Search Results for: grapefruit
May 2011 Soap Swap Line-Up (Thus Far!)
Here is the official Master List of Swappers for our May 2011 swap. We will keep this list updated with the fragrances being used and we will also note when we’ve received your soap.
Keeping the Bramble Bump Safe
Aromatherapy & Pregnancy : The History of Warnings
Emmenagogic essential oils: basil, carrot see, German and Roman chamomile, sweet fennel, clary sage, juniper berry, lavender, sweet marjoram, myrrh, rose, rosemary, peppermint.
Dressing and Soaping Green
I was super impressed with my order from Dress Green on Etsy. So, of course, I have to give the creator, Lauren, a soapy shout out. I love everything especially my Tricky Lip Lush and CP Soaps (Cocoa Addict and Cucumber & Guava). Her packaging was darling, her branding consistent and she even stuck in a couple of samples for me. I also ordered Fresh Start Skin Serum and Grapefruit Bergamot Body Cream. Yum! Thanks Lauren!
Anne-Marie: Tell us a little bit about yourself. What keeps you busy when you’re not making soap?
Lauren: My name is Lauren and I’m currently living in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Although I’m a native Michigander, I just recently moved back after spending the last few years exploring various other states and areas including Washington, Oregon, Arkansas, and Panamá.
It’s rare that I get out of my work studio, but when I do, I can usually be found spending time with my partner, Justin, and our pup, Porthos; on a hiking trail; at a great local brewery; sitting in my backyard with a cup of coffee (and even better if there’s chocolate involved too); or just reading in a corner. Oh and I’m also now found at the local community college taking classes in my *spare* time (this semester is Chemistry).
Anne-Marie: What inspires your recipes? Do you follow trends? Listen to your customers?
Lauren: My background is in mechanical engineering and industrial design, and my interests have always tended toward product design. I love combining the practical, problem-solving aspects of engineering with the aesthetic, user-focused aspects of design. These two worlds come together perfectly, allowing me to create all facets of my line – from the product ‘designs’ (recipes) to the packaging and labeling solutions.
I try to keep the focus of DressGreen products on not only effectiveness, but also user enjoyment. And I always try to choose sustainably-sourced and organic ingredients when available. Most every product I make is inspired by either a personal need I have had, or by a request from a friend, family member, or customer. I like to hear (and really do listen to) feedback, and always appreciate thoughts on new products people would like to see in the line.
Anne-Marie: What’s your favorite product (that you make or sell)?
Lauren: My facial care products! I can’t begin to describe how my skin used to freak out at most commercial products before I started the DressGreen line. It has been such a relief to have products that not only keep my skin from reacting negatively, but actually keep it healthy. Staples in my bathroom cabinet are the Calming & Clarifying Facial Cream, unDressed Facial soap, Toning & Clarifying Facial Serum, and Delicate Toner.
Anne-Marie: What’s your favorite fragrance?
Lauren: Hands down my Grapefruit Bergamot blend. I’ve literally been using this same scent for my body cream for years now, and still haven’t gotten the least bit bored with it.
Anne-Marie: Oh I agree. The Grapefruit Bergamot is fabulous. I’m so glad that I ordered the Body Cream! And I am loving the Fresh Start Facial Serum. I’m even using it on my belly to maybe stave on stretch marks. Thanks again, Lauren for the fabulous products!
Swap Your Heart Out
Wow! You are all so excited for the soap swap! We have had a huge response and can’t wait to see all of those amazing soaps. Below we will have a constantly updated list of who is participating and what fragrance they are using. Because we have so many participants, 2 people can use the same fragrance, but no more than that.
What’s that? You haven’t heard of our insanely popular soap swap? It’s not too late to sign up!
Here are the details:
- You send us an email telling us what Bramble Berry fragrance you are using – check the list below.
- You make 12 bars of soap (Cold Process or Melt & Pour) and label them with the ingredients you used and your name, your company name or soaping alias.
