Member Reviews

"Milk Soaps" by Anne-Marie Faiola is a delightful guide to crafting luxurious, nourishing soaps enriched with the goodness of milk. Faiola's expertise shines through as she demystifies the soapmaking process, providing clear instructions and 35 enticing recipes. From cow and goat milk to almond and coconut milk, Faiola explores a variety of milk types, offering options for every preference. The book's stunning photographs inspire creativity, showcasing a range of techniques for achieving beautiful colors and shapes. Whether you're a novice or an experienced soapmaker, "Milk Soaps" offers an opportunity to elevate your craft and pamper your skin with creamy, moisturizing soaps.

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DNF. The pictures are lovely, the recipes detailed, and the soaps gorgeous. However, even the most beginner soap recipes featured require an initial investment for supplies that I did not find myself ready to make. In the sense of preparing the reader to create milk soaps, I can only say the book does its job. Recommended if soapmaking (specifically milk soaps) is something a reader is genuinely interested in trying.

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What a fun book!

Milk Soaps was very well written with plenty of colorful photographs. Well detailed and easy to follow instruction. It was obvious this was well thought out.

Definitely get Milk Soaps and try out some of the recipes!

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Milk Soaps by Anne-Marie Faiola
Book Review by Dawn Thomas

272 Pages
Publisher: Storey Publishing LLC
Release Date: April 30, 2019

Crafts & Hobbies, Soapmaking

I love the comparison between hot chocolate made with milk versus water. It is a great analogy. I recently bought a blender to make nut butters and milks. I am glad I now have a use for the nut pulp after I make almond and oat milks. The photos are wonderful along with step-by-step instructions.

There are 35 recipes in the book, and I cannot wait to try them. Most of them have readily available ingredients. The exceptions are donkey and camel milks. The recipes with banana milk and split pea milk sound interesting. I have all of Anne-Marie’s books and found them to be very informative. This book did not disappoint. In fact, it stirred up my creative juices and made me want to make some soap.

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Milk Soaps
by Anne-Marie Faiola

Be prepared to get inspired by this book Milk Soaps, it is an impressive guide; which includes 266 pages of step-by-step tutorials and some of the most luxurious, skin-nourishing recipes. Reading Milk Soaps makes the reader feel as if they are sitting in a classroom, watching every step of the process of making soaps; being able to follow along and learn. The detailed explanations are easy to follow with gorgeous photographs for each individual step of the recipes. The techniques and artistry revealed within these pages, will immediately inspire the reader into action.

Author Ms. Anne-Marie Faiola has a love for sharing her passion with soapmaking that it comes through in every word of her book, diving deep into tiny detail on ALL milk soaps. She gives specific direction and advice that the readers will learn how every kind of milk imaginable, (even breast milk!) will perform in soap and discover how to properly integrate the different types of milk properly for creating flawless bars of soap every time.

Milk Soaps by Ms. Anne-Marie Faiola is an essential reference tool for every natural artisan soap maker; from novice to professional. With an abundance of recipes for soap making, Aromatherapy enthusiasts needs to have this book in your collection, no matter if you are a beginner or an expert soap maker. Having Ms. Anne-Marie as your guide along with her awesome book filled with easy to follow instructions with sections marked out for the: beginner, intermediate and the advanced, the readers can choose a recipe and get started right away. Not only will the reader make awesome soap, but they will be inspired to enlarge the creativity quotient in all aspects of life.

I am new to making soap and I have been looking for the correct instructional tool to help me get started making soaps; so, I cannot resist but to find inspiration within the pages of Milk Soaps. I have not found anyone that teaches soapmaking better or more thoroughly than she does, I have Fibromyalgia and so many of the soaps on the market agitate my skin condition and my Rheumatologist suggested that I look in to making my own soaps.

I certainly enjoyed this book and I finished reading the whole thing in just 1-day; not at all a little obsessed with making soap! Truly a very detailed book that all soap makers can enjoy and appreciate, this is a great choice and the readers will not be disappointed. I will be purchasing a copy for my personal use and referring to it for many years to come, and I recommend this book for a fabulous gift book for anyone interested in making soaps at home and anyone interested in making milk soaps. I was offered an advance copy to read and wanted to write a review telling other just what a fabulous book Milk Soaps is. Both the author and book deserve a 10-star rating; but I am only allowed to give 5-stars at the most.

