The Winner is announced!

Thanks to all who entered the 2015 Bramble Berry S.O.A.P. Panel contest. I randomly assigned numbers to each entrant and then used a random # generator to pick the winner. The winner, Emily Fehrenbach, entered the contest twice, and her perseverance paid off!

The results are in!!!! Contest!!!!

Boy was this fun! I loved being a tester for these mystery fragrances that may become part of the amazing fragrance collection from Bramble Berry. After so many years of soap making, I know what I look for in a fragrance oil, so I will report about my personal experiences and impressions of each oil:

1. Discolored to medium brown. Easy to work with. No noticeable acceleration. Scent is chocolaty with a hint of mint.
   Name Choice: After Dinner Mint
2. Discolored to a medium brown. Easy to work with. No noticeable acceleration. Bakery-type scent. Hints of spice, perhaps nutmeg or cinnamon. Super yummy.
   Name Choice: Biscotti
3. No discoloration or acceleration. This scent was the most intriguing to me. It smells of jasmine rice and a soft floral. To me, it's an Asian inspired scent.
   Name Choice: Japanese Garden
4. Discolors to light tan. No acceleration. Smelled chocolaty OOB, but smells more like a light chocolate and hazelnut mixture after it is used in cp soap.
   Name Choice: White Chocolate Delight. 
5. Discolors to medium tan. No acceleration. This is another bakery scent. Smells like
   Pecan pie.
   Name Choice: Pralines and Cream
6. No discoloration or acceleration. Very fresh and clean...like a clean shaven man. Could market this as a spa scent as well.
   Name Choice: Barber Shop or Clean Shaven
7. No discoloration or acceleration. This scent was the most intriguing to me. It smells of jasmine rice and a soft floral. To me, it's an Asian inspired scent.
   Name Choice: Chinese Garden
8. No acceleration or discoloration. Smells fruity, like grape candy. I am guessing this would be a big hit with little girls.
   Name Choice: Grapes and Giggles
9. Very slight discoloration to cream. No acceleration. Very masculine, in a fresh and green kind of way. This smells like a fresh, crisp mountain air kind of day.
   Name Choice: Mountain Fresh Air or Mountain Mist

The real winners for me are #5,  #6, and #7. I am really intrigued by #6. This one baffled me the most and although I like it, it may not be a good seller for me. I feel that #3, #5, and #7 would be big sellers. I would market #3 toward men. It smells fresh and clean, like shave gel. #5 is a delightful bakery scent. I personally don't use these fragrance oils because I don't like brownish soap and but I do understand their appeal. #7 would be a big seller with the younger girls. It smells so fun and fruity.I had an amazing time on the 2015 Spring S.O.A.P.  Panel. What an honor it was to help take place in this testing process!

Please leave a comment below to be entered to win all 8 of the soaps I tested, and then you can judge for yourself!The contest ends Sunday, April 5th at midnight PST.

Bramble Berry's 2015 Spring S.O.A.P. Panel, Part 1

Here we go folks! Buckle up and take this ride with me!

I was recently selected to be a member of the 2015 Spring S.O.A.P. Panel. I was beyond thrilled. Woo hoo!

A few days ago, I received my 8 samples (this is like Christmas). They were labeled 1-8, and opening each one and sniffing them for the first time was quite the gift!

In anticipation of this testing, I bought two 4 inch Silicone Loaf Molds . OMG, are they ever cute and the perfect size for test batches. Love them.

I have decided to be very methodical about my testing:

• I am making this soap using the recipe I make for almost all my soaps, so I know what to expect.
• I will soap at room temperature.
• I will leave some of the soap uncolored so I can determine how the fragrance effects the soap color. The bakery scented ones will be free of colorants, because I prefer them that way.
• I will soap 2 fragrances per session. There are several that smell very similar, so I want to see how they preform against each other.

Please watch this video to see how testing my first 2 fragrances went. These were chocolate scented and fun and easy to work with. 

Thanks and enjoy!