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Rating: 
Summary: A good starter book..something for everyone
Review: Having goats I was interested in finding a book that would teach simple soap making techniques including using milk. I also wanted a book that would show natural soaps or soaps that would be healthy for my family and my skin. If you are interested in or make healthy foods you will have the items needed readily at hand. And the book is helpful because it lists where to get some of the ingredients for some of the soaps if your area doesn't carry them. Although essential oils can be found via the Internet as well. There should be one or two soaps (at least) that a person can and will want to make. Milk-Based Soaps: Making Natural, Skin-Nourishing Soap by Casey Makela is a book I also recommend for those who like myself make homemade soap using milk from my own goats. Milk soap is harder to make but is my favorite soap next to olive oil soap.
Rating:
Summary: A good starter book..something for everyone
Review: Having goats I was interested in finding a book that would teach simple soap making techniques including using milk. I also wanted a book that would show natural soaps or soaps that would be healthy for my family and my skin. If you are interested in or make healthy foods you will have the items needed readily at hand. And the book is helpful because it lists where to get some of the ingredients for some of the soaps if your area doesn't carry them. Although essential oils can be found via the Internet as well. There should be one or two soaps (at least) that a person can and will want to make. Milk-Based Soaps: Making Natural, Skin-Nourishing Soap by Casey Makela is a book I also recommend for those who like myself make homemade soap using milk from my own goats. Milk soap is harder to make but is my favorite soap next to olive oil soap.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful Soaps
Review: This book contains alot of good information on making soaps that keep you from not having to deal with lye or other caustic chemicals. Essential oils are a bit expensive, but hey, who said that soapmaking as a hobby was inexpensive? I see alot of people complaining about not finding some of the ingredients. 100% pure Soap flakes are certainly NOT a detergent and can be found at the "better" soap making supply houses..you just have to take some time and search them out. You can also make soap flakes by grating a vegetable based 100% pure bar of soap, such a Ivory. Voila, instant soap flakes. Also, this book seems to originally been published in Europe, hence the hard to find ingredients in the U.S. When it comes to scents that you can't find, such as field mint, all you do is substitute it with another type of mint that you find pleasing. I applaud the author in the sense that she uses only essential oils and makes colors from natural ingredients. Yes, if you want cheap soaps that are made with disgusting synthetic scents and fake coloring, these things are readily available, but you get what you pay for. I for one, would only want to make pure, natural and organic soaps, as the author does.
Rating:
Summary: Teaches idea of soapmaking
Review: This book has great pictures and the steps of soapmelting (of premade soap) are easily explained. I agree with the other reviewers that the purchase of the ingredients (the essential oils) can be costly. But this book offers unique recepies not just for soaps but also for shower gels and lip balm. If one is into aromatherapy and wants to get started with soapmelting, this is the right book. The ingredients can be found in health stores, spice shops, and internet suppliers.
Rating: 
Summary: Soapmaking? No.
Review: This book is not about soapmaking.
If you are looking for a resource for learning to make soap, this book is not for you.
If, however, you are looking for a resource on learning how to melt, mold, scent, colour and package soap, this is a pretty decent book.
I was really looking for some good books on the ancient art of soapmaking: creating and controlling the chemical reactions between fats and alkali in order to create that wonderful handcrafted soap that my grandmother knew, made and used. Instead, when I picked up this book, I got an eyeful of information on using someone else's soaps to modify into whatever shape and colours that you want.
That's all well and good... learning to hand-mill soap (that is really what this book is about, hand-milling soap... the process of reshaping and modifying previously-created soap) it a nice art in and of itsself but it is not soapmaking.
If you don't want to really control what your soap is made from but just want to make something pretty, fragrant, or what-have-you, I would recommend this book for you. It has some wonderful ideas for scents, shapes, packaging and such.
If, on the other hand, you want to become an artisan in the realm of soap... learning how to mix different fats in the proper ratios with the proper amount of lye to saponify, scent, colour and shape, and turn out a truly hand-made product, I would recommend that you find some other book. This is not for you.
Rating: 
Summary: my opinion
Review: This book teaches you the soap from soap method of soapmaking. Instead of actually making the soap, you take pre-made soap, shred it and make new soap out of it. This simplifies the process and allows you to create your own designer soaps without a lot of hassle. If you want to avoid the mess and complexity of making soap from scratch with lye, tallow and such this book allows you to make the basic soaps more decorative by adding colors, scents and additives. The book starts out with step-by-step instructions, accompanied by photos, of the basic soapmaking processes. It then discusses the many ingredients of the soaps including scents, oils, colors and other additives. A basic list of essential oils and absolutes along with a description of their aroma, blending options and any warnings is also included. The rest of the book is dedicated to making soap and bath products. Unfortunately, only about half are accompanied by pictures, so it can be hard to tell what it will and should look like when you're finished. There are sections on whipped cream and glycerin soap as well as soap balls, liquid soaps and other bath items such as shampoo and body powder. Some of my favorite recipes include mint and lavender slice, red sky crescent moon soap, liquid lime soap, milk bath and fantasy body dust. There is a great list of suppliers in the back including websites. An index was helpful in finding things as well. Overall, I found this book to be helpful in creating decorative soap and bath items for friends, family and myself.
Rating:
Summary: Definitely not ingredients available from a normal kitchen
Review: Well, I'm a beginner at soap making, and this book wassupposed to substitute for the lack of soap making classes in my area. I am very dissappointed. The author assumes that everyone who cooks makes everything from scratch, not boxes with packets of seasoning the way I do. Tell me, does anyone use double-boilers these days, and a mortar and pestle?I've never heard of these "common" everyday cooking utensils before this book. Second,essential oils are VERY costly, (especially rose, and jasmine) so if you don't carry lavendar, sweet orange, lemon oil, lemongrass, lime oil, cedarwood, etc..be prepared to spend a lot of money.The saving grace for this book is that it shows you the basics for making whipped cream soap, and luckily you do NOT need to use any of the ingredients for the sixty soap recipes in this book.You can use any essential oil for that. I therefore give this book a 1.
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