4.46

5

Sep 27, 2017

Title: The Natural Soap Making Book for Beginners - Do-It-Yourself Soaps Using All-Natural Herbs, Spices, and Essential Oils
Author: Kelly Cable
Publisher: Callisto Publishing & Althea Press
Published: 8-1-2017
Pages: 348
Genre: Crafts & Hobbies
Sub-Genre: DIY, Soap Making, Handmade, Home & Garden, Health & Beauty
ISBN: 9781939754035
ASIN: B0742KPLGR
Reviewed For Callisto Publishing & Althea Press
Reviewer: DelAnne
Rating: 4.75 Stars


If there is one thing about growing up allergic to Title: The Natural Soap Making Book for Beginners - Do-It-Yourself Soaps Using All-Natural Herbs, Spices, and Essential Oils
Author: Kelly Cable
Publisher: Callisto Publishing & Althea Press
Published: 8-1-2017
Pages: 348
Genre: Crafts & Hobbies
Sub-Genre: DIY, Soap Making, Handmade, Home & Garden, Health & Beauty
ISBN: 9781939754035
ASIN: B0742KPLGR
Reviewed For Callisto Publishing & Althea Press
Reviewer: DelAnne
Rating: 4.75 Stars


If there is one thing about growing up allergic to just about everything was the opportunity to learn. My parent from the time I was born had to be sure there were no dyes, additives, abrasive cleansers or such in my soap, shampoos, powders, laundry detergents etc. My mother began making soaps, shampoo and laundry detergent and taught all her children how to do at well. The fun part was we each had or own personal scent. By the time I was ten I could make lavender, rose, orange blossom, peach, gardenia and lilac, soaps, shampoos and body lotions and powder. Somewhere over the years of shots as my tolerance grew I got away from making these soaps and such. In Kelly Cable's The Natural Soap making Book for beginners I got a refresher course. I was surprised by how much I remembered and how similar Kelley's instructions were to what my mother and grandmother taught me,.


As I slowly made up a batch of the soap I was taken back decades with the smell of scented soaps slowly cooling in the molds. This truly is a primer for those just learning or those like myself trying to remember and get black into the flow of making these beautiful bars once more. Whether for your self or to give as gifts you will find the recipes easy to follow, the text is easy to understand. Ms. Gable goes over the basic equipment, ingredients, safety precautions and decorative techniques. So put your mind at ease. If you have been wanting to try, but been afraid it would be too time consuming or costly or just to difficult the fear no more. The Natural Soap Making Book breaks it down and guides you along step by step.


My rating of "The Natural Soap Making Book for Beginners - Do-It-Yourself Soaps Using All-Natural Herbs, Spices, and Essential Oils" is 4.75 out of 5 stars.


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5

Jul 16, 2019

I have read probably 15+ books at this point, and know my way around a few of the most popular soap making websites. This is THE BEST book I've found for beginner soap makers.

All recipes use only natural (plant or clay based) scents and colorants. All recipes are PALM FREE. 40% of the recipes are VEGAN, while the others use lye or tallow. There are a couple of nut free recipes.

All the great things it includes, in book order:

1. Beginner section on basics like equipment and lye safety, and an I have read probably 15+ books at this point, and know my way around a few of the most popular soap making websites. This is THE BEST book I've found for beginner soap makers.

All recipes use only natural (plant or clay based) scents and colorants. All recipes are PALM FREE. 40% of the recipes are VEGAN, while the others use lye or tallow. There are a couple of nut free recipes.

All the great things it includes, in book order:

1. Beginner section on basics like equipment and lye safety, and an AWESOME oil chart with oil properties, price rating, and saponification values.

2. A section on Natural Additives and Colors that are truly natural (plant based or clays). She covers things to add for texture and plants to use for natural coloring.

3. A section on Essential Oils for scent, with ideas for creating essential oil blends for soap. This is definitely more intermediate, for those looking to play around with their own scents, but she gives plenty of simple scent examples in her recipes.

4. A detailed step by step guide to making cold process soap. Just as good as any you can find on the internet, but an important thing to have in a beginner's book. Includes pictures of trace. There's also a troubleshooting section that I love!

