Customer Reviews

Soothing Soaps

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I own another soap making book from Sandy Maine and enjoy it very much, so decided to try another one. After purchasing it from Amazon, I quickly realized that this book is strictly glycerine soaps. There was no indication of this from what I could tell. I wanted a book on actual soap making, not pre-made soap enhanced by botanicals. In summary, the title or book summary should mention that this book is about melt and pour soap only. Consequently, I returned the book.

The soaps are truly beautiful to look at with all the different colors and textures. I expected recipes for cold process soap and not the use of melt and pour bases so I am not completely pleased with this book. Depending on where you reside, some of the ingredients listed in various recipes may be harder to find while other ingredients in my opinion are quite questionable for skincare use. Tincture of benzoin for example is a known sensitizer and is therefore something I would not use in any skincare product. The photos were extremely lovely and I did enjoy reading how to make decoctions, infusions and oils.

I had some respect for Sandy Maine and her Sunfeather company until I bought and read this book. I can see her premise being noble; she wants to use herbs and other ingredients effectively and these things do not survive saponification, so she has placed them into Melt & Pour soap. The thing is, M&P soap is one of the worst things you can wash your skin with because it is made with solvents like alcohol, propylene glycol (aka antifreeze), and other chemicals. It is drying. It is no better than the detergent-laced bars most of the world buys and uses.

She has a recipe in this book that is touted as an "Anti-Itch Soap", but the problem is that she tells you to use Peru balsam and benzoin in this recipe. These two products are known skin sensitizers, two of the most common additives that will cause contact dermatitis. She has a recipe for babies that calls for Peru balsam; this soap is supposed to ward off diaper rash. The baby is more likely to get diaper rash if mommy washes it with this weird soap.

There is this misconception floating around out in the soaping collective unconscious that anything that comes from nature is good for you, especially if you put it into products to be used on the skin. No responsible soapmaker would SELL soap that contains known irritants as something to quell skin irritation, so why are these recipes in this book? Some of the worst poisons come straight out of nature and plants. There is no reason for adding these items to a product that is short-lived and limited in therapeutic scope. M&P soap does not stick around for long, as it has a tendency to absorb ambient water in the air and gradually melt. For this reason, the soap absorbing water, these soaps could actually be quite dangerous to use, as water provides an ideal breeding ground for bacteria and fungi. The book should have "Use at your own risk" stamped on the front, but I guess it wouldn't sell as much copies that way.

I came away from this book feeling that Ms. Maine is having the last laugh all the way to the bank. Every one of these recipes calls for M&P soap base, and in her pathetically short list of soapmaking suppliers in the back of the book, her company is the only one listed that sells M&P soap base.

This book is for those who enjoy using herbs and natural remedies, and would like to make their own medicinal soaps for treating particular ailments. The recipes begin with a good glycerine soap base, then add various fresh and/or dried herbs and essential oils to suit the purpose. For example, the book has several recipes for poision ivy soaps containing various anti-itch ingredients. These soaps can be used immediately after they are made, unlike cold process ("from scratch") soaps which cannot be used for about a month. When treating things like poison ivy, a month is too long to wait! This book is an excellent guide to making your own herbal soaps - and at a great price!

This is the 2nd book I have purchased by Sandy Maine. The pictures are wonderful as usual and the variations versatile and easy to follow. The resource guide is very helpful. She offers helpful information on the herbs used and explains how each used can benefit the user. It does not however, give a basic recipe for making the transparent soap as she did in an earlier book. I think at least one should have been included. This book is basically for melt-and-pourers.

I wanted some insight into how to incorporate herbs into my melt and pour soap, and I found this book very helpful. Contrary to what another reviewer said, not all melt and pour soap bases contain alcohol and fillers - it is possible to get m&p soap base that is composed of natural ingredients.

I was pleased to find information on different methods of preparing your own decoctions, tinctures and infusions from herbs, and also some basic information on gathering herbs.

I found this book to be very helpful to someone like me who didn't know anything about herbal soaps and didn't know where to start. I have already made several of the soaps and have been very pleased with them.

This book of glycerine soap recipes is an easy and fun read that I would recommend for the very nervous, first-time soapmakers. Glycerine soap base is easy to pick up at Wal-Mart or online, and the recipes provide information for adding herbs, oils, and healing blends. Some of the recipes get a little far-out--calling for rainwater collected during a lightning storm, for example--but you never know which customers may be really enthralled by "Lightning Water Soap"! This is just a basic, fun, easy book that, while not an invaluable resource, might be a nice additon to your collection of soapcrafting books.

Really enjoyed this book. This book gives the reader information concerning the healing properties of herbs, and some very unusual herbs, at that. Using a glycerin soap base for these recipes gives the reader a quick way to take care of those creative urges that come upon us. This is a good way for the potential soapmaker to get her/his feet wet before tackling the lye process. This would also be good supervised craft projects for those with school age children. What fun!

I think this is a great book for people who are beginners (either beginner soap makers, beginner herbalists .... or both), or more experienced people who have limited time to devote to soapcrafting. The soaps aren't from scratch, but you can buy the base you will need from your local Wal-Mart or an online supplier, and you'll be ready to go. This can save you a lot of the time, expense and frustration you might otherwise incur if you had to manage both the soap base *and* the herbal ingredient additions yourself. Sandy makes this so easy that almost anyone can head into the kitchen, and within half an hour have a batch of beautiful, healing soaps that are ready to use. Some of the "New Age" philosophy (like communing with flowers to ask them to heal you) left me a bit cold .. but there's lots of excellent advice and much good information in this book. - Ela

Better glycerin Melt & Pour soap recipes can be found for free on the Internet. As usual, this somewhat spacey author ignores known hazards of certain essential oils and recommends unqualified use of them. 'Baby's Bottom Repair Soap' made with chemical-based Melt & Pour glycerin and Balsam of Peru is a recipe for disaster. 'Balsam of Peru & Benzoin Anti-Itch Soap' is even worse. Think at least twice twice before making her 'Pine Tar Soap and Shampoo Bar'. All of the essential oils mentioned can be extreme sensitizers. Her New Age drivel on Sunshine, Moonbeam and Lightning Water products are totally over the edge. Basically, this book is for people who enjoy talking to plants.