- You send the soap to Bramble Berry ensuring that it is received by Friday, December 3rd
- Ship to: Bramble Berry Inc.
- C/O Soap Swap
- 2138 Humboldt Street
- Bellingham, WA 98225
- You purchase the Soap Swap item and choose what shipping method you would like. (USPS Flat rate box will be $13.15 but FedEx or Priority Mail may be less expensive depending on where you’re located)
- Sit back and wait for your exciting box of goodies! We will get the swap boxes sent out by Friday, Dec. 10th.
Sound like fun? Sign-up here!
Here’s who we have for Cold Process:
- Ali M. – Rosehip Jasmine
- X Amy L. – Cedar & Saffron
- T.A. H. – Baby Rose
- Nancy L. – Kentish Rain
- X Emily B. – Cherry Almond
- Theresa M. – White Ginger & Amber, Wasabi
- X Melissa J. – Oatmeal, Milk & Honey
- Bridget G. – Energy and Champagne
- X Cathy O. – Island Coconut
- Shannon C. – Grass Stain
- Amanda G. – Pumpkin Spice or Pumpkin Pie
- X Kristy S. – Oatmeal, Milk, & Honey
- Jennifer D. – Spiced Mahogany
- X Jennifer C. – Sandalwood Vanilla
- Angie D. – Fresh Mango or Mango Mango
- Tara P. – still deciding
- X Karen P. – Hello Sweet Thang!
- Carmen M. – still deciding
- X Cindy W. – Pineapple Cilantro
- X Robin S. – Black Cherry
- X Suzette S. – Bonsai
- Donna R. – OMH, Feliz Navidad, and Buttercream & Snickerdoodle blend
- X Lydia B. – Gingersnap
- Erica P. – Pink Grapefruit
- X Tony D. – Cranberry Realistic & Cranberry Sweet blend
- Jamie S. – still deciding
- X Sara S. – Coconut Lemongrass
- Katie C. – Raspberry Porter
- X David D. – Blackberry Sage
- Betty B. – still deciding
- X Emma P. – Dark Rich Chocolate
- Wisalya L. – Oatmeal, Milk & Honey
- X Lisa G. – Sandalwood Vanilla
- X Cheri C. – Lavender FO
- Renee L. – Summer Melon Spritzer
- X Ann S. – Neroli
- X Hillary S. – Pink Grapefruit FO
- X Melissa B. – Clove Essential Oil and Spearmint EO
- X Kelli O. – Bonsai
- Kate S. – Spellbound Woods
- X Liberty M. – Champagne or Turkish Mocha
- Jennifer T. – Saffron & Honey
- LuAnn R. – Blue Man
- X Jesse W. – Matcha Tea
- X Debbie Q. – Rain
- X Marissa V. – Fresh Snow
- X Elizabeth S. – Yuzu
- X Traci K. – Santa’s Spruce
- X Mary C. – Eucalyptus & Moroccan Mint Blend
- X Sonia I. – Applejack Peel
- X Curie M. – Pear Berry
- Cindy H. – Cranberry Pomegranate
- Dorenda C. – Fresh Mango
- X Judy S. – Christmas Forest
- Brooke L. – Kumquat
- X Denny P. – Bay Rum
- Michele A. – Violet & Champagne blend
- Shannan J. – Gingersnap
- Michele A. – Violet blend
- Trish B. – Karma Synergy Essential oil blend
- X Bonnie C. – Ginger Orange
- Carol J. – undecided
- X Kelly T. – Cranberry Fig
- Catherine D. – Lavender and Vanilla Blend
- X Shannon G. – Peppermint & Spearmint blend
- X Susan P. – Rise & Shine, Energy & Yuzu blend
- Heleln J. – Salty Mariner
- Lorrane P. – Patchouli, Geranium & Bergamot
- X Erin C. – Ginger Orange
- X Christine C. – Lychee Red Tea
- X Christine C. – Mint Chocolate Chip
- Rachel P. – Black Amber and Lavender
- Kristina V. – undecided
And for the Melt & Pour Swap
- Cheryl M. – Fresh Snow
- X Gail P. – Moonlight Pomegranate
- Madolyn L. – Christmas Spice
- Stephanie T. – still deciding
- Heidi Z. – Vanilla Select and Sun Ripened Raspberry blend
- X Lori R. – Honeysuckle
