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Shona O'Connor and Howorama Inc.

This course will show you how to make natural soaps using a variety of ingredients and techniques:

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This course will show you how to make natural soaps using a variety of ingredients and techniques:

  • You will discover my methods for making perfect goat's milk soap, avoiding scorching, burning, or discoloration

  • You will have access to two different methods for infusing oil with plants.

  • You will get tips for using honey in your soaps as well as a range of exfoliating ingredients

  • You will see how to make soaps using a variety of natural oils and butters to create some lovely moisturizing bars of soap. I share all of my recipes, so that you can use these to create your own soaps in any shape or size that you want.

  • You will learn about natural colorants, including clays, plant based colorants and pigments, and you will see how to use these to create natural looking soap, with subtle to more pronounced colors.

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What's inside

Learning objectives

  • You will be able to create your own recipes using a range of natural ingredients, to make fabulous, attractive looking soap with skin nourishing properties.
  • You will be able to master the technique of adding goat’s milk and other milks to your soap without it discoloring or scorching.
  • You will know how to use plant based colours and other natural colorants, to create a subtle natural look in your soap.
  • You will also be able to enhance your colors to make them a deeper shade as well as using an ombre technique.
  • You will be familiar with different grades of exfoliating ingredients and know how to add them to your soap to create exfoliating and stunning visual effects.
  • You will be able to use a variety of molds to create unique effects in your soap

Syllabus

Introduction
How To Improve Your Course Experience
Colouring Your Soap With Natural Colours
Introduction to Colouring Your Soap Naturally
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Traffic lights

Read about what's good
what should give you pause
and possible dealbreakers
Explores the use of natural colorants like clays, botanicals, and pigments, which aligns with the growing interest in sustainable and eco-friendly soap making practices
Teaches how to incorporate goat's milk into soap recipes without scorching or discoloration, a technique that can be challenging for beginners and valuable for experienced soap makers
Provides recipes using a variety of natural oils and butters, which allows learners to create moisturizing soap bars tailored to different skin types and preferences
Covers techniques for infusing oils with plants, which can be time-consuming and require specific equipment, potentially posing a barrier for some beginners
Includes a section on troubleshooting tips, which is helpful for addressing common issues that arise during the soap making process and improving overall success
Demonstrates how to adapt recipes to fit different molds, which is useful for learners who want to experiment with unique shapes and sizes in their soap making

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Reviews summary

Natural colours and ingredients in cold process soap making

According to learners, this course is a highly valuable resource for expanding cold process soap making skills, particularly focusing on natural colours and ingredients. Many students found the course to be well-structured and the instructor's explanations clear and easy to follow. Key strengths mentioned include mastering techniques for goat's milk soap without discoloration, effective methods for using natural colorants like clays and botanicals, and practical guidance on adding ingredients like honey and oatmeal. While the course provides excellent recipes and practical demonstrations, a few reviews suggest wanting more troubleshooting detail or find the video quality occasionally inconsistent. Overall, it's seen as an inspiring course that helps students create beautiful, professional-looking natural soaps.
Provides valuable recipes and useful step-by-step demos.
"The recipes provided were clear and easy to follow."
"Making the indigo ombre soap was fun and the instructions were perfect."
"The step-by-step videos for each soap type are very helpful, like the Castille soap demo."
Instructor is easy to understand and explanations are clear.
"The instructor is so knowledgeable and easy to understand."
"Her explanations are crystal clear and the demonstrations are easy to follow along."
"I appreciate how clearly the instructor breaks down complex steps."
Excellent coverage of using clays, botanicals, honey, and exfoliants.
"I learned so much about using natural colors like clays and botanicals."
"Using natural colorants has never been easier, great tips on clays and infusions."
"The sections on honey, oatmeal, and other natural ingredients were incredibly useful."
Successfully teaches how to make goat's milk soap without issue.
"The goat's milk soap section was particularly helpful – I finally nailed that technique without scorching."
"learning to work with goat's milk and prevent discoloration was a game-changer for me."
"The method for goat's milk is fool-proof, I had perfect results."
A few students wished for more troubleshooting details.
"...I would have liked more troubleshooting tips for color variations..."
"I wish there were more detailed troubleshooting examples for specific issues with ingredients or color reactions."
"Felt like it assumed some knowledge from the first course..."
Some videos could be higher quality or easier to see details.
"The video quality wasn't always the best, and some of the explanations ... could have been more in-depth."
"...the production quality of some videos could be better. Sometimes hard to see exactly what's happening."
"I wish the camera angle or lighting was better in a couple of the demos."

