Could this be lye crystals? Or...?

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sarahmarah

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I made Zany’s No Slime Castile a few days ago.
I did not deviate from the recipe—attempted a skinny shimmy and it came out rather wonky—oh well lol😂. Anyway I cut the bars way too soon and warped them getting them out of the evil evil American Soap Supplies Tall Skinny mold. I keep forgetting my olive oil always takes 3-4 days to set up properly before I unmold.
What’s bothering me is the texture of these bars is unlike anything I’ve ever seen so far as a new soaper.
It was soft as I cut it but there were some very crumbly very hard bits in it. The bottom of the soap was a bit wet but didn’t smell like lye—it didn’t burn my hands...What’s concerning me is the texture of the soap—parts of it feel sandy today. Could it be lye crystals or possibly part of the liquid salt/baking soda mix?
I used TD, Indigo, French Green Clay and Charcoal. My olive oil was from Jedwards and my lye from Essential Depot. My sea salt was from a local sea salt company. I took a lot of care in making sure I measured dissolved the salt water mix separately before adding lye. I stirred and strained the lye as meticulously as I could...I’m not sure what is happening?
No fragrance was added. I soaped around 105ish. Seemed to emulsify quick but the oil didn’t break when I observed it on my stick blender so the emulsion seemed ok. I had plenty of time to work with it.
 

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I think you may be correct about the clay....the clay is the consistency of plaster when I plane it I can feel the texture variation...
 
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