- X Mariah G. – Island Coconut
- Joan B. – Spellbound Woods
- X Jennifer C. – Ginger Pear
- Maxine L. – Lavender 40/42
- Judy P. – Passionfruit Rose
- Sharon P. – Plumeria
- X Lorena H.- Frankincense & Myrrh
- Tina R. – Lemongrass & Sage
- Mariann M. – Energy
- Taryn K. – Arabian Spice
- X Gina S. – Warm Vanilla Sugar or Cream Cheese Frosting
- Megan Y. – Pumpkin Spice and Sugar Plum Fairy blend
- Kelsey S. – Juniper Sage
- Michele C. – Dark Rich Chocolate & Moroccan Mint blend
- X LeDeana D. – Soapy Clean
- X Terri L. – Lavender Fragrance
- X Mary T. – Grapefruit Essential Oil
- X Lisa B. – Almond Biscotti
- Tabitha J. – Frankincense and Myrrh with Cream Cheese Blend
- X Cassandra H. – Wasabi
- X Jennifer M. – Naga Champa and Yuzu
- X Jenny R.- Lavender 40/42 & Patchouli EO
- Keri C. – Oatmeal, Milk & Honey
- X Christine C. – Tomato Leaf
- X Christine C. – Moroccan Mint
- Vicky H. – White Tea & Ginger
- X Donna S. – Summer Fling
- X Susan P. – Rise & Shine and Energy
- Karina P. – Energy
X= swap soap received! Thanks!
Lucky Number Seven
A fruity, berry, citrusy, herbaceous type with top notes of orange blossom, grapefruit, mixed berry and lemon, middle notes of thyme, raspberry, and jasmine, with a powdery, fruity white musky base note.
Admit It: These Soaps Rock!
Eco Chic Candles
Get back to the basics by using natural products like Bramble Berry’s new Naturewax. It is skin safe, 100% vegetable based and made from soy which is an environmentally friendly renewable resource. Reuse your old canning jars, mason jars or baby food containers for a variety of eco-friendly container candles.
ONE: Melt the Naturewax wax in the microwave in a heat safe container. Make sure to melt it in 1 minute bursts, stirring in between with a spoon. Normally we recommend a double boiler for wax melting but his particular wax has a melt point of 125°F so it melts nicely in the microwave. Also, for paraffin based waxes, I always recommend specialty candle containers. Again, because of the super low melt point, they are not needed for this Naturewax based project. For more tips on candle making, check out the Soap Queen TV Episode on Travel Candles.
TWO: Fill one jar with melted wax, leaving at least 1/2″ from the top of the jar. Mix in your essential oil blend (we used 5 ml Orange EO, 4 ml Grapefruit EO, 3 ml Lime EO). Blend well. Note: we used a 4 oz. baby food jar and found it held 3.2 oz. (by weight) of Soy Wax.
THREE: Dip the base of the wick into the melted wax and center on the bottom of the container.
TIP: If you’re having problems with leaning wicks, make sure that your wick can stand on “dry land” before putting it in your wax, bending the wick if necessary. Once the wick is centered in the candle, place 2 pencils horizontally on the jar on each side of the wick. This will give the wick a little support as you pour the wax and the candle cools.
18 Bars of Pure Cuteness!
Have you seen Bramble Berry’s new Baltic Birch Molds? If not, check them out HERE. I love them SO much. They are stunningly gorgeous, so versatile and selling fast (we’re seriously having trouble keeping them on the shelves). And you can use them for more than just cold process. Here’s a colorful and fun melt and pour project!
