Now on to today’s Featured Soap Making Showcase!

Featured Soap Maker: Linda White

Company: The Healthy Soap Company / Linda’s Healthy Naturals

Hails from: Missoula, Montana

Other Posts You May Find Helpful:

• Christmas Holiday Soap Making Showcase
• Creative Soap Making Inspired by Food!
• Fall and Winter at Cibaria Soap Supply
• Gorgeous Summer Soap Making to Inspire!

ORDER LEAD TIMES:

All orders placed before 2PM on a business day will be shipping within 2 business days.

This change has been put in place to ensure that our orders are going out accurately and efficiently. As we enter our busiest season of the year, we very much appreciate your continued business and look forward to growing with you and your Soap Making efforts!

- The Cibaria Soap Supply Team

Other Posts You May Find Helpful:

• Soap Making and The Holidays
• Handcrafted Soap Makers Guild Conference Growing Closer!
• 7 Lb Quantities Have Changed to 1 Gal
• Survey Time! What Do you Want us To Stock?

Prices on Our Sunflower Oil

Due to shortages, you will notice the price of our Mid Oleic Sunflower Oil and High Oleic Sunflower Oils rise this month. This may also occur on our Organic Sunflower Oil as well. We will continue our efforts to pass the best possible price onto you, our highly valued customer!

- The Cibaria Soap Supply Team

Other Posts You May Find Helpful:

• Christmas Holiday Soap Making Showcase
• Winter 2011-2012 Soap Making Showcase Series
• Shipping Lead Times Have Changed
• 7 Lb Quantities Have Changed to 1 Gal

Without further ado, here are some amazing Handmade Soaps to get you in the Holiday / Christmas Spirit! (wish we had some Hanukkah soaps in here!)

Ginger L’Orange Gourmet Soap By AbbeyJames

Handmade Christmas Soap by Belle Journee’

Reindeer Games By Forget Me Not Soap Shop

Icy Peppermint Goat Milk Soap By A Bath Shoppe

Chai Latte Soap By Summerfield Soaps

Fresh Snow Scented Christmas Tree Soap by: Pink’s Pleasures

Holiday Eggnog Soap By: BubblesUpByBethieB

Fir Needle Vegan Handmade Soap by DeShawnMarie

Christmas / Holiday Pointsettia Soap Favor / Gift By: EnchantingSoapFavors

Cookies for Santa Shea Butter Soap By LatherTech

Elf Sweat Cupcake Soap By: Sherrilenett

Stocking Stuffer Christmas Mini’s By Tiera Steele

Festive Orange Spice or Christmas Glisten By Celine Blacow

Sweet Treat Gift Sets – By Anita Nickens

Cravings By K-Cherie’ Soaps

Other Posts You May Find Helpful:

• Amazing Summer Soap Making Ideas!
• Winter 2011-2012 Soap Making Showcase Series
• Gorgeous Summer Soap Making to Inspire!
• The Biggest, Baddest Soap Making Blog EVER!

2010 Handmade Soap Making Trends

We’ve already seen some amazing Christmas and Holiday Handmade soaps popping up, and we are very much looking forward to featuring them right here! We love supporting our Soap Making community, and we definitely wish that Apple Computers would hurry up and invent the “smell scents though a computer” function! We’re sure it’s coming soon!

So far, we’ve seen a few prominent Soap making trends for the 2010 Holiday season.

1. Lots of Chocolate-scented Products (which we’re pretty sure there can’t ever be enough of)

2. Warm tones and colors for the fall – lots of spices and pumpkin scents! (which we LOVE)

3. Creative wrapping and packaging (we’ve seen 40% more of this so far!)

4. More molds and food-esque looking handmade soaps.

We’re hoping to be able to pull all of these trends together in one blog post, with photos of course!

Cibaria Soap Supply’s Big Fall Contest!

Have you nominated your favorite Soap Maker yet? You can nominate yourself, or someone whose work you’ve admired from afar. We’re pretty sure they’ll appreciate the sentiment. At the end, we’ll tally all of the results, and let you vote on the people with the most nominations!

So what are you waiting for! Click here for details on how to nominate the BEST SOAP MAKER ever!

Soap Making Oils

And of course, what we’re really known for is supplying high-quality Soap Making Oils (Carrier Oils / Base Oils / Fixed Oils ) to the Handmade Soap Making and Body Care industry. We made sure to stock up on all of this Winter”s Essentials for Soap Making!

