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Rating: 
Summary: danger
Review: I found this book very helpful as a new soap crafter. It was full of great ideas and info. I really liked the charts in the back on the essential oils. I would recommend this as a must read to any new soap crafter.
Rating: 
Summary: Is general information but not a complete source
Review: I love to make natural soaps and I collects book that refers to soapmaking. For a person that already knows how to make soaps, this book is full of ideas. However this book is not for the novice soapmaker, since it lacks of alot of information which is vital for a beginer. A novice should look some place else for more deep information in order to ensure that he/she learn the ups and down of soapmaking. Other than this, it has nices photos.
Rating: 
Summary: Easy to follow and fun to do!
Review: I read this entire book in one evening! The book was well-layed out and easy to understand. I purchased another book on soap/liquid making and the other author explained everything in the chemical names! It was so frustrating to read. Catherine explains everything in simple, easy-to-understand words that a beginner can follow with out any help. Many of the soap ingredients are found right in your kitchen except for the Lye, which she tells you that you can purchase the Lye at your local hardware store, like Home Depot. She also includes wonderful recipes. I bought the book mainly for the soaps but ended up enjoying the perfume section even more. I made my first Rose Water (eau de toilette) batch last weekend following her easy directions. I have since found other recipes on the Internet, but have found Catherine's recipe to be one of best recipes for Rose Water! She even tells you where you can purchase your supplies and those hard to find (which weren't many--like the essential oils) items with the Internet addresses as resources. Its funny, but this is my bible now for working with perfumes. If you're a beginner or simply curious about starting or dabbling in soap/perfume making, I would definitely recommend reading this book FIRST!
Rating:
Summary: Easy to follow and fun to do!
Review: I read this entire book in one evening! The book was well-layed out and easy to understand. I purchased another book on soap/liquid making and the other author explained everything in the chemical names! It was so frustrating to read. Catherine explains everything in simple, easy-to-understand words that a beginner can follow with out any help. Many of the soap ingredients are found right in your kitchen except for the Lye, which she tells you that you can purchase the Lye at your local hardware store, like Home Depot. She also includes wonderful recipes. I bought the book mainly for the soaps but ended up enjoying the perfume section even more. I made my first Rose Water (eau de toilette) batch last weekend following her easy directions. I have since found other recipes on the Internet, but have found Catherine's recipe to be one of best recipes for Rose Water! She even tells you where you can purchase your supplies and those hard to find (which weren't many--like the essential oils) items with the Internet addresses as resources. Its funny, but this is my bible now for working with perfumes. If you're a beginner or simply curious about starting or dabbling in soap/perfume making, I would definitely recommend reading this book FIRST!
Rating: 
Summary: I loved the yummy recipes in this book
Review: I really enjoyed browsing through this book for ideas. I found what I want to make for Christmas presents, but am baffled a bit by the recipe. The Lemon-Lime Coconut Hair Bar on pg.91 doesn't tell you how much lye and water to mix. Are all these ingredients listed in addition to Basic Vegetable Soap recipe? I am hoping that the author, Catherine Bardey will e-mail me back and straighten me out. I am excited to try several more recipes in here as soon as I know I'm on the right track.
Rating:
Summary: "Soaps, Shampoos, Perfumes & Splashes You Can Make At Home"
Review: This beautiful, slim book is split into two parts: 1) 'Making Soaps,' which begins with a little history on where and how soap was invented (supposedly in Rome from animal fat and ash residue some few thousand years ago), followed by a list of tools and ingredients you'll need, like a scale, paring knife, measuring cups/spoons, large stainless steel/ceramic pot, rubber/latex gloves--oh, the list goes on and on. Then it goes into the techniques and three methods of soapmaking: cold-process, hand-milling, and melting (aka Jell-O method; the easiest of the three). There are even recipes for you to try, like Cinnamon Ginger, Honey Vanilla, Coconut Rosewood, etc, which just made me hungry after reading them. I guess the nice thing about soapmaking is that if you mess up, you can always eat your mistake (j/k). I haven't tried any of the recipes myself, so I can't say they'll work, especially after reading a few other reviews below. As for the shampoo section (which is also lumped here), that's reduced to just 8 pages--half of which are just photos--and doesn't go into great detail. 2) 'Making Scents,' which also begins with a history on fragrances, this time starting around 3500 BC. I wasn't too interested in this portion of the book, but it is a great place for beginners to start since organic perfumes are relatively easy to make, and the tools required are a lot fewer and less dangerous than for soapmaking. However, as the author mentions, don't expect to make a reproduction of Chanel No 5 or the like. There are some good perfume recipes, though, like Rose Water, Vanilla Bean Water, and Pear Nectar Perfume (none of which I've tried, but would try if I ever got around to it). I received "Making Soaps and Scents" awhile back as a gift. What I liked most about it was the vegetable-based soapmaking recipes since I'm a vegan and didn't want to get involved with any animal products. However, I'm not very good at arts and crafts at all, and forget about getting me in the kitchen: I usually end up burning something when I do. For that reason, I've been a little wary of attempting any of these soapmaking ideas. For now, I'm happy just buying vegan soap/shampoos at the store, like Crystal (a soap), which doesn't include or experiment on animals. But for those who are into arts and crafts, then "Making Soaps and Scents" is certainly worth checking out. It's quite informative, with several tips and troubleshooting pages throughout the book; not to mention it's very colorful and beautifully photographed, even if the photos are mainly just of soap.