Activities

Be better prepared before your course. Deepen your understanding during and after it. Supplement your coursework and achieve mastery of the topics covered in Cold Process Soap Making #2 - Natural Colours & Ingredients with these activities:
Review Basic Chemistry Concepts
Strengthen your understanding of the chemical reactions involved in soap making, particularly saponification, to better grasp the process and troubleshoot potential issues.
Show steps
  • Review the basics of acids, bases, and pH.
  • Study the saponification reaction and its components.
  • Understand the role of different chemicals in soap making.
Read 'The Natural Soap Book'
Deepen your understanding of natural soap making ingredients and techniques by exploring a comprehensive guide.
Show steps
  • Obtain a copy of 'The Natural Soap Book'.
  • Read the chapters related to herbal and vegetable-based soaps.
  • Experiment with the recipes and techniques described in the book.
Explore 'Soap Crafting'
Broaden your knowledge of different soap making methods and techniques by studying a comprehensive crafting guide.
Show steps
  • Acquire a copy of 'Soap Crafting'.
  • Review the different soap making techniques.
  • Try out a new technique from the book.
Three other activities
Expand to see all activities and additional details
Show all six activities
Document Your Soap Making Process
Solidify your learning by creating a detailed written or video guide documenting your soap making process, including ingredient selection, techniques, and troubleshooting tips.
Show steps
  • Choose a soap recipe to document.
  • Record each step of the soap making process.
  • Write detailed descriptions of each step.
  • Edit and publish your documentation.
Design a Soap Recipe with Local Ingredients
Apply your knowledge by creating a unique soap recipe using locally sourced natural ingredients, reinforcing your understanding of ingredient properties and recipe formulation.
Show steps
  • Research locally available natural ingredients.
  • Formulate a soap recipe using these ingredients.
  • Make a small batch of your soap recipe.
  • Evaluate the soap's properties and make adjustments.
Create a Soap Recipe Data Visualization
Enhance your understanding of soap recipe formulation by creating a data visualization that illustrates the relationships between different ingredients and their impact on soap properties.
Show steps
  • Gather data on various soap recipes.
  • Identify key ingredients and their properties.
  • Choose a data visualization tool.
  • Create a visualization showing ingredient relationships.

