Self-Sufficiency: Soap Making with Natural Ingredients (IMM Lifestyle Books) Learn How to Make Luxurious, Beautiful Soaps at Home: Techniques, Equipment, Ingredients, and More Than 30 Recipes

by Sarah Ade

This practical book is full of helpful advice on how to make your own luxurious and beautiful soaps at home, using only the best natural ingredients. Not only are these soaps good for you, they look great and are wonderfully indulgent too! Soap-making entrepreneur Sarah Ade introduces you to all of the simple techniques and basic kitchen equipment you'll need to create an array of gorgeous soaps. You'll learn how to choose your ingredients, understand their properties, and put them together to achieve a specific purpose. Dozens of easy-to-follow recipes range from the fun and frivolous to sensible and serious, and the text is packed with ideas for alternative soap making and homemade skin care. This is an essential guide for anyone interested in what they put onto their body as well as what goes inside.

Genres: Crafts, Nonfiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published April 25, 2009

Reviews

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall there is a lot of useful information and cautions about using the various materials for soap making. I appreciate how the author explains things simply as well as offering troubleshooting. There are lots of recipes with a variety of scents, but that is a negative for me. I had hoped to find a really good base recipe, with no fragrances. There is one that uses a water infusion but I am not confident enough to replace that with plain water. The author says the finished soap has a clean and fresh scent, which may be accurate but as someone with a sensitivity to fragrance, it is not worth the risk.

If you want a detailed manual for soap making and lots of different recipes, you will probably benefit from this book. There are no photos of the soaps though.

[February Four · Rating 4 out of 5]

Useful, tons of recipes and good ideas.

[Stephen Huntley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant little book, down to earth, practical, well laid out and informative.

[Jennifer Koch · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is really informative and was exactly what I was looking for to tell me the different properties and benefits of using different ingredients

[Jessica]

The author provides a thorough description of the saponification process as well as various ingredients used in soap-making. Ade takes the time to describe the properties of the different base oils used as well as essential oils, herbal infusions and dry ingredients (herbs and flowers visually present in soaps). All of Ade's recipes require a combination of coconut oil, palm oil, and olive oil as well as other ingredients.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great short read packed with lots of information!

[Terrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple, well explained process for cold-processed soap. Has a good explanation of the properties of various oils and additives.

[Kira · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some good ideas and information, however, recipes are not by weight. My batch was lye heavy and couldn't be saved. Be sure to run recipes through a reliable lye calculator if you use them.