katili's soaps, 2024

[katili]

I got around to photographing and editing a lot of soap so I thought I'd show some off In absolutely no particular order all all, now that I think about it. And maybe in a few posts because... well, there really are a lot.

This is probably my favorite soap I've made so far, I showed a rough shot of it before but here's a good one. It was actually meant to be perfectly straight lines that didn't turn out, and I'm not upset about it. It's made with Queen of the Night FO and it smells soooooo good! I'll definitely be making a second version of this, with a recipe I like better (I'm thinking something with lard) and more textured layers.

I made a simple Bastille for my little guy with sensitive skin, it has no colorant or scents, and I am just in love with this creamy color that it turned. Who says simple can't be beautiful??

This one is based off a recipe ChatGPT made for me with some random oils I had, it hardened up quicker than I expected but now that it's been curing a while, feels like it might actually be okay. I'm interested to try it, but still have at least one more week to wait. I colored it with brick red oxide which I had never used, I like the color.

This one was my second soap ever, with a panicked in-the-pot swirl as it had started firming up faster than I was ready for; I was still getting the hand of stick blending lol. It turned out nicely though, I have a bar of this one in my bathroom right now!

This was a very early batch as well, in my one and only attempt to date of using parchment paper to line a mold lol. I think I might just stick to silicone. I also learned a lot about the dos and don'ts of oatmeal. My husband likes this one so I'll be making a better batch of it soon, it's made with shea and cocoa butters.

 

[lsg]

Great-looking soap!

 

[ScentimentallyYours]

Fantastic soaps @katili! You also achieved great lighting on your pictures. Did you use supplemental lighting? Or is it natural?

I’ve had no luck with parchment paper as a mold lining, but freezer paper with the plastic side facing the soap works.

 

[katili]

Thank you both!

Fantastic soaps @katili! You also achieved great lighting on your pictures. Did you use supplemental lighting? Or is it natural?

I’ve had no luck with parchment paper as a mold lining, but freezer paper with the plastic side facing the soap works.

Oh, I'll have to give freezer paper a shot if I decide to use that mold again hehe. It's the folding that got me! My lighting is natural, I have a nice big window I photograph next to and reflect light back from the other side of it. My setup is kind of a lot but could pretty easily be recreated with foamcore or similar.

 

[KiwiMoose]

All beautiful soaps and also beautiful photography. I do appreciate a nice product shot My fave is also the first one, and I love the wavy lines in it.

 

[ScentimentallyYours]

I'll have to give freezer paper a shot if I decide to use that mold again hehe. It's the folding that got me!

I don’t know what kind of mold you have, but you might try not folding at all. I cut an oversize piece of paper the exact length of the log mold, crease it so it hugs the mold, fold it up and over the edges, then tape it to the outside of the mold. I repeat with another very long piece of paper that matches the width of the mold. I’ll see about taking a picture when I make soap this evening.

I like the two piece lining because I don’t get the fold marks. I did find a way to fold the liner so the marks didn’t appear, but I have to go looking for it. It’s easier just to remember to cut the liner unless you have a cardboard mold.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Pretty, pretty soaps and the photos are fantastic I spend entirely too much time fiddling around trying to get reasonable shots.

 

[dmcgee5034]

Beautiful! I love the wispy lines in your ITPS.

 

[katili]

I don’t know what kind of mold you have, but you might try not folding at all. I cut an oversize piece of paper the exact length of the log mold, crease it so it hugs the mold, fold it up and over the edges, then tape it to the outside of the mold. I repeat with another very long piece of paper that matches the width of the mold. I’ll see about taking a picture when I make soap this evening.

I like the two piece lining because I don’t get the fold marks. I did find a way to fold the liner so the marks didn’t appear, but I have to go looking for it. It’s easier just to remember to cut the liner unless you have a cardboard mold.

Oh I’ve seen this method, too. It does seem easier than folding. You don’t get any problematic leaking in the corners? My mold is a thin wood one my husband made for me.

Pretty, pretty soaps and the photos are fantastic I spend entirely too much time fiddling around trying to get reasonable shots.

The first one always takes me a while, then I get into a bit of a groove usually. Maybe that’s why I always wait until I have a bunch of things to photograph… nothing to do with my lack of time management skills

 

[Mobjack Bay]

The first one always takes me a while, then I get into a bit of a groove usually. Maybe that’s why I always wait until I have a bunch of things to photograph… nothing to do with my lack of time management skills

I have contemplated getting a set like the one you have because it looks easy to use and store. I was gifted a big light box a few years ago, but it’s a pain to set up and take down and the foot print is too big to leave it out.

