ENTRY THREAD for SMF June 2023 Challenge: Layers!

[AliOop]

This is the entry thread for the June 2023 SMF Challenge: Layers! This thread is for challenge posts only. Any and all comments should be posted to the general challenge thread.

Your photo for the voting survey should be at the top of your entry post. This photo must show the full face of least two of your cut bars. Per General Rule 7, you are encouraged (but not required) to add more photos and additional information about your design, process, fragrance, inspiration, etc.

This entry thread will remain open until June 26th at 11:59 PM GMT. After the entry thread closes, the winning entry will be chosen by vote of all eligible registered participants, who will receive a private message ("conversation") here on SMF with the voting survey link and password. Voting will remain open until June 29th at 11:59 PM GMT, or until everyone has voted, whichever is sooner. The winners will be announced by June 30, 2023. There is no prize attached to this challenge.

As a reminder, all times listed are GMT. Each participant is responsible to convert that to the correct time for their home location. You can use Savvy Time to help you with that.

Good luck, everyone! I can't wait to see all your wonderful layered soaps!

 

[Terri E]

For the June Soap Challenge I wanted to make a nourishing, all natural soap using clays, spices and essential oils. For inspiration, I went back a few years to a soap I made for a friend who was diagnosed with breast cancer.

The soap:
The first layer: French green clay with colloidal oats.
The second layer: Turmeric, Brazilian yellow clay, colloidal oats and freshly dried and ground organic satsuma peels.
The third layer: Rose clay with colloidal oats.
The fourth and final layer: Dead Sea clay, Redmond Real Salt and colloidal oats.

Each of the layers is separated by a cocoa powder line.
Each bar is embellished with a little dragonfly ( symbolic of
self-realization and new beginnings) my favorite (second only to sea turtles ; )

The scent I used for this soap is a blend of lavender and atlas cedar. Smells so good!
For the lye liquid I used 50% Zero Water and 50% aloe vera gel.
The mold I used is the “Red” silicone mold from Essential Depot. It made ten good-sized bars!

 

[Georgeandstella]

I wanted to get my entry in before I become too intimidated by the other entries-

For a bit of whimsy, I created layers using the in the pot swirl method for the grass and the sky. The sun and little buildings are soap clay (molded by hand you can see). I used some confetti bits from other soap batches for the flowers.

My inspiration for this soap was from the requirement to use a design element, so I chose soap dough embeds. I had never used soap dough before, but I’m fascinated by it. Quickly realizing that without an extruder I can only make triangles, squares and circles, I came up with this design

Sorry, I forgot to take pictures during production, so I’ve included some soap molded little buildings and the sun from another try. Oh, and my mess afterwards

 

[basti]

I made a Ciaglia Landscape!

I used 9 oz of scraps total, divided into four major colors (purple, pink, blue, and black) with the 'sky colors' also getting some white/cream scraps. I also added a swirl to each sky color. I wanted the sky to look like a galactic sunset sky with space dust and stars.

My fragrance was Lavender Woods & Honey by WSP. I only had a little bit left, so I decided to use it up. This is my favorite lavender scent as a Lavender Hater lol. The additional scent notes make it smell like laying in a dry grassy field while you watch a meteor shower.

 

[The_Phoenix]

This was supposed to have been a perfectly executed Tiger Swirl soap. Uuuuuunfortunately, trace progressed to an unexpected stage so I had to improvise. Used squeeze bottles to layer the blue/orange, then poured a layer of white, then a drop swirl with remaining batter and the addition of black.

Scented with NS’s Satsuma Orange.

 

[dmcgee5034]

Hi all - here is my entry for the June Layers challenge. It’s a GMS, as always for me. This is by far the most complex soap I’ve ever attempted. It was a marathon soaping session that day - I made 5 small batches and tried 3 techniques I’ve never done before. Make a batch, pour, clean up, repeat!
I was inspired by Lisa at I Dream in Soap who did a !10! layer soap in a slab mold, and I thought 5 layers would be plenty for my loaf mold. For each small batch/layer, I made more batter than needed to be sure I wouldn’t need to scrape my pouring containers into the mold at the end and mess up the design. I got 4 full single cavity soaps from the extra batters - boy do they look funky! Here’s the details of the layers:

Layer 1 - my first ever Kiss Pour. 4 colors: Ultramarine Blue and Tennis Ball Breaker Yellow & Tangerine Wow and Queens Purple
Layer 2 - my first ever Clam Shell Pour. 4 colors: Cappuccino and Gold & Rose Pearl and Snowflake with TD
Layer 3 - OPW of 3 shades of greens and 1 white with the batter colors poured into the pitcher from the side and poured in the mold from the short end in a line pour. 4 colors: Kermit Green, Radio Active, Kermit Green with a smidge of Ultramarine Blue, and Snowflake with TD
Layer 4 - OPW of white, pink and black with the batter colors poured into the pitcher from the spout and poured in the mold from the long end in a line pour. 3 colors: TD, Black Oxide and Fired Up Fuchsia with a smidge of TD to Barbie it up/tone it down
Layer 5 - Peacock swirl for preschoolers? LOL! I used 7 colors and made wide rows then did my first try of a peacock swirl to them. I think they look more like colorful jellyfish than peacocks - did I just invent something? Haha, I doubt it, but maybe the jellyfish swirl will suddenly become a thing. 7 colors: Orchid, Orchid with TD; Caribbean Blue, CB with TD; Kermit Green, KG with TD; and TD
Bonus - a spritz of eco glitter, because after all that, why not?

