Update August 26: The giveaway is now closed and the winners have been drawn, please see the bottom of the post for more detail!

Welcome to one of the stops on the Soap Crafting Blog Tour, to celebrate the release of the new book from The Soap Queen herself, Anne-Marie Faiola!
I am very bad at keeping secrets, so you know it took all my self-restraint (plus some!) not to share this news with you guys over the last several weeks. I was very honored and excited when a member of the Soap Crafting publishing team (hi Alee!) extended an invitation for us (you and me!) to explore Anne-Marie’s new soapmaking book, Soap Crafting.

I have to say, it took me all of 2.3 nanoseconds to ponder the offer to join the Soap Crafting Blog Tour; naturally I jumped at the chance for a sneak peek at Anne-Marie’s new book and to try one of the recipes from her book. I was given a choice of 3 recipes to try, and I ended up picking one that would be a challenge for me; Natural Colorants. I’m not super familiar with using natural colorants, but I’ve always admired everyone’s naturally-colored soaps and I have a list of natural colorants I would like to try. Alkanet Root is at the top of my list, and so I chose to try Anne-Marie’s Alkanet Root & Fennel soap recipe from her new book.
I received the book and was immediately smitten. From cover to cover, it is chock-full of valuable information…from basics to advanced, every level of soaper would benefit from having this book in their library.
Check out the Table of Contents!

As you can see, this book covers it all - from soapmaking basics such as safety and choosing equipment, to choosing oils, colorants and fragrances…all the way up to simple and advanced techniques such as column pour, funnel pour, painted hearts, different swirling techniques, including the one I’ve bookmarked to try first: The 12-color Linear Swirl, check it out!

There is information on using various foods in soap such as avocado, pumpkin, beer, coconut milk and yogurt. And what do you think my favorite section of the book was???...
The Cupcake section of course!

Oh, and did you notice that wire binding down the middle of the book? It's brilliant, allowing your book to lay flat so that you can follow the recipes and techniques with ease.
There is also a section exploring creative molds (using recycled containers and PVC pipe) and a section on using additives in soap, such as coffee grounds, calendula and green tea. I also thought a really valuable part of the book was the ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ section, which also offers troubleshooting tips and advice for an array of problems soapers frequently stumble across.
There is a wonderful variety of recipes included in this book, and the first ones on my list to try include the Avocado Moisturizing bars (using an avocado), Oatmeal Layers (with oat extract and honey) and Cupcake Frosting (which is a whipped soap recipe). Are you surprised that those are all foodie recipes?!
Can you tell I’m SO excited about this book?! It really is a complete guide to soapmaking, but made even better with all of the techniques, tips and 31 (yes, 31!) included recipes. The book is full of wonderful detailed pictures for each technique and recipe. I honestly can't believe how much information they crammed into this book; it's comprehensive but not overwhelming...definitely a must-have resource for any soaper, beginner through to advanced.
Now, back to the soap!
I was provided with the recipe and a kit with all of the ingredients that I would need to make this soap, including the mold! Have I told you how much I love Brambleberry lately?! They rock! Let’s take a peek at what Brambleberry generously provided:

I’ve never used Fennel essential oil before, and I really thought it would be more like a strong black licorice, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out in soap it is more earthy and sweet, with a black licorice note in the background (to my nose, anyways!), it’s a very nice match to the natural purple color of the alkanet root:

I’ve always loved the natural purples I’ve seen people achieve in soap using Alkanet Root. Soap that is colored with alkanet root can range in colors from gray to deep purple, depending on the pH level of the soap and intensity with which it is used. Alkanet root comes in powder form:

The book describes using the alkanet root in 2 ways, either using it infused in oil or adding the powder directly into the soap. Having never used alkanet root before, I wanted to try it both ways, so I made an alkanet root oil infusion and used the alkanet root powder:

I also thought it would be interesting to try using the alkanet root powder to make pencil lines:

I added the alkanet-infused oil to the bottom layer, and stirred the alkanet powder into the middle layer. Here is a picture of the finished soap:

As you can see in the above picture, the color from the alkanet root in the pencil line has actually infused a little bit into the white soap, which I think gives it a neat effect. Here is a breakdown of how I used the alkanet root in this soap:

I really like the way both colored layers turned out, depending on whether you want a solid purple color or speckled purple. Just a note that the alkanet root powder is slightly scrubby, so if you don’t want exfoliation, you would want to use the infused oil instead.
I thought it would be fun to pipe ruffles on top of the soap, I made the ruffles using this #104 Wilton tip:

I practiced with Cool Whip first, I find it’s a nice consistency for practicing piping skills :)

Here it is in the mold, my soap was not as thick, so my ruffles ended up flopping over a bit when I moved the soap, but still a neat effect:

I’m also totally loving this ELF mold they sent along too, it’s the perfect size…super easy to store and take apart, and the optional silicone liner makes unmolding an absolute breeze. I’ve used this many times since I’ve received it and love it!
Here is a Vine video, showing alkanet root infused oil being added, then adding the alkanet root powder, and finally piping ruffles on top:
You can see in the video that the alkanet root infusion is actually a wine-red color, but once it’s mixed into the soap it turns purple.
And here is the recipe I used from the book, which I was given special permission to share with you:
Alkanet Root & Fennel Soap Courtesy of Soap Crafting, Step-by-Step Techniques for Making 31 Unique Cold-Process Soaps by Anne-Marie Faiola
Makes approximately 8 bars:
Lye-Water Amounts 3.1 ounces sodium hydroxide (lye) 7.6 ounces distilled water
Base Ingredient Amounts 3.5 ounces palm oil 3.9 ounces coconut oil 0.7 ounces castor oil 5.8 ounces olive oil 9.2 ounces rice bran oil
I split the soap into 3 equal parts, leaving one part uncoloured for the ruffled top:
Bottom Layer: I added ½ tbsp of alkanet root-infused oil for color. To make the alkanet root infusion: 2 tablespoons alkanet root powder 4 ounces by weight of sweet almond oil. I infused these by heating the oil and alkanet root together and then strained the colored oil through a coffee filter to strain out the powder.
Middle Layer: I stirred ¼ tsp of alkanet root powder directly into the soap at trace.
Tips: Cut the soap while it’s on its side, so that you’re not dragging the alkanet from the pencil line down across the face of the bars:

Also, I poured my leftover alkanet-infused oil into a bottle with a flip-top lid. Brambleberry tells me the shelf life of the infused oil would be as long as the shelf life of the oil you used for infusing; in this case I used sweet almond oil, so my infusion will keep for 6 to 12 months:

I used some of my leftover fennel essential oil to make a blend with lavender, grapefruit and patchouli, does it ever smell nice! I think fennel is a nice compliment to many other essential oils. Using these natural ingredients has definitely inspired me to play around a bit more with natural colors and different essential oil blends.
I’ve since used this soap too, and it is lovely. A silky, abdundant, foamy lather…I will definitely be filing this recipe for use again!
I hope you learned a bit about using alkanet root as a natural colorant. I really found the insight provided in Anne-Marie’s book very helpful in learning how to soap with natural colors; she also discusses using annatto seeds and spirulina as natural colorants. Emily from Sheih Design Studios shared a post about making the annatto seed recipe from the book here: Trying Out A Soap Crafting Recipe
Now, I’ve save the BEST part for last! The publishing company has given me an extra copy of Anne-Marie’s Soap Crafting book to give away one of my lucky readers! The giveaway is open to US residents only. To enter, simply leave a comment below telling me what your favorite essential oil blend is, or a natural colorant that you would like to try.
For my international friends, I am going to give away a bar of the Alkanet Root & Fennel soap that I made using Anne-Marie’s recipe from her book, you just need to enter the same way…leave a comment telling me what your favourite essential oil blend is, or a natural colorant that you would like to try.
Thank you all for reading and good luck with your entries! Thank you to Alee at Storey Publishing for the invitation to join the Soap Crafting Blog Tour and to Brambleberry for supplying the kits to make our soaps! I hope you all enjoyed this stop on the Soap Crafting Blog Tour, to celebrate the release of Soap Crafting. If you would like to purchase the book, you can find it here: Soap Crafting: Step-by-Step Techniques for Making 31 Unique Cold-Process Soaps
There will be other bloggers posting on this blog tour (and more chances for book giveaways!) over the next several days, so keep an eye on Anne-Marie's Twitter to find out who has posted next!

I’m going to close out my post with my favorite quote from the book: “Soapmaking involves most of the senses — smell, touch, sight, and sound. Unlike art that sits on a wall, your handcrafted creations can be used daily. Not only will your soap wash away dirt, but its artistic nature will nourish your soul at the same time.”

Love that! She says it so eloquently…and that is why we love the art of soapmaking :)

Update August 26: Good morning everyone! The names have been drawn for the contest, and the winner of the Soap Crafting book is……Gloria Dawson!

Now, Gloria tells me that she already has the book and wanted someone else to have a chance to win it, so she has opted instead for a bar of the Alkanet Root and Fennel Soap. Thank you Gloria, that is very generous of you!
So, my daughter drew another name out of the basket, and the official winner of the Soap Crafting book is……Sue! She mentions in her comment that she is a new soaper who wanted to try pumpkin in soap, so I know she will love this book because there happens to be a pumpkin recipe in this book. Congratulations Sue, please email me your address and I hope you enjoy your Soap Crafting book!
For the international winner of the bar of Alkanet Root & Fennel soap, the name drawn was…..The Soap Mine! Congratulations and I hope you enjoy your soap!
Thank you all so much everyone for participating, and thank you to Storey Publishing for supplying the winning book and inviting me to be a part of this blog tour. Special shout-out to my daughter for helping me get the names ready for the draw and drawing the winning names =)