Colorants
Before you start: Line your mold with freezer paper making sure that you have a flat bottom with the shiny side up. Remember that the bottom will eventually become the top of your soap. Once your mold is lined, add the side and end border pieces and put your inserts together so they’re ready to go to.
ONE: In a large microwave safe container, melt about 32 ounces of clear soap base. Once the soap is completely melted, add 1 drop of liquid blue colorant to give the soap a “clear” effect (just one drop will do the trick). Do not add any fragrance at this point.
Note: You will only need a couple of ounces for the initial pour so if you don’t have a microwave safe container that big, it’s a-okay. Just melt 1-2 ounces. To save time, I like to melt my soap in larger quantities.
TWO: Pour a thin thin layer into the mold (about 1/8″ thick) and spritz the soap with alcohol while your pouring. This will help the soap spread out into the mold.
THREE: Before the soap cools, quickly place the inserts into the mold, squeezing the ends with your fingers to hold them together. Press the inserts firmly into the soap and let cool for 15-20 minutes, until the clear layer is totally hardened and the dividers are ‘sealed’ in the soap.
Embedding Tips: Spritz the first layer of clear soap with rubbing alcohol and pour another thin layer of clear soap (you might have to remelt your original clear soap). Liberally spritz the embedding object (whether it be soap scraps or toys) with rubbing alcohol and place it into the freshly poured clear soap.
FIVE: Once the embedded layer has cooled, add the final layer of soap with color* and fragrance. I used a combination of Energy Fragrance Oil, Grapefruit Essential Oil and Yuzu Fragrance Oil. I always recommend .25 -.5 ounces of fragrance per 16 ounces of soap base. When pouring your layers, remember to spritz the embedded layer before pouring your colored layer. Also make sure your colored soap is no hotter than 120 degrees; we don’t want to melt any of your other soap layers.
All of my soaps turned out different ranging from 3.2-5.6 ounces (using 89 ounces total) so have fun and make any size that you want!
Unmolding: Place a large cutting board over the top of your mold and gently flip the soap mold over onto a hard surface. Lift the mold off of the soap and slowly remove the freezer paper from the soap. I used the scraper tool from the Tool Kit (a non serrated knife or small spatula would work) to scrape the soap off the edges of the border pieces. Then slowly pull the sides of the mold away from the soap (Note: If you ever use this mold to make Cold Process soap, you cannot pull the sides from the soap as CP soap is softer and tends to tear). Pop out your soaps and marvel at your creativity.
Mondo Bath Bombs
ONE: Combine the 16 oz of citric acid and 32 oz baking soda in a large bowl and mix well. Use your fingers to break up any clumps.
TWO: Once the mixture is smooth, add a heaping scoop of the red mica and mix well until you have a soft pink color. Again, you can use your hands if you prefer.
THREE: Once the color is mixed in, add your fragrance oil.
Tip: Make sure there are no clumps in your mixture. Clumps can result in wart like protrusions on your bath fizzy. Not attractive.
FOUR: Spritz with witch hazel until the mixture seems like it is staying together when you squeeze a handful in the palm of your hands (about 5 or 6 spritzes). Is it saying together? Then you’re ready for the mold.
FIVE: Fill each half of the mondo mold and pack the mixture as tight as you can. Then sprinkle on a little extra and place the second half of the mold on top. Squeeze the two halves together as hard as you can. If they are not packed hard enough, they could crack when drying. Trust me, it’s very disappointing.
SIX: Let the mixture rest in the mold for about 30 seconds then carefully slide it out of the mold onto a flat surface. Let it dry, undisturbed. You’ll be tempted to poke it, hold it or move it. Please don’t mess with it until it’s fully hardened, you’ll thank me later. This recipe yields 5 bath bombs.
