Solid Bath Sugar Cubes Tutorial

4th of July bath sugar cubes – single use body scrubs

By Erin Pikor owner of Naiad Soap Arts

These easy to make, festive scrubs combine cleansing glycerin soap with exfoliating sugar to make perfect single use solid sugar scrubs! Erin was generous enough to share it with SoapQueen.com readers. It can be done in all sorts of colors, not just patriotic seasonal ones.

This recipe makes approximately 24 ounce-ounce single use sugar scrubs.

What you’ll need:

4 oz. by weight clear glycerin soap (for the red and blue scrubs)

2 oz. by weight white glycerin soap (for the white scrubs)

6 oz. by weight grape seed oil (jojoba, sweet almond or olive oil may be substituted)

18 oz. by weight white sugar

Milk Way basic square mold

Pinkberry sherbet lab color

Red Apple Fragrance for your red scrubs

Brilliant blue lab color

Sun-Ripened Raspberry Fragrance for your blue scrubs

White Tea & Ginger Fragrance for your white scrubs

Blunt edge soap cutter or knife

2-cup glass measuring cup or melting soap

Spoons

Cutting surface

Wide mouth jars or plastic food containers for storage

These ingredients will be split into three batches - one each of red, white and blue!

Step one: Melt 2 oz. of clear soap in the microwave using your 2-cup glass measuring cup. This should take about 30 seconds.

Step two: Mix 2 oz. of your oil with the melted soap and stir until blended. The mix should still be liquid at this point. If it starts to thicken pop back in the microwave for a few seconds until your soap/oil mix is liquid.

Step three: Add color, pinkberry sherbet lab color to your liking and mix thoroughly. For this project I diluted the 10ml bottle of lab color in 2 oz. of water and used 4 drops. (skip this step for the white scrubs)

Step four: Add 20 drops of fragrance oil and mix thoroughly.

Step five: Add 6 oz. of the sugar and stir rigorously until completely blended.

Step six: Pour or spoon into you mold cavities. You should have a thick yet pourable mixture at this point. If it is too thick to spoon or pour into your mold you may heat for a few seconds in the microwave, but don’t heat it for too long as the sugar will begin to dissolve.

Each color will make enough to fill 2 of the 4 cavities of the mold. Let harden to room temp and pop out of the mold! Note you may have to pat down the mixture with your fingers as it may thicken quickly.

Repeat steps one through six for your blue and white scrubs, making sure to use the white glycerin soap for the white scrubs.

Step seven: After you have all of the scrubs unmolded, cut them into quarters using a knife or soap cutter.

Store in an airtight container such as a wide mouth jar until you are ready to use them. The glycerin soap in the recipe makes for a creamy emulsified scrub when mixed with water. To use, just take one scrub into the shower, knead with a little water in the palm of your hand and scrub over your skin! These will stay fresh for 3 months and be sure to keep them away from moisture so they don’t melt. Enjoy!

Big thanks to Erin from Naiad Soap Arts You can always buy her pre-made sugar scrubs at her Etsy shop if you don't have the time or inclination to make them yourself. Happy Fourth of July! Have a safe and happy holiday celebration with your families.

Funnel Soap

I'm excited about what Kat did at Otion this week - tried making Funnel Soap. I can't wait to cut it!

Credit Card Processing at Bramble Berry

10:58 AM - Yay! Real time credit card processing is back up at www.brambleberry.com Place orders with credit cards, PayPal & money orders. Thanks for your patience. And, thank you to Authorize.net team for getting everything back on line so quickly.

5:51 AM - Credit card processing is down temporarily due to a fire at the data processing center at Authorize.net As always, you can order via PayPal, money order or call in your credit card to 1-87-SOAP-STUFF

PS - You can always get me @brambleberry on Twitter too.

Soap Queen TV Episode 9: Water Soluble Paper

Water Soluble Paper is an incredibly easy way to customize soaps without investing in custom -made molds. In this episode, I share my favorite tips and techniques for using this incredibly versatile product. Enjoy!

Soap Queen TV Episode 9: Water Soluble Paper from Soap Queen on Vimeo.

Here's what you'll need to make this soap with me:

• Clear melt & pour soap base
• White melt & pour soap base
• Liquid blue color
• Moroccan Mint fragrance
• Basic Shapes Mold
• Water Soluble Paper

Soapmaking Video Clip

It's always exciting to see a soapmaking business getting good press. Tracey does a good job in this video, talking and making soap at the same time. I recognized some of the goodies she was using to make her soap:

'Waffle Crinkle Cutter' here
Lime Essential Oil here
Spirulina Colorant here

Check out Tracey's site here.

As for me, I'm going to be out of the office for the rest of the day preparing for the Soap Weekend Intensive. Right now, the class is totally full but if you'd like to get on the waiting list, you can call Otion at 360-676-1030. We're putting the finishing touches on a new SoapQueenTV episode for tomorrow on working with Water Soluble Paper so be sure to check in tomorrow for that new tutorial.

My Etsy Splurge(s)

I bought some amazing products today, all made by small handmade businesses across the United States:

Lip balms by 'Give Me Lip' - I just loved the dual colored look of her lip balms and purchased Vanilla Chocolate Donut and Cherry Vanilla Cupcake. My lips will be tasting sweet when I get these yummy creations.

Soap by Kristy's Lovely Lathers - The designs intrigued me. It takes real talent to get swirls and artistry on cold process soap and I can't wait to try my Fizzy Pop, Lavender Hugs, Love Note and Star Mint soaps.

Toiletries by Daileys - My secret shame is that I've never tried tooth powder or just tooth soap. I am going to remedy this with Dailey's Tooth Powder (and I got some of their all natural deoderant to try since mine never did work).

It's been a while since I got an Etsy soap fix and I was delighted to see Sweet Anthem on the home page! You may remember I blogged about Sweet Anthem after meeting her in person at Sweet Petula in Seattle.

Now, I just have to stay patient enough for all my goodies to arrive.

Starbucks & My (new) Clover Obsession

I got to take a behind-the-scenes tour at Starbucks Headquarters with their Vice President in charge of e-commerce. That's us in front of the original Starbucks sign. How cool is that?


I learned some very practical sales application practices for Bramble Berry but what I was most excited about was Starbucks emphasis on communication, internal brand messaging and the atmosphere of quiet collaboration.

Every meeting at Starbucks starts with a coffee tasting. It's a way of bringing everyone together, grounding everyone and educating team members about product lines.

Starbucks also had their values and mission visible, everywhere. It was inspiring to see how well they've integrated their values into their practices - their product design, their marketing messaging and their on-site amenities. Seeing how well they publicized their values inside their company gave me some ideas on how we can integrate our values better into Bramble Berry's daily routine.

I also got the scoop about some of the uber cool, limited edition, small batch coffees coming to Starbucks in the next few quarters and they sound delicious. By far my favorite part was the Clover. It is basically the next big thing for the coffee connoisseur. There are a handful of the Clover machines in Seattle for you to try. It's a single-cup brew cofee machine that brews limited edition, rare coffee, one cup at a time. It is so specialized that there's a Clover certification at Starbucks, above and beyond regular barista training. To learn more about the Clover or find a location near you that's brewing with the Clover, click here. I can't wait to try my next cup of Clover-brewed coffee. It was so good that I didn't have any urge for cream or sugar - just the straight coffee. If you get a chance, try it. As for me, I'm already angling for another visit so I can get some more of that delicious Clover-brewed coffee.