 

[katili]

I have contemplated getting a set like the one you have because it looks easy to use and store. I was gifted a big light box a few years ago, but it’s a pain to set up and take down and the foot print is too big to leave it out.

I really like it! It’s easy to move around to where my light is and doesn’t take long at all to set up. It did take me a bit to find a good spot to store it but it’s very versatile and I can use it for pretty much everything I photograph.

 

[katili]

Thank you everyone for the kind words! Now that I am back at my computer, here are some more soaps

This batch is the one that really taught me what the water to lye ratio means haha, and to *always* double-check a recipe. I now know I don't want to go above 2:1 liquid:lye ratio without a very good reason, and in fact since this batch I've largely switched to 1.8:1 for most of my soaping. My friends tried to cheer me up by saying it looks like dragon scales... it kind of worked. The salt in the wound though is that when I was putting them away, the drying rack fell off and dropped them all and fell on them while they were still soft, so now a lot of them are dinged and dented It also got soda ash so bad I had to dip the tops in warm water because steam just wasn't doing the trick.

This batch was my first using citric acid, sugar, and salt water (though I always use sodium lactate in my other soaps so I suppose that was just a small change). I colored it with blue indigo but the FO I used discolors to brown, so it turned this really cool kind of seaweed green. This is one of the bars I have still curing I'm most excited to try

This one was my first time using lard in soap, and even though I haven't yet gotten to try out the finished soap (gosh curing takes SO LONG lol), the soap batter was so delightful to work with I'm pretty sure it's my favorite. It already feels so creamy and lovely just moving around. Coconut Bamboo FO turned it colors but it smells amazing and so clean. Next time I'd add more black to the colored part for more contrast.

Next up was my first and very failed attempt at doing the mini drop swirls for this month's soap challenge. That bottom layer set much more than I thought it had by the time I started in on my bottles, and the purple turned gray-ish on me. The soap itself is really nice though, just didn't get the visual effect I was aiming for. The lavender apricot FO I used for it smells really nice.

And last but not least, my first try at salt bars! I put a little TD in them because I didn't know if the FO would discolor, but I think it probably wasn't going to (or at least not much) and I didn't need to. I've never done such a high superfat and they feel really strange to me right now but they are very early in their cure and I'm excited to see how they are in a couple months!

 

[dibbles]

They all look fantastic! Taking photos is hard and you’ve done a great job.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Love all your soap photos - just beautiful. I especially like that 'failed' drop swirl - such a cool effect on the top part.

 

[katili]

Oops, I forgot one! This is my watercolor soap for another soap challenge. I had a few small snags, but overall, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out!

 

[hlee]

Very pretty soaps. I love the watercolor one!

 

[Savage Daughter]

I have contemplated getting a set like the one you have because it looks easy to use and store. I was gifted a big light box a few years ago, but it’s a pain to set up and take down and the foot print is too big to leave it out.

I went to the $$ store & bought a couple of pieces of foam core. White.

Brought them home & cut them to size. Made sure the edges were cut very cleanly & as straight as possible. A very long metal ruler & a surgical blade or something similar helps, as does figuring out what you want your end size to be once your box is assembled.

Using foam core also means you can make the other sides of each piece a different color, a different pattern, or whatever. And if one side gets marked up, just flip it over.

To attach them I used some Command Strips in inconspicuous places. You could also use some white velcro & attach it to the outside of the pieces. Doing this also means that you are free to not always use all pieces of your box. Mix & match as needed. On days with nice light, your setup can be minimal.

For reflection, I buy those mylar emergency blankets in 10 packs for various uses & cut a piece to attach to one of the foam core pieces to reflect light into the box at various angles. I attach the mylar to the foam core using double sided tape.

Very cheap, effective & takes up no room at all when done. Just stack up your materials, which may be 3/4" to 1" thick & slide behind something, put in a closet, whatever.

My ex husband is a professional photographer, amongst other things. Watching him futz around with stuff is how I ended up, several years after leaving him, coming up with this cheap-@ss, effective solution for taking product shots for myself

 

[Mobjack Bay]

@QuasiQuadrant I'm on it! (with my foam core board and velcro stash)

 

[Tammyfarms]

Beautiful soaps and photography! Salt soap is my summer favorite. It really kills the funky summer sweat. Yours will have a great cure by summer.

 

[katili]

Beautiful soaps and photography! Salt soap is my summer favorite. It really kills the funky summer sweat. Yours will have a great cure by summer.

Thank you It was actually one of your posts that I saw that made me want to make these bars! I don't know what hormonal nonsense it is but I feel like I'm stinkier in the summer ever since having my kids, so I'm looking forward to seeing how this works for me lol