Can I S.O.A.P.?

I'm real good at sniffing stuff.

It's that time again! Bramble Berry has announced that they are looking for S.O.A.P. panel members to test some of their new spring fragrances.

S.O.A.P. stands for "Soap Opinion Awesome Panel," and here's how it works: The selected panel members receive eight one-ounce bottles containing mystery fragrances. The scents are unlabeled in order to get an honest, uninfluenced review of the fragrance. Panel members must test each fragrance in a bath and body product (e.g., cold process soap, melt-and-pour soap, lotion, etc.) of their choice. Then members share their results and give feedback to Bramble Berry.

In order to be considered for the panel, applicants must blog, Tweet, Facebook, Pin, or Instagram about their favorite BB product and why they should be chosen for the panel (and leave a link to their post in the comments section of the Soap Queen blog post so Bramble Berry sees it). So that's what I'm doing here.

I got to get a taste of what being on the S.O.A.P. panel would be like about a year and a half ago when I met my soaping friend Laura, who had been picked for the fall/winter panel in 2012. (You can check out more of Laura's soaps here.) She brought the mystery fragrances along to our lunch date to get my impressions of them. It was great fun to try to decode the scents, and it was interesting to see how closely our noses agreed ... or disagreed. After that, I started thinking, Hmm, maybe one of these days I'll toss my name into the hat when another S.O.A.P. panel opportunity comes along. I think that it would be fun to be a part of the process!

Picking just one favorite Bramble Berry product is difficult, though. Several products come to mind when I think of my favorites. I love their 7-lb. bag of coconut oil because I can pop the plastic bag into the microwave to soften the coconut oil. (Same with their 7-lb. bag of palm oil since palm oil needs to be completely melted down and mixed before each use so that the stearic acid doesn't settle at the bottom. The microwaveable bag makes that super easy.)

Bramble Berry's vertical mold

And I also love BB's lye flakes. The flakes don't pick up static electricity and jump around or cling like lye pellets can, and they dissolve well in water, milks, beer, etc.

If I had to pick only one favorite item from Bramble Berry, though, I'd have to go with their vertical mold.  It's so easy to create two-toned bars and creative swirls with this mold. The center divider evenly splits the soap into two halves. Lift the divider straight up and out for a half-and-half look, or twist it on the way up to make all sorts of neat effects. And the mold has plastic liners on all sides, eliminating the need to use freezer paper to line it. Unmolding is a breeze, too - one side of the wooden mold can be removed to allow the soap to be released. Once the soap is firm enough, the plastic sides can be gently slid away.

Here are a few soaps that I have made with the vertical mold:

From left to right:

Peppermint Lemongrass Sage Swirl Soap

Black and Tan Beer Soap 

Wasabi Swirl Soap 

I still need to try this look, too. I love the half circles that are made by twisting the divider 180 degrees.

Being a  S.O.A.P. panel member sounds like great fun, and I would love to be considered as a participant! I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

And if you would like to apply for the panel, head over to the Soap Queen blog and check out this post. Be quick about it, though - you've got until January 15 to apply!