Product Description

In a world filled with pollution and chemicals, this book shows you how to create your own soaps and bathtime luxuries using only natural ingredients and very little specialist equipment. Create the perfect gift for family and friends, kids and grown-ups. This book features a huge range of exotic and tempting ingredients, such as peach, peppermint, ylang ylang, cinnamon and chocolate, and includes recipes for shampoo bars, body splashes and bath creams. The simple, sumptuous and easy-to-follow recipes and luscious photography will tempt and inspire all.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #370 in Books
• Published on: 2000-12-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 80 pages

About the Author
Melinda Coss runs The Handmade Soap Company in West Wales. Her soaps are sold at the exclusive L'Atelier du Savon in the Marais district of Paris and she also supplies some of the most prestigious hotels and stores in London. A regular contributor to magazines, she has also appeared on television and is the author of a wide range of craft books including the forthcoming Gourmet Soap Made Easy, also published by New Holland.

Customer Reviews

This book tells you how handmade soap is REALLY made.
There are quite a few books around that say they can teach you how to make handmade soap when in fact they teach you how to add fragrance and colour to pre-made soap and stick it into moulds. This book is not one of those. It actually teaches you how to make handmade soap from scratch using caustic soda and oils which, almost miraculously; change into the most gentle, moisturizing handmade soaps. I cannot begin to describe to anyone the absolute elation and sense of achievement one feels when you unmould that first log of soap, and the second and the third . . . You feel you could put it on a tray and run through the streets shouting, "I did it! I made this wonderful soap from a pot full of oil." My friends think I'm brilliant! My husband brags about my soap and even my children turn up there noses at the stuff their friends have in the bathroom. I am a soap star and all because I know something that many people don't know. Making handmade soap from scratch is easy! And how do I know? Because Melinda has made it easy and has gone to great lengths to explain it as simply and concisely as possible from all the safety precautions right through the whole process including packaging it and presenting it for everyone to admire. There are a whole lot of brilliant recipes for just about every skin type and preference, plain and simple to downright decadent and good enough to eat. There are even some recipes for other handmade toiletries to compliment your handmade soap. And if you're one of those brainy people who likes to make up your own recipes then you can do that too 'cause she's got all the charts and information about the oils which you need to work out what goes with what and how much to use. She's just left out one section in her book. She doesn't tell you how the heck you can stop making soap once you've started. What am I going to do with all this soap, Melinda? And I feel the soapmaking urge coming on again . . .

Soap queen
A good friend bought this book for me as a gift. If only he knew what he'd started.I made my first batch, followed it with another and another and now I have my own skincare business
The book is attractively set out.The recipes are easy to follow and the photography is very pleasing on the eye.
There are tried and tested recipes a useful saponification chart and a handy troubleshooting guide in the event of any mishaps. If you want to make soap from scratch then this is the book for you.

Written in UK English, not US English - JOY!!!
If you live in the UK, you've never made soap before but want to, and find US-talk of 'quarts' and 'K-Mart' altogether irrelevant, this book is a little book of joy.

The introductory sections for first-timers are clear, concise and instructive. The whole book is extremely well written with a notable lack of frilly waffle.

The book is written by a UK-based author and it provides a welcome change - weights and measures are given in grams and ounces, listed stockists are UK-based, ingredients that are difficult to find in the UK are highlighted.

The selection of recipes is very good, complemented by photographs that allow you to check your finished product is as it should be.

General sections on the qualities of different oils and natural additives are well presented and informative.

In summary, a brilliant starting point for any soap-maker, especially if you're in the UK.