Career center

Learners who complete Cold Process Soap Making #2 - Natural Colours & Ingredients will develop knowledge and skills that may be useful to these careers:
Soap Maker
A soap maker creates handcrafted soaps, often with a focus on natural ingredients. This course directly aligns with the core activities of a soap maker as it teaches you how to create soaps using a wide range of natural oils, butters, and colorants, skills that are central. The course's focus on goat's milk soap and techniques to avoid scorching or discoloration is especially helpful, providing immediately actionable knowledge. Furthermore, this course can help you create your own unique recipes using various natural ingredients and create attractive soaps with skin nourishing properties that are valuable to a soap maker. A soap maker can use the techniques learned in this course to create soaps for sale or personal use.
Hobby Soap Maker
A hobby soap maker creates soaps for personal enjoyment or as gifts. This course is a perfect fit, as it provides a complete guide to making natural soaps with various ingredients and techniques. The course walks through creating different recipes, and using natural colorants, so the hobby soap maker can experiment and expand their knowledge of soap making. The hobby soap maker can use the instructions here to help make unique soaps for personal use and gifts. This course also teaches using natural colors and exfoliating ingredients, which will allow the hobby soap maker to be creative in their craft.
Craft Fair Vendor
A craft fair vendor designs, creates, and sells goods at fairs or markets. A craft fair vendor benefits greatly from this course, as it provides the exact skills for creating products suitable for sale. The course teaches how to make a wide variety of soaps, using natural colors and ingredients, and the techniques for making attractive soaps are especially helpful to a craft fair vendor, as it allows them to offer unique and attractive products. The understanding of various molds and techniques will help craft fair vendors create a range of products. A craft fair vendor will also benefit from the course's recipes and soap making techniques.
Small Batch Producer
A small batch producer creates goods in limited quantities, often focusing on high-quality ingredients and production methods. The training in this course directly benefits a small batch producer interested in producing and marketing soaps. The course emphasizes using natural ingredients, various colorants, and creative techniques for soap making, and shows how to create unique and visually appealing products. The knowledge gained from this course directly translates into the skills needed to successfully produce and market small-batch soaps. A small batch producer will also find the course's focus on recipe creation particularly helpful.
Recipe Developer
A recipe developer creates and tests new recipes for various purposes. This course is directly applicable for a recipe developer interested in creating soap recipes. This course teaches you how to create your own recipes using a range of natural ingredients, and shows how to make attractive looking soaps with skin nourishing properties. A recipe developer will also find the focus on adding goat's milk and other milks to soaps without discoloring or scorching valuable. With this course, a recipe developer will understand how to adjust recipes for different molds, and learn about various grades of exfoliating ingredients.
Artisan Business Owner
An artisan business owner manages the creation and sale of handcrafted goods. This course is a great fit for an artisan business owner who is interested in producing and selling soaps. The course provides hands-on training in soap making, natural colorants, and recipe creation. With an emphasis on natural ingredients and appealing aesthetics, the techniques in this course can lead to a product that stands out in the market. An artisan business owner can use the recipes and techniques to create unique soap products for sale. This course also includes guidance on soap cutting and stamping so artisans can create a more professional product.
Personal Care Instructor
A personal care instructor teaches others about creating personal care products, and this course will allow them to share a wider range of soap making techniques. The techniques taught in this course include many ways to create soap from natural ingredients. A personal care instructor will gain a deeper understanding of soap making with a variety of recipes. This course's focus on goat's milk soap, natural colors, and exfoliating ingredients provides the personal care instructor with a wide range of concepts to teach. The techniques and recipes in this course can be adapted into their curriculum.
Natural Product Developer
A natural product developer creates and tests new products using natural ingredients. The methods for making soap using natural ingredients taught in this course are applicable to this role. The course provides an understanding of how to combine oils, butters, and natural colorants to achieve the desired properties and aesthetics in a product. The course focuses on creating attractive and skin-nourishing soap, and this knowledge can be beneficial in developing other natural products, including soaps. A natural product developer would also find the techniques for infusing oil with plants and using honey to be helpful.
DIY Influencer
A DIY influencer creates and shares do-it-yourself projects online. This course directly aligns with a DIY influencer's interests, and provides practical techniques for making soap. This course teaches how to make natural soaps using various ingredients, and provides a variety of soap recipes. A DIY influencer may create a variety of content such as tutorials, product reviews, and behind the scenes looks. This course also teaches the use of natural colors and how to create appealing soap, and this allows the DIY influencer to showcase a wider range of products. A DIY influencer would find the hands-on, practical instruction of this course to be helpful.
Handmade Gift Retailer
A handmade gift retailer sources and sells unique crafted items, and this course will help them to provide new soap offerings. This course covers how to make high-quality soaps using natural ingredients, and a retailer can use this knowledge to either craft their own soaps or to have a deeper understanding about the soaps they resell. The course also provides recipes and techniques for making attractive and skin-nourishing soaps, suitable for the gift market. A handmade gift retailer will also benefit by learning how to use natural colors and exfoliating ingredients, and this can help them provide unique options to their customers.
Cosmetics Formulator
A cosmetics formulator develops recipes for various beauty products, ranging from skincare to makeup. This course may be useful, as it introduces formulating natural soaps using a variety of techniques. While not directly focused on other skincare products, the course teaches the fundamentals of combining natural oils, butters, and colorants, and how these components affect the final product. The knowledge of using plant-based colors, clays, and pigments could translate to other formulations. A cosmetics formulator will find the recipe creation, and the techniques for infusing oil with plants particularly helpful in a broader product development context. The knowledge and techniques of a cosmetics formulator can be applied to soap making.
Beauty Product Demonstrator
A beauty product demonstrator showcases and explains the features of various beauty products. This course may be particularly useful for a demonstrator who wants to highlight the benefits of natural soap. This course teaches how to create a range of soaps using a variety of natural ingredients, so a beauty product demonstrator can confidently speak about the ingredients and techniques that go into making quality soap. This course's focus on using natural colors and creating attractive soap can add to a demonstrator's storytelling and presentation of a soap. The demonstrator can also communicate an understanding of the soap making process with the techniques learned here.
Wellness Blogger
A wellness blogger creates content focused on health and well-being. This course may be useful for a wellness blogger looking to expand content focus. This course teaches how to use an assortment of natural ingredients to create skincare products, and a wellness blogger can create authentic articles and videos with the knowledge gained here. The blogger can write about the process of making natural soaps, the techniques involved, and also create tutorials. A wellness blogger will also find the course's recipes useful, which can be adapted and shared with their audience.
Spa Owner
A spa owner manages a business that offers health and beauty services. This course may be helpful for a spa owner who wants to offer unique, handcrafted soaps. The course covers soap making using a range of natural oils, butters, and colorants, and this knowledge helps a spa owner better understand and potentially create soaps to sell to their clients. The focus on natural ingredients means the soaps produced using the techniques here can align with a holistic and wellness-focused spa. A spa owner will benefit from the course's recipes, which may be tailored to the spa's offerings.
Product Photographer
A product photographer specializes in taking photos for product advertising. This course will help a product photographer better understand the nuances of soap, and it allows them to create truly captivating images. This course teaches how to create a range of soaps using a variety of natural ingredients, and product photographers can use the results of such techniques in their portfolio. A product photographer will also find the focus on natural colorants, clays, and pigments to be informative. The knowledge and techniques a product photographer gain in this course will help them create a more compelling portfolio.

Reading list

We've selected two books that we think will supplement your learning. Use these to develop background knowledge, enrich your coursework, and gain a deeper understanding of the topics covered in Cold Process Soap Making #2 - Natural Colours & Ingredients.
Provides a comprehensive guide to making natural soaps using herbs and vegetable-based ingredients. It offers detailed recipes and techniques that align perfectly with the course's focus on natural colors and ingredients. It valuable resource for expanding your knowledge of soap making and creating unique, skin-nourishing soaps. This book is commonly used by hobbyists and small business owners.
Offers a wide range of soap making techniques and recipes, including cold process, hot process, and melt and pour methods. It provides valuable insights into creating visually appealing and functional soaps. It useful reference for expanding your soap making skills and exploring different approaches. This book popular choice for both beginners and experienced soap makers.

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