sea Cold Process, sea clay adds a smoky green layer that looks great against the deep blue. Dark red Brazilian clay is used in both the Honey Bee Cold Process and the Natural Colorant Taiwan Swirl, resulting in various shades of pink.
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Facebook Photo of the Week (June 14th ~ June 20th)
This week, several more guest bloggers shared their take aways from this year’s Handcrafted Soap and Cosmetic Guild Conference. First, Jodi from Empire Rose Soap Co. walked us through the process of creating your own nail polish. If you’d like to learn more about customizing your own nail color, the How to Customize Nail Polish Video is here to help.
Jean from SoapArt summarized a Soap & Cosmetic Guild Conference session about how to use a wide variety of exfoliants in soapy projects. If you can’t decide on a scrubby additive, the Exfoliant Sampler pack is a great way to try a wide variety. With this pack, you’re on your way to creating everything from Gardening Cold Process Soap, to a gentle Oatmeal Facial Scrub Mask.
With summer in full swing , we were inspired to celebrate Independence Day with a soapy project. Full of red, white and blue spirit, the 4th of July Fireworks Cold Process Tutorial features a soapy swirl with Gold Sparkle Mica painting. If you are looking for more Independence Day inspiration, the Easy 4th of July Star Tutorial and the 4th of July Mashup are sure to give you some ideas!
Creating soap for holidays and events is a lot of fun, but when soap making can support a cause, that’s even better. Created by Kerry of Sensually Soaps, this beautiful cold process was created as a fundraiser for Breast Cancer Research.
Guest Post: Testing Natural Colorants in Cold Process
We’re taking today off from our normally scheduled cold process tutorial to show you this fantastically thorough recap of a session at the 2014 Soap Guild. Our guest blogger Jean Horn attended Ruth Esteves’ session on natural colorant testing in cold process. Natural colorants are a beautiful option for cold process soaping, but it’s important to know how they behave and which ones will stand the test of time. Read Jean’s excellent recap of the session, and then give natural colorants a try. — A.M.
Ruth was fighting a cold the day she presented, but she was happy to let me snap a picture of her anyway. She did an excellent job on her presentation, and she is co-owner of The Nova Studio in California.
Have you ever thought about moving toward using mostly natural colorants? Is this something your customers are asking for? If so, the information presented in this session will be extremely helpful to you.
Which natural additives will withstand the rigors of cold process? What is a natural colorant? Ruth’s presentation on testing natural colorants contained some great information addressing both of these issues.
Some natural ingredients that can add color to CP soap include plants, spices, Herbs and Botanicals, Clays, vegetables, and fruits. This Brazilian Clay Sampler from Bramble Berry is an example of the beautiful colors that clays lend to Cold Process Soap. Wow. Aren’t those soaps gorgeous?
Facebook Photo of the Week (May 17th ~May 23rd)
This week was full of fun soapy tutorials for both melt and pour and cold process soapers. If you are experienced with melt and pour and want to learn a new technique, the Melt and Pour Soap Ribbons Tutorial is the perfect project to expand your skills. The trick is adding extra glycerin, which allows the melt and pour to be easily sculpted.
If cold process is more your style, the Espresso Shot Cold Process Tutorial uses the new Espresso Fragrance Oil to create a bar of soap that’s perfect for any coffee-lover. The layers of color are easily created with the Multi-Pour Sectioning Tool, and coffee grounds add gentle exfoliation. If you love the multi-colored sections, the Natural Colorant Taiwan Swirl Tutorial features four layers of color created with natural colorants.
Speaking of color, our Facebook Photo of the week created by Amy of The Suds Cafe, is full of bright, summery hues! Scented with the Tropical Punch Fragrance Oil and swirled with Yellow Mica, Fired Up Fuschia Colorant, Tangerine Wow! Colorant, this soap conjures images of sandy beaches, fruity drinks and lots of sunshine.
With the piped soap on top and a dusting of yellow mica, Amy’s creation is full of color and summer spirit! If you are curious about piping cold process soap, this Rose Garden Cold Process Tutorial will show you how. If you are looking for an easier way to create frosting, this Foaming Bath Whip Frosting Tutorial creates fluffy icing in a snap.
Shown above (from top, clockwise) is Amy’s Mother’s Day Strawberry Frappucino Soap, Peppermint Chocolate Frappucino Soap, Peppermint Chocolate Bar Soap, and the Cucumber Melon Smoothie Soap. If these chocolatey soaps have inspired your sweet tooth, the Chocolate Lip Balm Tutorial and Almond, Chocolate and Lavender Cold Process Tutorial are sure to satisfy.
Find The Suds Cafe:
On Etsy
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!
Sunday Night Spotlight: 10″ Silicone Mold
It’s always fun to experiment with new molds, fragrances and designs, but at the end of the day every soaper has their own tried and true recipe and go-to set of soapy tools. In the Soap Lab, our foolproof toolkit is anchored around the 10″ Silicone Loaf Mold.
The 10″ Silicone Loaf Mold in action!
Soapy Social Media Roundup
Welcome to the end of another busy week! The sun has been shining and it’s been a flurry of activity around the office as everyone is getting ready for spring activities.
I’ve been experimenting with lots of Easter-y crafts, including these cute little egg shell candles. I even got to make an awesome frittata with all those egg yolks! In toddler land, Jamisen and Lily are doing well and sometimes they even pause for a half-second so I can get adorable Instagram photos like this. I think they’re the cutest kids in the world, but I may also be a bit biased =)
In the next few weeks, be on the look-out for more contests, Soap Queen TV videos and fresh, fun projects. For now, take a look a my favorite soapy social media items from the past two weeks:
Pins: