Simple elegance escapes me

[newbie]

I tend to like colorful busy soap and it seems like people work hard to get lots of swirling techniques down. I tried to make a simple soap last night and realized I really kind of stink at it. Making a simple elegant soap is far far harder that it seems and I think it is probably harder that making whatever swirly thing you want to throw out there. I am amazed at some of the soap I see on here that looks deceptively easy or simple. Getting it just right is damnable hard! For me anyhow.

Here is my simple soap which make me feel quite chagrined. I like only one bar, the bar on the right but I would not call it elegant. I mean, they look okay and all, but man, it is hard to master simplicity!

I do like the fragrance though, which is a 1:1 mix of Lavender and Gingerale. It's nicer than you might imagine.

 

[lenarenee]

Aw. Sorry you're disappointed in your soap. I love the when a beautiful blue is paired with white and that's what you have!

Trade you for my freshly made ugly green soap. One of your bars for all 6 of my uglies!! (It's a bastille recipe I like, ungelled, with just a hint of French green clay for a delicate green. Only this time, I added lime and litsea eo which are green, and the soap gelled. Army green so far; hoping the soap fairy gives me a miracle...

 

[newbie]

It's crazy, isn't it? You wouldn't think a delicate green one-color soap would be hard to make, but there you have it. Simple is difficult.

 

[fuzz-juzz]

I like colours and swirls look simple enough to me!

 

[shunt2011]

I think those are very pretty. I agree making a simple soap sometimes eludes me.

 

[jules92207]

Well I love them, very modern artist like. Well done!

 

[judymoody]

They look bright and cheerful to me and not too busy.

 

[dixiedragon]

I really like them. I think perhaps your personal aesthetic (too much Project Runway, lol) maybe runs more to playful and less to simple elegance.

Perhaps you should gather a bunch of pictures of soap that have "simple elegance", then just look at them and think about what is it about them that you like?

 

[AustinStraight]

For something simple, a white soap with a colorful pencil line right in the middle sounds nice. A two-color mantra swirl would be pretty, too. I've been thinking of picking up some activated charcoal & doing a black pencil line through a white soap.

 

[newbie]

THank you for supporting my simple soap. Simple is one thing, simple elegant is another. To me, it has to do with getting all the proportions right and the placement just right etc.. It's one of those things that I know when I see but it just doesn't come out of my soap bowl. A clean white with black generally does look elegant, but I've managed not to get that usually either. I haven't watched Project Runway, but maybe I'm too phoofy!

 

[AustinStraight]

I see... here's an idea, then: bring white soap to a thick trace and pour a lumpy layer, dust with charcoal, pour another lumpy layer, dust again, etc. for kind of a marbled soap :-D

 

[new12soap]

Newbie I am sorry, but those soaps look terrible. Just terrible. I really think you should just get rid of them and forget about them altogether. In fact, I want you to go RIGHT NOW and pack them all up in a box and send them to me so I can dispose of them for you. And I want to remember I am doing you a FAVOR taking them off your hands!



(they are beautiful even if they aren't quite what you envisioned )

 

[maya]

I know you are disappointed in your soap, I think they are beautiful. Sometimes reality doesn't meet with expectation right away, especially in artistic, hand crafted items. I have felt the same way, I think sometimes, nay, frequently we are overly critical of ourselves.

 

[Saponista]

I rather like them, the colour contrast works well. What is it about them that you don't like, what did you see them looking like in your mind?

 

[newbie]

If there is a soaper out there that is NOT overly self-critical, that person deserves an award, or sainthood. I know I do it but sometime I truly think the critique is warranted. This soap is simple, but it is all honesty is not elegant.

NewSoap- PM me your address for my soap disposal needs. I would have to hold a bar back though, for the scent, which I really like.

Saponista- what was I going for? A nice thinnish blue-y line with an organic flowing shape meandering through my soap at about the 1/3 mark (or 2/3 mark, whichever). The big smiley thing---- no go. The big blobs-----no go. The one I like is okay but just doesn't have that je ne sais quoi, you know? I looked for a picture of a blue and white soap that I thought was about what I wanted but I can't find one. My technique bit me in the butt on this one. I started pouring the white on the top and poured too fast and suddenly the mold was full. I did swear. I do much better with complicated, may because it hides more things!

PS. NewSoap, you didn't have to change gears and put the compliment in parenthesis. I totally got your drift and knew exactly what you were saying. I love sarcasm and joking.

 

[grayceworks]

I like them! I love the colors, and they look like they're smiling.

 

[Saponista]

I think the most over self critical amongst us usually end up making the best items as they are real perfectionists so I wouldn't worry newbie. I'm sure you will have another go at some point and eventually achieve exactly what you were looking for. You still have a lovely soap though which the rest of us think looks good so don't beat yourself up about it!

 

[CaraBou]

They are simple and elegant! Just sit with them for awhile and you will see. It only took me a sec but I realize I'm quicker than the average bear