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Great book! Beautiful recipes and easy-to-follow descriptions. I loved every bit of it! A must-read and a must-have if you love making your own soaps or want to learn how to do it!

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A great book for beginners and advanced makers alike. The pictures are absolutely beautiful and inspire the reader to want to make them. The book is thorough with clear instructions so that anyone can make them if they are willing to put the time in.

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Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this book.

As a beginner to soap making, I found this book very helpful. A good place to start your journey into soap making. I hope to purchase it in the future. There's a nice assortment of recipes and it appeals to the complete beginner. After flipping through this I thought to myself- I could make soap!

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A book that I loved looking through and enjoyed imagining making the soap, but realistically felt it was more than I would really manage! But if you have more time and patience than me, it sounds like a lovely idea!

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This book will absolutely make you want to make your own soaps. Starts with basic instructions, lists of properties for different types of dairy and oils, equipment, safety, etc. Recipes from lemon to pumpkin pie soaps look good enough to eat, with lots of color photographs and step-by-step pictures to help you create beautiful soaps.

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I cannot say enough good about this book. The lay out and instruction is so thorough. Each chapter is broken up clearly and the options of ingredients is listed for each type of soap. The addition of colored photographs throughout puts this book above other soap making books I have read in the past. The recipes also give everything you need from utensils, ingredients, safety instructions, etc. Step by step photos also help to have great visual instruction too. From choosing the type of soap you want to make, to the shape of the molds this book covers everything specifically and carefully for the beginner to the novice. After reading it I cannot wait to jump in and get started soaping!!

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I wasn't sure what to expect, but I enjoyed reading this. An interesting story with fun characters. Well written.

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Soap Queen blogger and owner of Bramble Berry, Anne-Marie Faiola, demonstrates the art of soap making with easy to follow techniques and thorough explanations of how to add milks to make the soaps creamier and more moisturizing. Milk Soaps has 35 recipes to help you make soaps that are organic and good for you without added troublesome ingredients, and beautiful. Faiola also describes the different benefits and processes for different types of milk, such as nut, goat, cow's milk, and others. For example, goat's milk has lactic acid which smooths skin. If you are curious about taking on a new hobby or interested in making organic products or gifts for friends and family, I would recommend giving Milk Soaps a try.

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Milk Soaps is a tutorial guide to making and using milk-enriched soaps of high quality for the hobbyist soapmaker. Due out 30th April 2019 from Storey, it's 272 pages and available in flexibound and ebook formats.

Soapmaking has become a very popular hobby in the last years. There are a myriad of books available with every possible recipe and additive. A recent search of Amazon kicked up some booklets and a few single-use recipes for milk soaps, but very little info specifically aimed at using milks (both plant and animal based) to create soap. This is a complete treatment of the subject gathered into one hefty volume.

It begins with an introduction of the ideas and science behind saponification. The introductory chapter and tools and ingredients section covers about 19% of the page content. The author also includes a good subchapter on safety including proper storage of lye and other ingredients. The introduction is followed by 35 specific recipes arranged roughly in order of the level of complexity. All of the ingredients called for in the book are easily sourced with an internet search, with one exception. The author does talk about the possibility of using human breast milk for soapmaking (though it's not listed in one of the 35 specific recipes). I wish I'd had this book after my youngest weaned herself; I wound up throwing away a fair bit of milk myself.

The book is well and clearly photographed and the tutorials are full of good step-by-step photos which the reader shouldn't have any troubles following.

The book ends with a short glossary, a resource list with links aimed at readers in North America (though ingredients are available anywhere worldwide on the internet), a troubleshooting FAQ, and an index (missing from the e-ARC, but to be included in the final copy).

Storey has a long history of well researched and presented titles for practical living skills and self sufficiency. This book is a worthy addition.

Five stars. This is a complete tutorial guide with really yummy recipes.

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Milk Soaps: 35 Skin-Nourishing Recipes for Making Milk-Enriched Soaps, from Goat to Almond is a creative guide by Anne-Marie Faiola, which is currently scheduled for release on April 30 2019. Handmade soap can be extra-special with the inclusion of milk! Soaps enriched with milk can be creamier than those made with water, and milk's natural oils provide skin-renewing moisture and nourishment. In Milk Soaps, expert soapmaker Anne-Marie Faiola demystifies the process with step-by-step techniques and 35 recipes for making soaps that are both beautiful and useful. She explains the keys to success in using a wide range of milk types, including cow, goat, and even camel milk, along with nut and grain milks such as almond, coconut, hemp, rice, and more. Photographs show soapmakers of all levels how to achieve a variety of distinctive color and shape effects, including funnels, swirls, layers, and insets. For beginners and experts alike, this focused guide to making milk-enriched soaps offers an opportunity to expand their soapmaking skills in new and exciting ways.

