Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Simple Secrets: Creating the 'In The Pot Swirl' Technique

It has been over a year since I started making soap by the cold process method.  I hate to admit that for my first batch of soap, I attempted an In The Pot Swirl technique.  I know that was daring for my first batch of soap and I have to admit it came out great.  The "In The Pot Swirl" is one of the easiest swirls to accomplish, and it helps bring your soap making bragging rights from hobbist to seasoned crafter.  If you would like to learn more about this technique, read the article called Simple Secrets:  Creating the "In the Post Swirl' Technique" from Wholesale Supplies Plus.

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Creamy Goats Milk CP Soap

Have you ever used goats milk in any of your cold process soap recipes?  I have not tried it yet, but goats milk is great for your skin.  It also makes a really creamy and moisturizing bar of soap. It is also great for people with sensitive skin so you can use it on your face and body.  What is also great is it is gentle enough for babies. This recipe from Wholesale Supplies Plus is called Creamy Goats Milk CP Soap uses a powdered form of goats milk.

Saturday, August 27, 2016

How to Create Hanger Swirl Soap

Cold process soap makers, have you ever heard of Hanger Swirl Soap?  I have found instructions  from The Soap Queen that tells you how to do this interesting technique.





Thursday, August 25, 2016

Peppered Orange Caramel Bubble Cakes

Love taking bubble baths?  Have you ever tried bubble cakes? This recipe from Wholesale Supplies Plus called Peppered Orange Bubble Cakes are a perfect addition to your bathing experience. Bubble cakes are similar to bath bombs.  So these colorful bubble cakes will produce tons of bubbles for a luxurious bath.  This is a moderate level project that takes only 30 minutes of your time. Once you complete the recipe, you will get approximate (7) 3 to 3.25 oz bubble cakes.

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Caramel Drizzled S'more Brownie MP Soap


When I saw the picture for this melt and pour soap recipe from Wholesale Supplies Plus called Caramel Drizzled S'More Brownie, I thought that it looked good enough to eat. Don't they good enough to eat?  Yeah, better keep them out of the kitchen. Event though they look good enough to eat, they are pretty easy to make.  It takes only about a half hour to complete the project.  When you are finished you should get four bars of soap weighing about approximately seven ounces.

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Salted Caramel Macchiato CP Soap with Coconut Milk


Do you go to Starbuck's on a daily basis?  You would not believe that I found this recipe for cold process soap from Wholesale Supplies Plus called Salted Caramel Macchiate CP Soap with Coconut Milk. This beautifully caramel colored swirled soap has the look of your favorite hot beverage and has coconut milk to soften your skin.

Monday, August 22, 2016

Caramel Swirl Lip Balm

I absolutely adore caramel.  When I saw this Caramel Swirl Lip Balm recipe from Wholesale Supplies Plus, I had to share it with all of you who love caramel.

Friday, August 19, 2016

Beeswax & Honey Lotion Bars

The Soap Queen has been running a series on making products with honey. In a last posting, Anne-Marie shared a recipe on how to make Beeswax & Honey Lotion Bars.  This lotion bar recipe is very easy and does not take long to make.  The ingredients in this bar add softness and skin loving properties.  And the combination of the oil, butter and wax creates a lotion bar that is firm at room temperature, but softens when applied to the skin.
Makes great gifts and party favors.

Thursday, August 18, 2016

Lavender Soap Recipe – Purple Mica Soap Swirl

As a child, my room was painted in a lovely shade of lavender.  At the time I really did not appreciate the color and did not like until much later in life.  I find that lavender scented soap is very popular scent among the masses.  So if you are selling soap, you may want to consider making this beautiful cold process soap from Lovin' Soap called Purple Mica Soap Swirl.

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Wildflower Honey Sugar Scrub DIY

Sugar scrubs are really easy to make plus it feels great on the skin.  This Wildflower Honey Sugar Scrub recipe from The Soap Queen recommends this recipe for the body and not for for the face.  There is added bonus of downloadable labels that you can use for your jars.  This is a very easy recipe that anyone can make.  It takes only 20 minutes and you will get (3) 8 oz jars.

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Honeycomb Melt & Pour Soap Tutorial


The Soap Queen recently has been posting a lot of recipes and information about making bath products with honey.  I first shared her cold process soap makers, I posted a cold process soap recipe with honey.  For those melt and pour soap makers, I have not forgotten about you.  Here is a recipe called Honeycomb Melt and Pour Soap.  This is an intermediate level project that takes 1-2 hours to complete and once you are done, you will have six bars of soap to give as gifts or sell.

Monday, August 15, 2016

DIY: Tattoo Balm

Now I do not have any tattoos, but there are many of you out there who do have one or know of someone who does.  I am sure there are concerns about keeping your skin safe while you heal, but you are not too keen on using petroleum based products during the time your skin when it is most tender.  It is important to take care of your tattoo after getting inked helps improved the life and vibrancy of the artist's work,  So why not skip the pre-packaged petrol for products containing herbal infused oils, vitamin e, beeswax and botanical butters?  This Tattoo Balm recipe from The Mountain Rose Herb blog is perfect to treat your skin in this precious state.

Saturday, August 13, 2016

Pure Honey Cold Process Soap Tutorial

In a recent post from The Soap Queen, Anne Marie discussed using honey in bath and body products.  So if you are interested in using honey in a cold process recipe, here is one from the Soap Queen called Pure Honey Cold Process Soap.