Rating:
Summary: Great for ideas
Review: This is not a good book for making soap or anything else. It has more pictures than recipes and what recipes it does have are not very practical.
This is NOT a book for beginners either, spend the money on something else like soap making for fun and profit, and the soap makers companion.
I bought this book, and was very dissapointed, I resold it and not for very much I might add.
Rating:
Summary: Spectaular Book!
Review: This is one of the best books I have read on soap making! Catherine (the author) tells you what kinds of ingredients to use and why they would be used. The recipes are not too large to handle like many soap making books. I found that to be excellent! Also included is how to make your own perfumes (which turn out wonderfully!) all the history and reasons for are listed inside the book before she gives you the recipes so you understand the recipes! Catherine is a great writer and knows her stuff... I am going to buy her other two books also!
Rating:
Summary: "Soaps, Shampoos, Perfumes & Splashes You Can Make At Home"
Review: This was my first book that I bought on soap making and I really wished I had read the reviews first, before I purchased this book. I should have known something was not right when she didn't have any pictures of her finished soaps with her recipes. Could it be because they don't come out right, so she has none to show? I have attemtped to make two of her recipes so far. The Cinnamon Ginger,pg. 71; which came out a dark, ugly, smelley, mess. My second attempt was her Soothing Honey Vanilla Soap, pg. 73. What a fiasco that turned out to be. She neglects to tell you that when you add the 6 ounces of melted beeswax to the oils that are at 100F degrees(as instructed by her Basic Vegetable Soap), the beeswax will immediately solidify again and float on top. So, now I had to re-melt everything to a temperature around 150F to get the Beeswax to stay melted and blend into the oils. And of course, my Lye was already at 100F, waiting to be added to the oils. I see now why she has the section of water baths to regulate your Lye/Oil tempertures. You are going to need them. Anyhow, in order for the beeswax to stay liquid, I had to keep the temperature around 150F. And now I wasn't sure which temperature my lye should be. She also neglected to warn you that honey can cause your batch to separate, that happened to me also, when I added the warmed honey. I have serious doubts that my soap will turn out ok, it is in the mold now, but it did not look good when I poured it. And, I also just found out, after reading on the Internet, that you should not add more than 1.5% beeswax to a batch, otherwise you will have problems keeping the batch at a liquid state. The other reason is because of Beewax's hardening properties. Since it makes a soap hard, too much is not good, not unless you have a jack-hammer to slice it:). Well, her recipe called for 6oz of Beeswax, which is more than 13%, I am afraid I will end up with a brick in the morning. Again, this is the type of information she neglects to explain to you. Another important note is the use of Essential Oils in her reipes, e.g., again, her Soothing Vanilla Soap says to use 2 oz of Vanilla Essential Oil. I am not sure who her supplier is, but I couldn't find pure Vanilla Essential Oil for under $194.00, for 2 ozs, and that was for Vanilla Absolute. I am so glad now, that I used Fragrance Oil instead. I don't have 200.00 to throw away, while I try to figure her recipes out. Again, this is book is truly lacking in information. I am sure an experienced soaper would have known these things, but than, I think an experienced soaper would have read this recipe,laughed and tossed it aside. And yes, how much lye do you need for the Lemon Lime Coconut Hair Bar on pg. 91, anyway? That's right, somehow the editor neglected to add it. Hopefully, once I become more experienced, I can use some of her recipes, but for now, I think I will stay with the Internet, so I can learn. Buyers beware, is all I have left to say about this book.
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