DIY Wine Aroma Kit
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!
Soap Queen TV Presents: How to Make Rebatch Soap
Ever wonder what Rebatch soap (or Triple Milled soap or French Milled soap) is? In this episode of Soap Queen TV, I show you how to make Rebatch soap. Rebatch is great if you want a soap that’s a little more natural and rustic looking soap but don’t want the hassle of dealing with Lye when making Cold Process from scratch.
Soap Queen TV: How to Make Rebatch Soap from Soap Queen on Vimeo.
Ingredients:
1 oz. Pink Grapefruit Essential Oil
1 oz. Lemon Essential Oil
2 oz. Dried Calendula (Marigold) Petals
1/2 oz. Sweet Almond Oil
1/2 oz. Annatto Seeds
4 pounds Basic Rebatch
3 Tbsp. Distilled Water
Molds used:
ELF Slim Rectangle mold
Bramble Berry’s 2 pound loaf mold
Plastic food container
Are you a blogger? Please feel free to embed this video on your blog. If you need any help just let us know! [email protected]
Salty Mariner Blends – A’Hoy!
Salty Mariner is one of those fragrances that you either immediately love or … you just don’t get it. There’s not a whole lot of waffling involved. It’s primarily an ozoney fragrance, meant to make you reminisce about the sea, waves and salt. But, if it’s not your fave or you just downright aren’t a fan of smelling like oceany sea brine, I’ve designed some blends to make it palatable even for the most discerning fragrance snob. I hope you enjoy them and the fragrance when you try it.
1 part Dark Rich Chocolate
1 part Cinnamon Sugar
1 part Salty Mariner
1 part Salty Mariner
1 part Cybilla Coconut
1 part Grapefruit Lily
1 part Salty Mariner
1 part Salty Mariner
1 part Sweetgrass
1 part Salty Mariner
1 part Tahitian Vanilla
And now, I’m off to Otion to teach an overflowing, full Cold Process I class. It should be a delight.
Elegant Boh Bon Soap Company
Colette in Customer Service found a soap site a few months ago. She immediately came to my desk, eyes all big, practically begging for me to buy some of their goodies so she could see them in person. I’m a sucker for simple, elegant packaging and handcrafted products so I wasn’t too hard for Colette to sell. Boh Bon Soap Company has an adorable web site, beautifully crafted products and inspiring design. I love the story about how they got their name. It’s always good to pay homage to those that have influenced and encouraged you.
I purchased lots of goodies from Boh Bon Soap – their “Fresh Squeezed Citrus” pack (which had a bar of Citrus Soap, one bottle of bath salts, and one soy candle in a tin). I also purchased the “In Bloom” gift box with 4 bath tea bags. And, since soap is my passion, I couldn’t resist just one more bar – their Pink Grapefruit Ylang Ylang Shave Soap.
The packaging of these products is simple but clever. They use standard white take out containers for gift boxes and corrugated cardboard to wrap their soap in. It all looks fabulous because of the well thought-out, colorful matching labels.
In the photo above, the basic white takeout box was dressed up with a plain kraft round label, ta cool printed grosgrain ribbon and finally the professionally printed label. You can’t really tell but the “Fresh Squeezed Citrus Relax Pack” part of the label was actually printed on a clear label and stuck on top of the Orange label. This is a really smart thing to do. This way they can have thousands of orange labels printed to save money and they can use them to label any of their products. Being a small business means thinking about the cost of everything, even something as “small” as your labels. The overall look and feel of the entire brand is a well organized and strategically bright which dovetails nicely with the superior products inside of the clever packaging.
Thus far, my favorite part of the entire box of goodies I purchased is the candle that came in the “Fresh Squeezed Citrus” pack. It is a tiny little travel candle but it really packs a serious smell punch. And, of course, it’s packaged well which only adds to the delight. I wouldn’t hestitate to buy more goodies from Boh Bon Soap Company.