I used WSP Volcano for this batch - yum!
First photo is my entry, and I’m including a picture of each layer after it was poured, so you get that view and can see each type of pour on its own. It was hard to visualize what the cut soap would reveal, so here it is:

 

[Ford]

Hi, here are my entry pics.

Victorian rose / Lemon. Combo came from "Vinolia" recipe. I tried early on.
Both FO's came from NG. Angry Rose mica from (MM).
This is a 40% Lard recipe.

Love this combo, so I made a double batch. Thanks for looking.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

“Antarctic Sunset” - I made this soap to honor the memory of a dear friend who lost her battle with brain cancer back in 2011. She conducted research for almost a decade on how pesticides and other pollutants from tropical areas of the globe make their way to Antarctica in the atmosphere. It’s unlikely that she ever saw a real Antarctic sunset because she only worked there during the summer months when the sun never sets, but this felt like the right theme for this soap. I think of her often while I make soap because she was a chemical engineer with a special interest in organic compounds, including fatty acids. She was endlessly curious and would have enjoyed tackling some of our soap making puzzles. This soap will make its way to her sister and other family members in the midwest before her birthday date at the end of July.

I built the soap from the top to the bottom. To make the top cloud, I used a scraper in the top magenta layer and drop poured white and pale magenta soap to create some shadowing. To create the cliff-like, icy features of the Antarctic coastline, I poured the middle layer as a tiger stripe down the side wall of the mold. The ice/snow below that was poured into the scraped purple layer. I love that the feature in an end cut (lower left) looks like an iceberg. The bottom layer, which is the last one I poured, is an ITP swirl. I dusted each layer with gold mica, but it’s hard to see except on the side of the soap in the upper left.

ETA: Inspiration for the features in my soap came from this photo that hangs on the wall down the hall from my office. It features Mt. Erebus near McMurdo Research Station in Antarctica (top panel) and grounded iceberg “B19” (bottom panel). Photo by Howard Ballenger.

 

[McKherring Farm]

My June entry is a landscape that reminds me of a high mountain valley I love and one that inspires me. I used soap scraps to form wispy clouds and other soap scraps to give the soil some texture. I added a line of charcoal to give the soil a definitive separation and to add to the "crusty" top layer often found. The soil is colored with cappuccino mica, the vegetation is apple moss green mica, the sky is Caribbean blue mica with a little snowflake sparkle to lighten it just a bit. It is scented with sage essential oil with a little dab of lime essential oil mixed in. My basic soap recipe is used here - goat milk, avocado, coconut, castor, and olive oils.

 

[CLMP]

Hi Everybody this month I was inspired bye COVID Lol. I woke up really sick with COVID and I knew it because others in the house got it first. So I thought to my self are body's are made up of 80% water and fluids so I'm going to drown those little COVID suckers. So I started drowning them with lemons, limes, ginger, cinnamon, and honey, 50 bucks worth of lemons and limes. I started drinking a large mug one after the other drowning them one by one lol. It worked and I was really sick with in 48 hours I started to feel better and by the 3rd day I felt great and it did not spread to my lungs. Everyone else said they were so sick and that the forth day would be the worst. After that it spread to their lungs I totally skipped that part. Then I gave the lime and lemon drink to my son and he to felt better by the next day. Everyone else was really sick for the whole 10 days. So I decided to order lemon EO and a lime and ginger FO for this challenge to make a Lemon meringue pie soap. I made 3 separate batches for each layer. I used Fresh Ginger Lime FO and Lemon EO from Candora and wow does it smell good. My First layer is colored with Oriental Beige Mica from Suds n Scents and it is the crust. The second layer is colored with Yellow Mica from Suds n Scents and is filled and mixed with tiny cubed embeds to make the pie filling. The embeds and third layer is colored a cream color or off white color I get by using Extra Virgin Olive oil as my main ingredient then mixed with TD. I also mixed Poppy seeds into the top layer to make the Meringue on top. There is only 2 little problems I live on a mountain so are garage is not level so my layers aren't perfectly level and my embeds have air bubbles in them I was hoping it wouldn't be noticeable once mixed into the soap but it's still noticeable. I also wanted to try a fake Mica line using shredded soap shavings that have been put in the blender to make soap dust. I got this idea from I dream in soap and it's really nice No Mica streaks and your layers stick really well to the fake Mica line. So this is how I made my Lemon Meringue Pie Soap and it smells amazing. Here is my Entry

Hi here is the link for fake Mica line if you are interested

 

[Momma Hoot]

This past Christmas I received a couple of column molds, one of which is a maple leaf. Living in Canada I wanted to try making a soap with the maple leaf in it for Canada Day which is coming up on July 1st. I made up the embed back in April and then life got in the way and I set it aside. When I saw that the June challenge listed embeds as part of the challenge, I figured the challenge was a great way to motivate myself into getting this soap done. . So I put together this soap with Canada Day in mind, and was able to use up a few things up that I had sitting around ie) confetti, embed and oils (expiring in a couple months.

