Soap Recipes: Seventy Tried-And-True Ways to Make Modern Soap with Herbs, Beeswax, and Vegetable Oils

I was anxiously awaiting this book as I heard it was excellent for beginners and let me tell you...IT IS!!! One of the things I love about it are the recipes are SIMPLE YET CREATIVE and the recipes are for making SMALL batches, which is great for someone just starting out. Rather than messing up a 10 pound batch, you're messing up a 2 pound batch....if you mess up :) . I know I did the first time! But not with this book...the recipes are easy to follow and helps you get to know the basics of soap making. This is a LITTLE book though....and is currently going for a lot of money USED. It was worth the $30 I paid for it, but I would recommend holding off if you see it for a lot more ($50 is a little ridiculous for such a small book...the sellers are obviously out to make a quick buck). However, in the very short time I've owned this book, its become a treasure. If anyone even breathes on it I'm going to lock it up somewhere :) BUY IT, but try to buy it for a descent price!

If you've never tried soapmaking, this is the best book to learn cold process soap making with. Here's why -- *Elaine's recipes use a total of 1 lb. of oils (that's about 7 to 8-4 oz. bars), so you're not investing a ton of money in a hobby you're not sure if you want to make more soap. *Elaine's instructions are simple and straightforward with _illustrations_ throughout! Elaine's book is the only one I was able to find that has a picture of what "traced soap" looks like. *Elaines' book includes a trouble-shooting section that can help you learn how to salvage batches of soap that might not be working right. *Elaine's book includes very basic information about essential oils. Once you master Elaine's soap techniques, you can learn more about the chemistry of soap making by reading Susan Miller Cavitch's "The Natural Soap Book : Making Herbal and Vegetable-Based Soaps". SMC's book also has larger batch soap bases for you to try. But, if you want to try melt & pour (glycerin) soaps, Elaine's book is not for you.

This was my first soapmaking book and after reading about a dozen books on the subject, I still think it is a great place to start. Small recipes mean that a beginner's mistakes won't cost a large volume of expensive oils and won't take a lot of special equipment. Recipes are included for any type of oils imaginable and instructions are kept to the basics. I don't worry about matching the recommended temperatures--that gets pretty exacting. The soaps turn out fine even if you ignore the exact temperature readings and just use a general range for temps.The recipes are well calculated and the instructions are clear. After trying literally dozens of soap recipes my favorites still come from this book. When you are ready to get into more technical info. and larger volume recipes get the books by Susan M. Cavitch.

This book contains excellent soapmaking instructions, more recipes than any other book published, and it's all done in an entertaining and amusing style. The only thing wrong here is the price: for a small paperback done in black and white, the price seems a bit much. Even so, I bought it and would do so again. It's a wonderful book on cold process soapmaking. If I could only have two books on soapmaking, I'd get this one and one by Susan Miller Cavitch. Both are highly respected soapmakers, and each presents a very different view of the soapmaking process.

The absolute best book for a beginner soapmaker. Offers 70 tested recipes in a straightfoward easy to read format. Best of all the author made all the recipes using 1# of oils. Perfect size for the person just starting out. Loved the illustrations.....humorous