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Soap is a daily necessity in every household, but it can be a beautiful, distinctive bathroom accessory and a one-of-a-kind, highly personalized gift. With this innovative guide to making all kinds of soap at home, readers will be able to custom-design their own bars of soap, for personal use and for loved ones, who will appreciate the time and care that have gone into the creation. The varieties featured include a green and gray seaweed soap and an exfoliating honey and oatmeal bar; sections on soap types, tools and equipment, molds and techniques ensure successful results.
Handmade SoapReviewed by Nichole, 2007-02-03
This is a good book. I prefer to make handmilled soaps with natural ingredients like oatmeal, honey, lavender buds, coffee, milk, coconut, calendula, etc. Lots of soap books feature soaps with pretty colored soap chunks, glitter, and other pretty colors, but not everyone can tolerate these pretty but sometimes irritating additions to their soaps. Making soaps with more natural ingredients gives your soaps a different texture and appearance. This books gives you a realistic idea of what you can expect to see when you unmold and slice your soap. I have extremely sensitive skin. I always had an interest in making soap, but because I can not be around serious chemicals like lye (traditional soap making is out of the question). I turned to soap making after using soaps (for sensitive skin), but after I used them I would develop hives, rashes, etc. I have not had that problem since I started making my own soaps. The soaps in this book give you lots of unique ideas and recipes. The pictures are great. I just wish it was a little longer.
WOWReviewed by Anonymous, 2003-10-14
I already knew how to make soap before buying this book. So I've found it simple with great receipes. I usually do utility soaps but if you want to go further in fancy soapmaking, this book is excellent.
Not for beginnersReviewed by Anonymous, 2003-02-10
This was my first book on soap making, and although the pictures are beautiful I didn't learn enough to feel comfortable trying the recipes. I think this is a good book for getting your creative juices flowing, but unless you are experienced in soap making, you won't get much from this book. There is no in-depth explanation of oils, scents, colors, or anything. Actual instruction in soap making was two pages. No saponification tables, no rebatching instruction, and no discussion of different types of soap making (only cold process). Very vague about many things. I would not recommend this book for a beginner. For ideas and pretty pictures get this book.
Not totally convinced!Reviewed by andywilce@hotmail., 2002-03-11
Not really convinced about some of the measurements;
1.To much essential oil - makes the soap to overpowering .
2.lye reccomendations to high; ive run them through an online lye
calculater to discover that they are abit excessive,and im
convinced this is why ive ended up a couple of times with white
chunks in my soap.
3.Alot of the food additives such as the Honey And oats are way to
excessive in quantitys-I then found with time they went
mouldy.
Nice array of ideas , just needed abit more fine tuning than it
actually had.
Beautiful Creative and ConciseReviewed by felicityfoster, 2002-02-24
As a soap maker I really loved this book. I've probably read all
the soap books available on the market. This book has by far the
best creative projects and is filled with lovely stylish pictures.
It is an inspiration and really makes you want to make soap. Hill's
book is hard bound and over all very elegant, yet is surprisingly
the lowest priced soap making book I've come across. It would be
nice to make some of your own soaps and give the book as a present
along with them. I did this recently and it was really apreciated,
because the person who gets the gift understands the effort going
into your soap.
The book is also clear informative. I bought my first soap book
about 6 years ago and I wish this one had been around then. I
baught the most recommended soap making book and I was so confused
I nearly gave up, before developing my own recipe through trial and
error. If you really want to know about a lot of sceintific jargon,
this book is probably not for you. For most normal home purposes
Hill gives you the basic information you will need as a beginner,
with simple "normal people's" language. The book has a quick bullet
point format, rather than getting to technical. Again I wish had
this as reference when I started. She also answers all the
questions I had as a totally bewildered beginner in a section in
the back. with simple "normal peoples" language. She also gives
honest direct safety information and suggestions. *If you do need
more detailed information about the chemistry side, you can always
get one of the larger nore technical words only books.