One thing that I learned about embeds is use them up shortly after you make them otherwise they are too tough to cut with a wire cutter. LOL

 

[janesathome]

Well, this month has been a struggle - with soap (no thanks to the huge container of pomace olive oil I just purchased, that traces RIGHT NOW), and family illnesses. But I agreed to post an entry so here it is!

This was my second trial (and I do mean trial! ) with said pomace oil (used at 25%) and I had the same result as the first time. Very minimal stick blending, just to get to emulsion. I used less OO and more water (1.8:1) in this batter, to try to give me a little more time, but I still ended up with an almost immediate medium trace that kept wanting to turn to pudding. So, my top layer was an on-the-fly improvisation. I’m sure many can relate to batter improv!
I used activated charcoal, gold mica for the lines between layers, and titanium dioxide to create my two shades for the layers. Poppy seeds in the middle layer for texture. Essential oils of tea tree, peppermint, lavender and eucalyptus. (EO Calc’s “Revive” blend - soooo nice!)
Used my tall & skinny loaf mold. Also added a bit of diatomaceous earth and now wondering if that helped to bring my batter to such a quick trace.
I haven’t done much in the way of layered soap so was pleased to be nudged this month. Thanks, @AliOop, for organizing!

 

[KiwiMoose]

Alright, alright (tail between legs) I guess I'll have to post my entry following the awesomeness above^
I had high hopes for this design but it didn't turn out quite as I had hoped (won't tell you what my intention was until after the challenge closes).
I used Cypress Forest FO with lemongrass EO, and I took my inspiration for the colourways from the FO pic itself: Cypress Forest Fragrance Oil

 

[Tammyfarms]

Here is my entry for this challenge. I purposely haven’t looked at the other entries as I might chicken out on submitting this month. I used WSP Purple Galaxy on the bottom layer and WSP Lapis Blue on the top. The center layer has titanium dioxide and confetti from a bar previously made with purple galaxy mica. No fragrance. Batter performed nicely. I enjoyed this challenge and am stretching my soap skills.

 

[Catscankim]

I regretfully looked at other challenge entries and almost didn't post one LOL. But I made it, it's not bad.

Anywhoooo, here is my entry scented with Abalone and Sea from CC...my favorite scent especially for salt bars. In salt bars it sticks just enough to give it a nice sea spray scent without actually being a "scent" if that makes sense (how many times can you say scent in a sentence LOL).

Of interest, the white shell in the back is of the Plesiocene epoch which is between 2.5 and 11.5 million years ago. I have four of these shells...six if you count the two that I gave to my sister. They were acquired out near Lake Okeechobee where the Army Corps of Engineers is re-routing the water. I received them from a contractor that is out there excavating. These shells should not be out there in the middle of the state unless they came from this period when Florida was still under water. That's how they were dated anyway. Plus the fact that they are petrified makes them extraordinary. Shells normally disintegrate and make sand.

Guess I should show you my soap

edit: I purposely included my flawed soap that I broke through the layer, because I actually like it better than the others lol

 

[peachymoon]

Hi everybody! Such incredible submissions by everyone, I am in awe! My bar consists of 3 layers and a discoloration "frame." I did an extremely thick trace drop swirl at the top, lol. It didn't really match my original vision, but I am content just to get back into the swing of things! This was scented with Blackberry Musk from Little Bee Scents. I am really happy with how vibrant the darker colors came out.

 

[AliOop]

This entry thread is now closed! The link to the voting survey will go out via PM to all registered entrants.

 

[AliOop]

Voting has now closed, and the winners are:

1st Place: @Mobjack Bay
2nd Place: tied between @Terri E and @dmcgee5034
3rd Place: @Momma Hoot

Congratulations to all who entered; what an incredible depth of talent we have here on SMF!

 

[Misschief]

Voting has now closed, and the winners are:

1st Place: @Mobjack Bay
2nd Place: tied between @Terri E and @dmcgee5034
3rd Place: @Momma Hoot

Congratulations to all who entered; what an incredible depth of talent we have here on SMF!

Congrats to all four of you... amazing entries!

 

[KiwiMoose]

Yes - congratulations to all. Very hard to choose as all the entries were amazing. Thank you for hosting @AliOop - you done good!