Friday, August 12, 2016

Exfoliating Mosaic Soap Bars


Exlolaints can help increase the lather in a bar of soap, especially when it is added to melt and pour bases when big bubbles are not always in abundances.  Plus it can give a bar of soap a gorgeous organic look.  In this Exfoliating Mosaic Soap Bar project from The Natural Beauty Workshop, there are a variety of natural exfoliants into their clear coconut melt and pour base which it creates this beautiful style soap that is fantastic to use and a pleasure to behold.

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

How to Use Honey in Bath & Body Products

Do you love honey in your tea?  Or as a matter of fact in anything?  Well, I found an interesting post from The Soap Queen called How to Use Honey in Bath & Body Products.  Anne Marie tells you how to use honey in cold process soap, melt and pour soap, lip and body balms, lotions and emulsified scrubs. So if you want to add honey to any of these products, you should read this post and start adding honey to them.

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Pineapple Chunk MP Soap

Love the taste of pineapple?  Or are you looking to add a new soap to project line?  Well, I found this Pineapple Chuck MP Soap project from Wholesale Supplies Plus that is easy to make and if you are planning to add it to your project line, there is no wrapping required since they are poured into clamshell packaging.  The Pineapple Punch Fragrance Oil will appeal to everyone and give a nice tropical feel ever time it is used. This is an easy project that takes an hour or so and when you complete the instructions, you should get (16) 4 ounce bars.

Monday, August 8, 2016

Peach Grapefruit and Thyme MP Loaf Soap

I like the the look of the melt and pour loaf soap from Wholesale Supplies Plus.  To be honest I would I never think of combining grapefruit and thyme to sent a bar of soap.  I am not sure what to make of it. I am trying to image how the two smell together.  If you are into making melt and pour soap, you may want to try this recipe called Peach Grapefruit and Thyme MP Loaf Soap.

Sunday, August 7, 2016

Purple Carrot Hemp Lotion Bar

Awhile back I took a class from Joan Morais at The Nova Studio where we learned how to make lotion sticks.  I really liked the idea of a lotion stick so I could apply a product on my cracked heels.  I found this recipe from Wholesale Supplies Plus called Purple Carrot Hemp Lotion Bar.  I would consider this more of a stick than a bar since it is packaged in a tube.  I also think it is interesting that the recipe has a preservative added.  I have never added a preservative unless it has water in it.  This product is no way a color purple.  It is scented with a Purple Carrot fragrance oil that makes it purple. I have no idea what a purple carrot smells like but if you want to scent your product with a favorite scent then go ahead and make the substitution.

Saturday, August 6, 2016

Violet Confetti Cold Process Soap Tutorial

Are you new to making cold process soap?  Did you know that there are various techniques in cold process  process soap to make your soap have a distinctive look?  Have you heard of confetti soap?  According to The Soap Queen,“Confetti soap” refers to bars that contain shreds of previously made batches. The soap shreds look like pieces of confetti or sprinkles in the final bar. The technique is a great way to use up extra soap or a batch that didn’t turn out quite right.  Want to learn how to make a batch of this intermediate level batch of soap?  Then check out the recent post called Violet Confetti Cold Process Soap.


Friday, August 5, 2016

Healing Claims for Ingredients

Did you know if indicate that product ingredient can heal, you are making the same claim for the product itself, it becomes an unapproved new drug? Well, it is true.  And you do not need to get in trouble with the FDA.  Learn more about this subject in a blog post from Marie Gale called Healing Claims for Ingredients.

Thursday, August 4, 2016

DIY Violet Sugar Scrub Cubes


One of my favorite classes at The Nova Studio was when I took a class on how to make solid sugar scrub cubes.  Never heard of sugar scrub cubes?  These are essentially the same thing as a regular sugar scrub but only in a sold form.  They are made with a combination of oils, melt and pour soap base and sugar.  When they are applied to the skin, they lightly exfoliate and leave the skin feeling soft and clean. So I found this DIY Violet Sugar Scrub Cubes recipe from the Soap Queen. I really love the color of this project and want to give it a try.  I normally do a pink color with a pink sugar angeline fragrance which smells like cotton candy.

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

How much stuff should you order when you buy supplies?


I have been teaching bath and body classes for a long time and sometimes I had to figure out how much supplies to order. My math skills had to come into play to figure out how much a recipe could accommodate how many students I have and double or triple a recipe.  So if you are not teaching classes and you are doing this for a hobby or actually taking it to the next level and making a business out of your hobby and wonder how to handle ordering supplies, then I would suggest you read the blog post from Point of Interest! called How Much Stuff Should You Order When You Buy Supplies?

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

How to Make Clear Transparent Soap From Scratch

It has been awhile when I took a class at The Nova Studio on how to make my own transparent soap. I thought it was a cool way to learn how to make a melt and soap base from a cold process soap recipe.  To be honest, I have not made any transparent soap yet, but I do want to try it some day. But, I did find a recipe and how to make transparent soap on Lovin' Soap website.  The posting called How to Make Clear Transparent Soap from Scratch is for some one who likes to make a melt and pour base for a friend who likes the convenience of melt and pour soap but the base is a heck of a lot better than the stuff you purchase at Michaels.

Monday, August 1, 2016

Blue Rimmed Cold Process Soap Tutorial

I first saw a similar project on Wholesale Supplies Plus but it was a rectangular shaped soap, now I found this one called Blue Rimmed Cold Process Soap on The Soap Queen website.  It is an advanced technique that involves several steps.   A layer of swirled soap has to be created in a loaf or slab mold.  After it has hardened but still alittle soft, the soap is sliced horizontally into thin strips and carefully molded on the rim of a heavy duty column mold.  Finally, a batch of soap is pour in the center.   When it is finally ready to be sliced it, the soap will look like in the picture.  It looks really cool.