SMF February 2020 Challenge (Ione Swirl) - entry thread

[Primrose]

This is the Entry Thread for the February 2020 SMF Challenge - Ione Swirl

This thread is limited to challenge entries only. Please post all comments in the original challenge thread (https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/smf-february-2020-challenge-ione-swirl.78081/). Thank you.

Please post your entry soaps photos here. You may include as many photos as you like. You are welcome and encouraged to include any details you would like to share regarding how you found the technique, fragrance, recipe notes, etc.

If you choose to post multiple photos please indicate which one you would like to be used in the voting survey. In the absence of such indication, one of the photos will be chosen as the entry photo from the selection you have posted.

The entry thread and challenge sign up will remain open until February 27 at 11:59 pm GMT. A link and the password for voting at Survey Monkey will then be sent to all members who signed up for the Challenge. Voting will be open from February 28 to 29 and the winner announced on March 1, 2020. There is no prize attached to this challenge.

Good luck everyone!

 

[Amy78130]

This was such a fun contest!! I made 2 attempts, this was my 2nd. I used black raspberry vanilla fragrance oil from Cierra, the colorants are raspberry mica, activated charcoal, ultramarine violet and titanium dioxide. I CPOP'd with a slight water discount to prevent the crackling effect of CPOP and titanium dioxide.

 

[bookreader451]

Might as well post my second attempt. I used Persephone’s Kiss and the micas are the pearl collection from TKB Trading. I wasn’t sure if the swirl was supposed to be as fine as mine. I tried to pour at a thin trace. I have never had luck with hanger swirls so this is a significant improvement over my other attempts.

View attachment 44048

 

[Pepsi Girl]

This is my 2nd attempt, you may recall my post about the electricity going off just as I began my 1st attempt. And actually it was to bad, but I didn’t get the colors blended very well so there were actual small clods of dye powder in the swirls.
This one I use a different recipe, should have stuck with my 1st choice, it got thick way faster than I move. But I still think it turned out ok, for someone that doesn’t do fancy soap.

Wow I haven’t posted a picture in a long time and I’m sorry I guess I don’t know how!

@bookreader451 beautiful roses on the top of your soap, are you also a cake decorator?

 

[bookreader451]

Wow I haven’t posted a picture in a long time and I’m sorry I guess I don’t know how!

@bookreader451 beautiful roses on the top of your soap, are you also a cake decorator?

I did the Wilton classes when I went through a cake phase. Hubby’s doctor said no more cake so soap became my outlet. The roses are a mold. I can pipe roses but I threw extra batter from another soap into the molds so I had them on hand.

 

[Pepsi Girl]

@bookreader451 Thats a great idea! I did that once a long time ago with hearts, then never remembered to do it again!

 

[Primrose]

Wow I haven’t posted a picture in a long time and I’m sorry I guess I don’t know how!

@bookreader451 beautiful roses on the top of your soap, are you also a cake decorator?

Please remember that this thread is for entries only, all comments and questions need to be posted on the other thread, thank you

 

[Nona'sFarm]

Well here it is. This was my second attempt. The first one is nice, but the blue colorant didn't appear to dissolve completely. I'll post that one in the photos forum.
This one was scented with orange, litsea, lavender, & tea tree essential oils. For my hanger, I used a painted coat hanger, wrapped with scotch tape; as some of the paint flaked off when I bent it. I split the batter 1/2, 1/4, 1/4. I wasn't sure about the trace, so went with about medium.
This was fun and a little nerve wracking, until I cut it and VA-LAA! there was a beautiful swirl.

 

[StormyK]

My entry!
The pink is a bit darker than I wanted - I was going for more of a mid rose and ended up with salmon (too much brown mica!) - but whatever. This was my second-ever swirl with a hanger so I'm pretty happy with it (this first ever being my first attempt for this challenge!)

Scented with lavender, patchouli, palmarosa and lemongrass.

 

[amd]

Here's my entry (I'll put my other two attempts in the signup thread). This was my third try.
I had a very thin trace fluid pour, approx 75% uncolored batter (a small bit of the base color was poured with the accent colors). I split the remaining 25% between three colors: M&M bronze mica, M&M Champagne mica, and WS TD for white. I mixed 50/50 M&M OMH and NG Warm Vanilla Sugar Type FO's, so there is also some mild discoloration due to vanillan. This was also made with a light caramel beer (ESB to be specific). I used a regular metal hanger covered with some electrical tape to do the swirl.

 

[Kosmerta]

My inspiration for my soap was pastel Easter colors. I can't wait for the spring flowers to bloom! For my base I used Lettuce Entertain You with a dash of Blue Tides both by Mad Micas. My swirls were La La Yellow also from MM, and Magenta pigment from BrambleBerry. All of my colors I lighened with a 50/50 mix of kaolin clay and TD. For my fragrance: Cucumber Melon from Aztec candle & Soap. I used a 2 mm wire hanger covered in vinyl for my swirl tool, this design was really fun to try.

 

[MarnieSoapien]

My entry was my 2nd attempt at this challenge. I used Rose FO and Lavender EO for the fragrance. The base is colored with TD and I used Terra Cotta and Blackberry micas for the accent colors. After reading some of the other posts, I used 75% of the batter for the main color and split the remaining 25% between the 2 colors. The coat hanger I used was one my hubby found at a 2nd hand store and I didn't think to coat it (I did check to make sure it wasn't aluminum but that was about it).

 

[Mobjack Bay]

My soap is still a tad soft for clean up, but I’m heading out of town for a couple of days and thought I better get this posted before I start packing

I especially enjoyed this challenge. The timing was perfect! I am just beginning to test designs for soap wedding favors for my son’s wedding in June. The main wedding colors are pinks (ranging from very pale to fuschia pink) and navy. An Ione Swirl was on my list, but I didn’t know how to do the swirling pattern or what trace to aim for. The posted video, Primrose’s swirling instructions and example soaps were all super helpful. I’m much more confident after watching the video and five tries! This is my 5th try and the only one I made with a dark base color. I used soy wax (GW 415), as well as RBO, OO, CO and Shea butter in the recipe. Even though I start warm and use a high lye concentration, I’m finding that I have plenty of time to swirl as long as I use a friendly FO.

From dark to light, the accent micas are Caberet, Hollywood Pink and Amaranth, all from Nurture. They are each 10% of the batter. The base was colored with Kashmir and Dark Navy, also from Nurture, as well as some AC. I will cut back on the Dark Navy and the AC the next time with the hope of bringing out a bit more blue in the base. It’s definitely more navy than it looks in the photo, but I couldn’t quite pull that out in the photo without compromising the accent colors. I held about 10% of the base back for the drop pour and another little bit back for the top. The soap is scented with MMS Osmanthus and a touch of Nurture’s Champagne, which did not cause acceleration. I did my drop pours from a foot or more above the mold to start and learned that my aim is not so good... The swirling tool was a vinyl covered piece of bendable wire. It’s a little thicker than a wire clothes hanger, but not by much. The batter started at emulsion and went to a light/medium trace during the time I was making the soap.

 

[szaza]

I won't have time for another try, so here's my entry. It was my first try and so far the most successful one, though I'm not completely satisfied with it.
It's colored with indigo infusion, indigo dispersed in oil and annatto infusion. The idea was to get pastel pink, blue and yellow, but as you can see that didn't really work out. I like how the colors work together and they work quite well with the scent (an EO blend resembling an ocean type scent posted by @lsg which is absolutely lovely) so I'm not too disappointed.
I was aiming for light-medium trace, but my recipe moved slower than I expected, so I ended up pouring at emulsion.

 

[neonstudy]

Here is my first try, it's scented with Midnight Waters by Brambleberry. It has activated charcoal, the dark blue is a pigment and the light blue is mica. I used less coconut oil than normal to keep the recipe more fluid for longer.

 

[Callie]

This is my entry. I went with my second attempt 'By the Fire'.

20200227_182707

• Callie
• Feb 27, 2020

By the Fire

This was a 1:1:1 Olive oil, Coconut Oil and Tallow Soap. I used a 1:2 lye to water ratio and added sodium lactate to be sure I wouldn't mangle the loaf unmoulding.
The fragrance was 'By the Fire' by Eroma. It behaved very well.
The base (about 70% of the soap) was coloured with Graphite mica and activated charcoal. The other three colours (in equal quantities) were coloured with Sahara, Banana Split and Smoke micas, all from Bath Bomb World.
The pour was done at medium trace and I did the hanger swirl with a thick piece of fencing wire (I have since found my proper hanger tool ).
I really like how the grey soap swirled down through the black, reminding me of burned wood.

 

[Zing]

The base is black charcoal and a titch of black oxide (tip from @IrishLass ), and 3 accent colors are micas and titanium dioxide using a ratio of 70/10/10/10. I chose colors to match our new bath. The scent is a ‘spa blend’ of peppermint/lavender/tea tree/cedarwood essential oils. Right before this challenge was posted, I had discovered Ione’s video and put this on my 2020 bucket list and now I can check it off! It was great fun and I’ll do it again.

 

[Primrose]

The entry thread is now closed, congratulations to everyone who either attempted the challenge or achieved an entry.
Voting links will be sent out soon to those on the sign up list.

 

[AliOop]

Oh rats! just got home and took photos. Will post them on the other thread just for kicks. Good luck to all!

 

[Kosmerta]

Edit: double post sorry