Decorating soap

[phpworm]

Does anyone here decorate their soap?

I was thinking about painting a simple design on my soap, but I read somewhere that if you decide to paint - it should not be used and left only for decoration. Is there such a thing as body-safe paint which could be used, or how hard would it be to paint with excess naturally colored soap?

Please share some decoration tips!

 

[wendybyrd]

Have you considered stamping? IrishLass that dips stamps in the cosmetic grade micas for a beautiful look. It is quite lovely. Here is a link to her stuff.

If you click on the following link, you will see samples of my stamped soaps. All of them were stamped with rubber stamps dipped in mica, except for the bumblebee stamped soaps and the thistle stamped soaps. Those were gently hammered in with with Brambleberry stamps and then painted with soap paints:

http://members.cox.net/ssfkjfalf/AllMySoap/Start.htm

 

[phpworm]

That is a great idea! Do you happen to know what she is doing to get the mica's to stick?

 

[vivcarm]

I think that if the soap is soft enough to stamp on the micas stick, someone will come along and give the definitive answer!

 

[MagiaDellaLuna]

My stamps are Acrylic and the mica does not readily stick to them.
I wipe a little OO or whatever oil comes to hand onto the stamp, then pick up some mica on the raised bits of the stamp and press that into the soap. I pretty much sticks until the first time the soap is used, then you leave the bath with a nice glow on your skin

 

[jarvan]

I have stamped my soap before with a rubber stamp and then used a tiny paint brush to put the mica into the stamp. It's a bit of a pain, but worth it in the end. Maybe someone has a better plan to do this.

 

[honor435]

i saw soap paint somwhere, one of the oil supplie stores, never tried it.

 

[Guest]

here is a link to some paint soap

http://www.newdirectionsaromatics.com/s ... -1459.html

Kitn

 

[wendybyrd]

And now here is another question/idea... Has anyone used eyeshadow instead if mica for stamping their soaps? Isn't the mica that soapers use the same as the mica in eyeshadow? I keep seeing "cosmetic grade" micas. I know that it would be a nightmare for resale purposes to list the ingredients, but for prettying up some gifts, would it be ok and work?

 

[IrishLass]

I use rubber stamps and gold or bronze mica to stamp my soap with. It works great and is so easy. Wendybyrd posted the link to my soap bragging site if you want to see some examples of my stamped soaps.
(thanks Wendybyrd )

I have stamped my soap before with a rubber stamp and then used a tiny paint brush to put the mica into the stamp.

Jarvan, if you are using rubber stamps, there is no need to paint the mica onto the stamp at all. What I do is take a clean, dry basting-type brush, dip it into my mica jar so that some of the mica clings to the brush, and then I lightly shake or brush the mica off onto a small plate so that there is a light dusting of mica on the plate. Then I take my dry rubber stamp and press it into the mica dust (the mica amazingly clings to the rubber stamp very well with no fuss or muss) and then I stamp my soap. Easy-peasy.

After my soap is stamped, I lightly spray the soap with a single spritz of alcohol from about 6" to 8" away in order to set the mica in place, and then I let my bars cure as usual.

I was thinking about painting a simple design on my soap, but I read somewhere that if you decide to paint - it should not be used and left only for decoration. Is there such a thing as body-safe paint which could be used, or how hard would it be to paint with excess naturally colored soap?

Phpworm- I have used soap paints with good results. Brambleberry sells some, and you can also make them yourself as well. I've used both- Brambleberry's and my own homemade soap paints. They are body safe, and yes- you can indeed wash with them. If you want to make your own, just mix up some body safe mica or soap colorants with a small amount of vegetable glycerin and have at it. With the paints, it can take about 24 hours to dry, but once they are dry, they're permanently affixed until you wash with them.

And now here is another question/idea... Has anyone used eyeshadow instead if mica for stamping their soaps? Isn't the mica that soapers use the same as the mica in eyeshadow?

I haven't, but I don't see why this wouldn't work as long as it's been rated body safe.

IrishLass