Soap Crafting: Advice from The Soap Queen

By Anne-Marie Faiola

One of Storey’s Facebook friends and fellow crafter asked, “How can I add Lavender buds to my melt & pour soaps without the buds turning dark and looking as though I added bugs to my soap?” We reached out to The Soap Queen, Anne-Marie Faiola, author of Soap Crafting for advice.

With a large mold like this, an in-the-pot swirl technique is a great design option. As you cut the molded soap, each bar looks different. A top layer of lavender buds adds interest and completes the look. Photograph © Lara Ferroni.

Anne-Marie responded, “Unfortunately, there’s nothing that you can do to prevent any flowers or herbs from going brown in your soap. Anything that used to be alive will eventually change color when it’s cut off from oxygen. Just plan on the herbs turning brown and plan your project around earthy and muted colors. Or just sprinkle the herbs on top for decoration. Check out this episode of Soap Queen TV for more tips.”

Exciting Additives
You can put an amazing variety of materials into your soap to add interest, texture, color, and variation to a basic bar. When you are thinking about items to add to your soap, be sure to take into account things like the scrubbing factor (after all, we don’t want to take off a layer of skin!); skin safety (for example, you wouldn’t want to use red-hot chili pepper powder); and whether they will work well in the bath or shower (an unattractive pile of herbs clogging your drain may not be the best of options).

Excerpted from Soap Crafting © Anne-Marie Faiola.

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Soap Crafting

by Anne-Marie Faiola

Make your own custom-tailored and perfectly formed cold-process soaps! Learn how to use milk jugs and yogurt containers for molds, and how coffee, avocado, and even beer can add unique dimensions to your creations. This encouraging introduction to the art of soapmaking makes it simple to master the techniques you need to safely and easily produce your own enticingly fragrant soaps.

$19.95

$24.95 CAD

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Anne-Marie Faiola

About the Author

Anne-Marie Faiola is the author of Milk Soaps, Pure Soapmaking, and Soap Crafting. She is the owner of Bramble Berry, a company that sells soapmaking supplies at brambleberry.com, and offers soapmaking advice and inspiration through her blog and on her YouTube channel, Soap Queen TV. The recipient of several small business awards, Faiola was named a Best Boss in America by Fortune Small Business, and is a member of the Coalition of Handcrafted Entrepreneurs (COHE). She can be found online at anne-mariefaiola.com.

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