Making Scented Soap: 60 fragrant soaps and bath bombes to make at home [Hardcover]

Linda Hamblen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 28, 2003

A simple and sensuous pleasure, scented soap is easy to make, a delight to use, and an always welcome gift. Here are more than 60 recipes for handmade soaps, arranged by scent, that carry the heavenly fragrances of sunflower and calendula petals, lemon sherbet, rosemary and thyme, cucumber and peppermint, frankincense and myrrh. All the recipes call for natural bases derived from olive oil, jojoba, cocoa butter, and sweet almond extract. Citrus, floral, woodland, and herb accents can come from your own backyard. Instructions show how to use a variety of shapes and textures to create bath bars, bombes, scrubs, shaving soaps, shower gels, and fizzes. Because a handmade gift is so special, there is a section devoted to the finishing touches of packaging and presenting your soap treasures.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Linda Hamblen spent her childhood years fascinated by every plant, flower and tree she saw. She watched, studied, drew and collected them all. Using this passion for the natural world and her training in graphic design and horticulture she started Merrywood in 1996, producing traditional herbal soaps with an emphasis on natural, organic and homegrown ingredients.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Collins & Brown (May 28, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1843400561
• ISBN-13: 978-1843400561
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 7.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #184,381 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 10 stars, July 3, 2005

By 

Massimo Maddaloni "Maddmax1" (Bozeman, MT United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Making Scented Soap: 60 fragrant soaps and bath bombes to make at home (Hardcover)

The concern of using SDS and EDTA on my daughter's skin made me look into making my own soaps. I browsed about a dozen of books and this is the only one I bought. It is a great book. It is concise and informative. It is practical, yet it's not "dry". It was written by someone who wants to TEACH you how to make soaps. It overviews base oils and their properties, botanicals and essential oils. It shows how to make cold-processed soap bars, liquid soap, clear soap, massage melts and bath bombs. Many recipes are listed, but most important it delivers a ground knowledge that you can use to design your own recipes, if you so chose. It's the only book I know that teaches the general principles of blending essential oils. The chapter about resources shall direct you well, whether you want to buy in Europe, the U.S. or Australia. Lye calculator and all recipes are given in both metric and imperial. The pictures are magnificent. I recommend this book.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book on soapmaking, July 29, 2008

By 

hip handmade - See all my reviews

This review is from: Making Scented Soap: 60 fragrant soaps and bath bombes to make at home (Hardcover)

Before I started making soap, I researched several books on the subject. Many books in the market are helpful. Depending on what type of soap you are seeking to prepare, what is your budget for equipment/supplies and finally how much time you would like to spend in the kitchen, these are all very important things to know before you start the craft of soapmaking. There are many different methods that can help you achieve soapmaking, this is why I recommend that beginners do some type of research before starting this craft. I am a beginner and read most books. I read from the oldest method of soapmaking to the newest. Now, since I love cooking and art, I decided to make cold processing soap (involves using lye, etc.) because I love the art form of making such a beautiful product plus it also allows me to control what I use as my soap base.

This book has far been the best book on making good-quality soap. Why? Because the recipes include base oils, herbs and essential oils that make these soaps outstanding. Now, with this said... it may be costly, again depending on your budget and if you do your homework. I purchased most of my ingredients online and saved money. This is craft that can be taken both ways.. if you want something easy to make, faster to use and economical, then melt & pour may be your niche since MP soap can be used immediately versus CP which requires time to cure (upto 4-6 wks.)

I have made soap using these recipes on this book and they were perfect. The scents are wonderful and are curing as I type. The instructions are easy to understand in this book. My only suggestion would be 1) I find out that the temperature of both the base oils and lye should be 100 rather than the suggested temperature in the book before blending together and 2) I experienced a great challenge when I tried to take the soap out of the mold. I didn't use any type of mold release and had difficulty releasing my soap. So, the next batch I placed a plastic trash bag inside my mold and this worked great but had lots of wrinkles on my dry soap. What I did to avoid these problems is that I purchased a mold that requires no freezer paper, bag or mold release. This mold is sold on ebay for an excellent price. So far, I've made 3 batches and can't wait to use my scented soap.

I hope this review helps soapmakers and that they enjoy the craft just as much as I am.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Over Priced, September 5, 2010

By 

Robin "Robin Vezeau" (West Jordan, Utah USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Making Scented Soap: 60 fragrant soaps and bath bombes to make at home (Hardcover)

I checked this book out from the library, and yes it has some nice recipes but not for the asking price. The cover has a price of 19.95 why is everyone asking so much? Soap makers companion is just as good if not better.Soapmaker's Companion: A Comprehensive Guide with Recipes, Techniques & Know-How (Natural Body Series - The Natural Way to Enhance Your Life) I am an experienced soap maker and would never pay this much for a book like this. Basic soap recipes with some nice essential oil combinations but nothing you could not find on the internet for free. Basic Bath Bombs but again very basic and nothing you could not get on the internet search; many wholesale supplies have soap and bath recipes for no charge. All of the recipes on my website are from the Soap Makers Companion with the addition of many of my own ingredients (ideas) [...]