Now In stock for your Winter Soap Making:

Coconut Oil 76 Degrees

Organic Virgin Coconut Oil

Shea Butter, Refined

Organic Shea Butter

And much more! Check us out at www.CibariaSoapSupply.com for ordering and pricing

Other Posts You May Find Helpful:

• Shipping Lead Times Have Changed
• Winter 2011-2012 Soap Making Showcase Series
• Holiday Office Schedule
• Christmas Holiday Soap Making Showcase

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Soap Making brings together three worlds:

• Cosmetics
• Science
• Crafting

So how exactly do science and soap making come together in a peaceful and harmonious manner? The secret’s in a special and sometimes tough-to-pronounce word called “Saponification”.

Saponification is the hydrolysis of an ester under basic conditions to form an alcohol and the salt of a carboxylic acid (carboxylates). Saponification is commonly used to refer to the reaction of a metallic alkali (base) with a fat or oil to form soap. Saponifiable substances are those that can be converted into soap.

Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) is a caustic base. If NaOH is used a hard soap is formed, whereas when potassium hydroxide (KOH) is used, a soft soap is formed. Vegetable oils and animal fats are fatty esters in the form of triglycerides. The alkali breaks the ester bond and releases the fatty acid salt and glycerol. If necessary, soaps may be precipitated by salting it out with saturated sodium chloride. The saponification value is the amount of base required to saponify a fat sample.

In a classic laboratory procedure the triglyceride trimyristin is obtained by extracting nutmeg with diethyl ether.^[1] Saponification to the sodium salt of myristic acid takes place with NaOH in water. The acid itself can be obtained by adding dilute hydrochloric acid.

In Other Words…

It’s literally how you make soap, and it’s the science of soap making. The name Saponification literally means “Soap Making”. The root word is “sapo” which is latin for soap. Each carrier oil or base oil is chosen based on which characteristics it imparts on it’s final product of soap.

Saponification Table and Characteristics of Carrier Oils / Base Oils In Soap Making

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(as seen on soap-making-resource.com)

Other Posts You May Find Helpful:

• A New Year for Soap Making Oils, Base Oils, and Carrier Oils
• Winter 2011-2012 Soap Making Showcase Series
• Gorgeous Summer Soap Making to Inspire!
• Shipping Lead Times Have Changed

Jamaica Hands Glow Handmade Soap. By VistahSoap

Ingredients: Olive Oil, Organic Palm Oil,Coconut Oil,  Distilled Water, Sodium Hydroxide,  Sunflower oil, Canola Oil, Castor Oil, Fragrance Oil, Mineral Oxide,  Blueberry seeds, Strawberry seeds, Kiwi seeds, Tussah Noil Silk.

Summer Melon Berries Shea Butter and Olive Oil Soap By: Kimberquinn

Ingredients: Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Safflower Oil, Glycerine (kosher, of vegetable origin), Purified Water, Sodium Hydroxide (saponifying agent), Sorbitol (moisturizer), Sorbitan oleate (emulsifer), Soy bean protein,Shea butter,Olive oil

Cute Creamsicles! By Annakatesoaps

Salty Watermelon Soaps – Limited Edition Glycerine Soaps By: Soothing Suds

Summer Sherbet Soap Splendor By: Ajsweetsoap

Blueberry Smooth Hand-crafted Soap By: Tallulah’s Soaps

Ingredients: vegetable glycerin, palm oil, coconut oil, purified water, fragrance, herbs, botanicals, mica powders, pigment oxides, love

Jubilee Handmade Soap, Green Apple and French Lavender By: Alchemic Muse

Ingredients: Olea Europaea (Olive) Oil, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Distilled Water, Sodium Hydroxide, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Oil, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter, Mangifera Indica (Mango) Seed Butter, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Lavandula Officinalis (French Lavender) Oil, Fragrance, Chromium Oxide Green, Ultramarines

Coconut Isle Cold Process Soap Bar By: Lippincott Soap Co

Ingredients: water, olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil, canola oil, lye, *fragrance, shea butter, castor oil, coloring

Hula Girl Cold Process Soap Bar By: Lippincott Soap Co.

Ingredients: water, olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil, canola oil, lye, *fragrance, shea butter, castor oil, coloring

Heirloom Tomato Soap By: SunBasilGarden

Slice of Summer – Home Made Cold Process Soap Tropical Island and Raspberry with Strawberry Seeds By:MoonShineSoaps

Ingredients: olive oil, coconut oil, essential oils, lard, tallow, distilled water, rain water, sodium hydroxide, botanicals

Other Posts You May Find Helpful:

• Christmas Holiday Soap Making Showcase
• Amazing Halloween Soap Making Ideas!
• Gorgeous Summer Soap Making to Inspire!
• How to Make Goat’s Milk Soap – A Photo Tutorial

We have been getting asked by many people if we’d be attending the 2010 HSMG show. Well, we are! I’m very happy to announce that we’ll be there walking the floor – ready to mix, mingle, and catch up with some of our favorite soap making customers and friends!

