Milk Soaps: 35 Skin-Nourishing Recipes for Making Milk-Enriched Soaps, from Goat to Almond

by Anne-Marie Faiola

Handmade soap is made extra-special with the addition of milk! Soaps enriched with milk are creamier than those made with water, and milk's natural oils provide skin-renewing moisture and nourishment. In Milk Soaps, expert soap maker 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 soap makers of all levels how to achieve a variety of distinctive colour 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 soap making skills in new and exciting ways.

• ISBN13: 9781635860481
• Publish Date: 30 April 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Storey Publishing LLC
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 272
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

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.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.