5. Helpful tutorials for 3 basic design techniques: embossing, swirling, and layering.

6. A total of 56 recipes. 22 of them are vegan.

There were only a few CONS I didn't like about this book:

1. The Crafting Your Own Recipe section was done poorly. It was rather vague compared to the rest of the book, and ALL of the starting bases had either lard or tallow.

2. The last section on Packaging Soap was also not great. It had a few great ideas and tips if you are looking to gift your soaps, but for those looking to sell soaps this section is lacking a lot of important information.

3. Lastly, most of the companies she recommends purchasing from are ridiculously expensive. Please don't buy from these companies! Bramble berry has better prices than most of the places listed, and they aren't even close to the best prices.

Overall I would still HIGHLY recommend this book! There is so much good information packed into one place that I can't even knock it for the few cons. Even with those sections omitted this would be an excellent book. ...more

4

Nov 14, 2019

Great place to start!

I am thankful for this book, as it's a wonderful jumping off point for soap making. The author is very concise and clear on the instructions. The reason for 4 stars instead of 5 is because I would have liked if she didn't rely heavily on the lye calculator sites. It would have been a lot nicer if she taught the breakdown of ingredients more than just kind of pointing to the direction of the site.

1

Apr 25, 2018

Ehh...

I mean it's a decent book for beginners I suppose but it also seems like another soaper shaming creators that use fragrance oils and FDA approved colorants. Also please actually read the ONE study she references about titanium dioxide. It does not state that the outcome determines titanium dioxide is causes DNA damage. You should also probably use more resources than one study to make a claim like that. Just don't believe everything that you read. Also if you were to actually make soap to Ehh...

I mean it's a decent book for beginners I suppose but it also seems like another soaper shaming creators that use fragrance oils and FDA approved colorants. Also please actually read the ONE study she references about titanium dioxide. It does not state that the outcome determines titanium dioxide is causes DNA damage. You should also probably use more resources than one study to make a claim like that. Just don't believe everything that you read. Also if you were to actually make soap to sell using all essential oils and natural colorants, etc. You would have to charge A LOT for a bar of soap depending on what essential oils you use and herbs, etc. The stuff is not cheap. Just a lot of things to consider and don't take it all as the gospel. ...more

2

Jul 10, 2018

Take It With A Grain of Salt

Lots of naturalist bs in here. GMOs are bad and so she wont even mention these ingredients and then theres toxic items. Oh and essential oils are just great! Her references are shady as fuck except one. But theres lots of recipes. Take It With A Grain of Salt

Lots of “naturalist” bs in here. GMOs are bad and so she won’t even mention these ingredients and then there’s toxic items. Oh and essential oils are just great! Her references are shady as fuck except one. But there’s lots of recipes. ...more

4

Jan 21, 2019

There is a lot to take on in the pages of this book for a beginning soap maker. However, the basics are well covered, and when those are mastered through practice, I think this will be a wonderful resource book with endless ideas for creative soap making in the future.

5

Apr 02, 2018

Great Book for Beginners

I would recommend this book to newbies and to all soap makers. Ive learned so much from this book, the natural and right way to make soap. Great Book for Beginners

I would recommend this book to newbies and to all soap makers. I’ve learned so much from this book, the natural and right way to make soap. ...more

4

Dec 14, 2017

Need to try some of the recipes before I give it a five star.

Very informative and lots of recipes. I need to try some before I give it five star rating. Loved it.

0

Oct 01, 2019

The recipes are awesome. The instructions were great. We made our first batch of cold process successfully. Going to try the hot process next.

5

Apr 10, 2020

Informative

Has great recipes and advice in here. Easy to follow and step by step directions, and troubleshooting as well. Fantastic.

4

Aug 07, 2017

A good beginner's and recipe book.

The only thing missing for me is how to make liquid soap for shower gels, shampoos and hand wash. Otherwise a very good, clearly written book.

3

Jan 21, 2020

There are some great soap recipe ideas that im excited to try from this book. Theres just not enough pictures! There are some great soap recipe ideas that i’m excited to try from this book. There’s just not enough pictures! ...more