Are you going to HSMG?? Let us know, and we’ll keep a lookout for you! We love meeting our online friends and customers!

A New Blog Layout

The Soap Box has a new layout! We’ve made the blog a bit more streamlined and easier to read though. It’s also easier to share our helpful content with your friends on your preferred social networks. We’ll be adding and modifying as the weeks progress, but we’re happy with the kind very words we’ve received so far!

Other Posts You May Find Helpful:

• The 2010 Soap Maker’s Marketing Guide
• Christmas Holiday Soap Making Showcase
• Amazing Summer Soap Making Ideas!
• Soap Making Soap Supply Essentials

We’ve gathered some of our favorite food-inspired soap creations here, and we’re excited to showcase all of the amazing things soap makers are doing to bring a bit of the kitchen into your bathroom!

We imagine that a bit of play on scents, and you’ve got yourself raving fanatics as customers in no time!

Let the Food-Inspired Soap Showcase Begin!!!

Some More Amazing Foodie Soap Finds!

Food Soap – Illusion 360

Don’t Eat the Soap!

Scented Bakery Soaps

Food and Dessert Soap Molds for your Creating Pleasure!

Silicone Food Molds

Spinning Lead Molds

Fortune Cooke Soap Mold

Cupcake Soap Molds

Candy Mold Central

Know of any other good places to get food-related and inspired Soap Molds??  Please post them below! Thanks in advance for sharing your sources with the Soap Making community here on The Soap Box blog.

Other Posts You May Find Helpful:

• Winter 2011-2012 Soap Making Showcase Series
• Amazing Halloween Soap Making Ideas!
• Gorgeous Summer Soap Making to Inspire!
• Christmas Holiday Soap Making Showcase

Just as a website has to keep the attention of it’s web user, so does a trade show booth have to keep the attention of the people passing by before they, well..pass by! Your goal is to entice them over with a message that doesn’t tell them how great your product is, but how much it will help them. People are generally quite selfish, and when they’re looking at most anything in their day to day life, they are constantly asking themselves “How will this help me” or, “How will this make my life better or easier?”  So while your product may contain all natural ingredients, and it may be fair trade compliant, your best bet is to stress how it helps them. All of the other attributes are really secondary. This one fact will literally decipher whether someone will stop at your booth and look around, or simply walk on by in search of the next thing that will help them or “change their lives”.

I called upon our Twitter friends to see what their advice was to first-time craft and trade show sellers, and I got some amazing and invaluable tips! Remember, these tips are from people who have been out there on the front lines of selling soap and crafts at markets, and they’ve seen it all! Thanks to all of the following people for their advice! This truly is priceless information if you’re looking to sell your soap or craft at a show!

Janice Summers (Twitter ID TresSpa) of Tres Spa offers some great advice to new craft show sellers: “Booth design – Use a thematic color palet that matches your company colors.

Keep in mind Line of Site when setting up your display. You want people to be able to see what you have to sell.

Clearly post the prices on the products.

Colors- I cannot stress enough the importance of thematic colors and I know it may seem silly, but your clothing should also match or compliment the colors you choose. If you have a dark product, display it on a light color surface and if your product is light colored, display it on a dark surface.

Try not to overpower the viewer with either to many colors or to much of one color. Use a color wheel to find compliments for your main color.

Give Away’s- I like giveaway’s freebies and incentives. It’s also a good way to let someone try before they buy. I have converted several lookers into buyers solely because I gave them a free trial to take with them. I have also found that creating special incentives for purchasing multiple items has been effective. Or, a free gift with a purchase of some dollar amount.

Give away your business card as if it were candy! Even if someone just passes through and doesn’t buy a thing, don’t let them leave without a card that has a way of reaching you on it.”

Alana Rivera (Twitter ID AlanaRivera) creator of www.ettaandbillie.etsy.com offers another great bit of advice that many often overlook: “Make your display interesting with varying heights and keep with your brand; take lots of ones ”

Jessica Morelli (Twitter ID diPalermoBody) owner of diPalermoBody.com advises new trade show users to “Have sample items for $5 and under. My sample soaps for a $1, and sample scrubs for $4.50 sell like crazy at shows.”

Other Posts You May Find Helpful:

• We’re Going to HSMG 2010!
• Amazingly Cute Soaps that Inspire
• Winter 2011-2012 Soap Making Showcase Series
• Gorgeous Summer Soap Making to Inspire!