ENTRY THREAD for September 2024 SMF Challenge - Feathered Mantra Swirl

[Mobjack Bay]

The Entry thread for the September 2024 SMF Soap Challenge is now open!

As a reminder, this entry thread is for challenge entries only. All comments or non-entry photos should to the general challenge thread, here.

The first photo in your entry thread post will be used as the entry photo for voting, and must show at least three (3) bars of soap - the face of two bars and the back of a third bar. A second photo should show your soap top in all its glory after you've finished the second swirl but before the soap is cut. The photo can be of the soap in the mold or the uncut loaf or slab out of the mold. Your entry post may also include additional photos and information about your design, process, fragrance or inspiration. Please refer to the competition rules in the general challenge thread if you have any questions about the challenge requirements. All entries are subject to these deadlines:

* The entry thread will close on September 26th at 11:59 PM GMT.
* The voting survey link and password will be emailed to all registered participants shortly thereafter.
* The voting survey will remain open until September 28th at 11:59 PM GMT, or until all votes are in, whichever is sooner.
* The winner will be announced by September 30th by 11:59 PM GMT.

Good luck everyone!

 

[dmcgee5034]

My Feathered Mantra Swirl soap is made with my normal GMS recipe. You’ll see from the pic of my mold, I used a divider to make 4 equal sections for my colors. I used black oxide and 3 neons from MM: cheesy poof, radioactive, and grape ape. This soap is scented with BB Autumn Fig Harvest which I hadn’t used before, it’s very fall and yummy. I used the plastic rod shown in the picture with the molds and colors in pitchers to do both swirls, and it worked well. This was a 2 soap depth batch, cut into 6 bars. I was wow’d by the loaf split horizontally and both halves next to each other, so I had to include a pic of that, too.
Pic 1 is my entry - the top soap is the bottom of the loaf showing the swirl all the way through, and the other 2 are the face of the loaf.
Pic 2 is the soap face after both swirls in the mold.

Pics below are bottom of the full loaf, after the split, and the set-up.

Super cool challenge, @Mobjack Bay - thanks for hosting this month!

 

[Servant4Christ]

Top pic from left to right:
1. Back of a bar from the bottom layer.
2. Front of a bar from the top layer.
3. Front of a bar from the bottom layer.

Bottom pic is directly after the second swirl before I covered it up.

For my entry, I used a high lard base recipe I've been meaning to try for a while but just hadn't made time for. I chose not to use any FO/EOs because I really want to evaluate the base recipe after cure.

I lined my wooden mold with freezer paper, shrunk the inside by about half, added cardboard dividers, and poured a 2 bar depth that resulted in 6 bars of soap to ensure I'd have at least three to meet the challenge requirement.

I chose colors based on a pull-through kaleidoscope soap video from Holly's Soapmaking Channel on YouTube. Because I did not have TD, I made 4 separate containers of oils and 4 separate lye solutions. I used plain batter (distilled water and base oils) for the white portion of my soap. The other 3 colors were a result of coffee as the liquid in my lye solutions and cocoa powder (dark brown) and AC (dark gray) added directly to the warm oils and stickblended before the lye solutions were added.

My white was much thicker than the other colors when time to pour and swirl, so I don't really think I achieved the correct feathery looking swirl, but I am of the mindset that if I followed the rules and have the correct number of bars, I post it anyway. No matter what. Sometimes our examples and experiences can encourage others to take the leap and give new techniques a try. I know I personally learn so much when I try something out of my comfort zone and this was no exception.

Thank you, @Mobjack Bay for hosting this month's challenge!

 

[Momma Hoot]

1st picture {left to right}:
1) back of the bar
2) top of the bar
3) top of the bar (cut in 1/2)
2nd picture: top of the loaf unmolded

The design was made using 4 colors: Smokey grey, purple, bronze, and gold. The bronze and gold look very close in color, so it almost looks like there are only 3 colors.. The recipe I used reached medium trace quicker than expected. So I quickly divided the batter into 4, stirred in the colors, and poured them into the mold. I followed the 2 swirl techniques used in the rules, and hoped for the best. I did encounter bubbles on the top of my design from the consistency of the batter, and I wasn't sure I'd even submit, but in the end I think it turned out okay. .

I hope to attempt this technique in the future, but will try for a light trace to see how the different trace affects the design.

Thanks @Mobjack Bay for hosting! The challenge was good fun!

 

[bookworm42]

From left to right. My 2 tops and the bottom.
I used 3 colors since 4 scared me and I was making my dividers out of cardboard. BBs lavender mica, uncolored, and BBs blue slushy mica. I used a variation of Alioop's lard recipe that I've been really enjoying.
I left this soap unscented since I have a friend who can't handle them and I thought it would be fun to give her a colorful soap instead of a plain one. I had a ton of fun making these and when I finally get my hands on actual dividers I will probably experiment more!
My top after swirling. Since I forgot to take a picture before I cut my loaf.

 

[AliOop]

Hopefully I am skating in before the deadline... got done with work later than usual, and raced to get this out of the mold (it is still soft so pardon the smushes).

First pic is the swirl, second pic is the back of the bar, and third pic is the top of the soap in the mold. The purple was super thick, so you can barely see any of it on the top. Thankfully, it still came out in the swirl!

 

[Mobjack Bay]

The entry thread is closed. A big thank you and good luck to all participants.

Keep an eye open for the voting link and password that will be sent within the next 24 hours.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

The winner of the Feathered Mantra Swirl Challenge is @Servant4Christ Congratulations!

Congratulations to all who participated and shared experiences this month! Each soap shared, official entry or not, was creative and inspiring.