Milk Soaps is a well written and organized book for those that want to learn more about, and hopefully master, the art of making soap. I have dabbled before, and this book would be a wonderful resource for those looking to make a wide variety of milk based soaps, and to get more information and inspiration to help them become more comfortable and skilled in the process. I have to admit that I have not tried any of the recipes, because they are all cold process soap recipes, and the idea of working with lye water and the chemical processes involved honestly scares me- not just because I am a klutz, but also because of how interested my felines get with anything I am doing. However, having tried other styles of soapmaking I could easily understand and follow the recipes. I was inspired to try a few new things and learn a great deal about the techniques of cold process soap making. I found the information in the endpages to also be helpful, with common problems addressed and some resources that will come in handy to anyone looking to make soap.

Milk Soaps will be a valuable resource and inspiration for those looking to learn more about or master the process of making cold process soaps with milk as an ingredient. The recipes are well done, and leave room for further customization with offering insights and inspiration.

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If you're into soap-making, you've likely heard of Anne-Marie Faiola through her Soap Queen blog and her company Bramble Berry. If not, go check it out and get yourself hooked on it! ;)

I first heard of Bramble Berry in 2013, living in Korea and learning to make soap. My soap instructor loved talking about the different products offered by Bramble Berry and got me hooked on making my own soap.

As I would expect, this book is well-made and organized. The pictures are beautiful and the instructions are clear and concise. In general, I do not recommend this for someone making soap for the first time. However, I also believe that if you are able to follow directions and read carefully, there are basic recipes that even a beginning soap-maker can accomplish successfully. Getting the right quantities of ingredients is not always easy, but with step-to-step guided instructions and pictures, Faiola has really simplified the process. My favorite part? Information about using frozen breast milk for soap! I would have NEVER considered it before reading through this book, but Faiola's instructions on how to use breast milk to make soap have me so excited to try it.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Storey Publishing for a free copy of this book in exchange for a review.

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This is the most beautiful soap making book. The photos the different soap are all stunning. The book has beginning as well as advanced recipes. I thought milk would be just cows or goat milk, no it's almond, coconut, rice, hemp and just about any milk, even breast milk. This book is vegan friendly. It would make a fabulous gift book for anyone interested in making soaps at home.
I remember reading about famous people who would soak in milk baths to make their skin silky soft. I have been making soaps for years but never tried with milk. I am making several recipes for Mother's Day to hand out. I can't wait to get started.

Thank you to the publishers for an advanced copy for review

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I was able to read Milk Soaps for free from Netgalley, the publisher and the author for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The book provides directions with pictures, you will become a soap maker for sure. Each project provided gives you the list of ingredients that you will be using, along with which tools and molds you will be need. It is very importantly follow their cautions to avoid injury. This book is helpful for newbies and experienced soap makers alike.

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Milk Soaps
by Anne-Marie Faiola

I was so excited to receive this book. I had seen an article about soaps and that caught my attention, so reading this book was an obvious next step.

Everything I ever wanted to know came in this book. So if you’re a beginner like I am, you too can take this book and make soap too! By following directions and viewing the pictures, you will become a soap maker. Each project that is provided gives you the list of ingredients that you will be using, along with what tools and molds that will be needed. Very importantly follow their cautions to avoid injury.

Whether your a beginner or looking to add more soap recipes to your collection is book will be perfect for you!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

#Netgalley

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I came to this book with no prior knowledge of soap making but a healthy interest in having a go as I'm very interested in all kinds of crafts. It's a very thorough book, describing in detail the processes and equipment needed. There is much information about safety precautions, variations in ingredients and additives.
Beautiful, step by step illustrations guide the reader through the soap making journey.
For someone who already has a little knowledge of soap making and wants to up their game, this is a must buy. Unfortunately, as a complete beginner, it has put me off having a go due to the sheer amount of technical information imparted and the ingredients needed. Still a lovely book that I enjoyed reading, but just not for me!

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