I also am apologizing for commenting on the entry thread. I Messaged Primrose to apologize and asked her to have the Moderator remove my comments.
SMF February 2020 challenge - Ione swirl
- Thread starter Primrose
- Start date
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Aargh I want to make another attempt at this, but I can't decide on what I want to do and now I'm risking just spending an entire evening behind the computer figuring out what to do until it's too late to actually make soap.
Basically my 3 options are 1. Having another go at indigo infusion at a lower percentage in hopes of it being pink instead of blue (yes, pink indigo infusion is a thing) I could pair that with dark indigo blue, so it's still pretty even if the infusion turns out blue. 2nd option is paprika peach color with purple clay, just because I love the color of paprika infusion at a lower percentage and I think it would go together nicely with the purple. I think this is my least favorite option because there's very little experimental value in this, but I think it would produce the prettiest soap colors. 3rd option is a HP goatmilk soap with cinnamon EO in a portion of the soap to see if I can get pink/red out of it (apparently milk+cinnamon eo = red soap). I could color another portion of the soap with (blood) orange EO to make it orange and leave the rest uncolored/tan (low temp HP will give a creamy tan, but not brown goat milk soap). This one is the most appealing to me at the moment, but also the most difficult one to pull off/biggest risk of failure.. and I'll have to tweak my goat milk recipe as I don't have everything I need on hand right now.
Basically my 3 options are 1. Having another go at indigo infusion at a lower percentage in hopes of it being pink instead of blue (yes, pink indigo infusion is a thing) I could pair that with dark indigo blue, so it's still pretty even if the infusion turns out blue. 2nd option is paprika peach color with purple clay, just because I love the color of paprika infusion at a lower percentage and I think it would go together nicely with the purple. I think this is my least favorite option because there's very little experimental value in this, but I think it would produce the prettiest soap colors. 3rd option is a HP goatmilk soap with cinnamon EO in a portion of the soap to see if I can get pink/red out of it (apparently milk+cinnamon eo = red soap). I could color another portion of the soap with (blood) orange EO to make it orange and leave the rest uncolored/tan (low temp HP will give a creamy tan, but not brown goat milk soap). This one is the most appealing to me at the moment, but also the most difficult one to pull off/biggest risk of failure.. and I'll have to tweak my goat milk recipe as I don't have everything I need on hand right now.
A
amd
Here's the two that didn't get entered.
Attempt #1 (green) was poured at a medium thin trace and I poured all of the colors in the same locations. I think pouring in different locations (see other attempts) gives better results.
The second attempt (yellow) I alternated where I poured the accent colors, and even though everything was at medium trace (and I had serious doubts about even getting a decent swirl) I quite like the pattern that came out.
The attempt I entered was poured at very thin trace, and while I chose that one to enter I think it is because I had more colors as accent colors. The yellow soap above I like the placement better with the medium trace, I think if I had used more accent colors I would have chosen this (but hard to say, right?). I think with this technique that two accent colors isn't enough, or do minimal amount of batter for the accent colors will get a better result... but that's my take on it.
Attempt #1 (green) was poured at a medium thin trace and I poured all of the colors in the same locations. I think pouring in different locations (see other attempts) gives better results.
The second attempt (yellow) I alternated where I poured the accent colors, and even though everything was at medium trace (and I had serious doubts about even getting a decent swirl) I quite like the pattern that came out.
The attempt I entered was poured at very thin trace, and while I chose that one to enter I think it is because I had more colors as accent colors. The yellow soap above I like the placement better with the medium trace, I think if I had used more accent colors I would have chosen this (but hard to say, right?). I think with this technique that two accent colors isn't enough, or do minimal amount of batter for the accent colors will get a better result... but that's my take on it.
I did the goat milk HP Ione swirl because I hate myself
This was my first attempt. I wasn’t wild about the colors 
I did it too in my first contest. We live and learn!! It’s exciting to join these awesome soap makers in a fun challenge!!!
Pink infusion sounds cool!!
Just a suggestion, try it and post it here instead of the official entry! That way you get practice and we can all see your creation!!
Here it is! I just cut, but haven't cleaned up the soap yet. It's a nice hanger swirl, but it doesn't look like Ione's or primrose's soaps (neither do my cp tries btw, I don't know what I'm doing wrong)
If the red shows up, it'll probably take about a month, so this is a wait and see soap. I'm happy with the colors so far, the blood orange/patchouli in the base soap gives a nice delicate yellow that goes well with the cocoa powder brown. I'm also surprised by the whiteness of the uncolored/unscented batter (I swirled some in for reference) I added frozen GM to my masterbatch and warm GM after cook (last time I added lye to the GM and it was a bit darker, but I also used a lot of patchouli then)
If the red shows up, it'll probably take about a month, so this is a wait and see soap. I'm happy with the colors so far, the blood orange/patchouli in the base soap gives a nice delicate yellow that goes well with the cocoa powder brown. I'm also surprised by the whiteness of the uncolored/unscented batter (I swirled some in for reference) I added frozen GM to my masterbatch and warm GM after cook (last time I added lye to the GM and it was a bit darker, but I also used a lot of patchouli then)
Cellador
Well-Known Member
Grr, life got in the way of me participating this month, but I wanted to pop in and tell you all how much I am enjoying your pics! Beautiful soaps!
A
amd
I would have entered that! I think you can see where the different directions are and it has the "right" wispy swirl effect. I think part of what makes it (maybe) not feel right to you is the drop swirl part of it is not dropping far enough. Maybe with HP (because I don't know how fluid HP can get) what might work better is creating narrow layers at different intervals and then swirling it if the drop swirl is ending up more towards the top. I think the drop swirl is just as important as the swirl pattern for this technique. But... this is just judging by watching Ione's videos and the cut soaps, so my interpretation may not be accurate.
Thanks for the encouragement @dibbles and @amd . I also think the drop swirl might be what's making my soaps look different. A HP drop swirl is pretty much impossible, even with super fluid batter it won't break through the layers. Maybe I'll have time for another try before the entry thread closes, but I think I'll just have to enter my very first try.
I have a question for the entrants. What order did you do your swirls?
My entry was middle, vertical and then horizontal.
The soap I didn't enter was vertical, horizontal and then middle and I do like the swirl better on that one, just not the colors.
My entry was middle, vertical and then horizontal.
The soap I didn't enter was vertical, horizontal and then middle and I do like the swirl better on that one, just not the colors.
A
amd
I followed Primrose's order (and the order in Ione's videos): vertical, horizontal, circular. Although I have noticed that sometimes Ione does the third step in different directions, starting in different locations, or even in figure 8 designs. I don't think the order matters much (but I haven't tried this to compare) as long as all three steps are done. Hmmm... well, I was going to do an ITPS tonight... but maybe I'll have to test this... dang enablers!
MarnieSoapien
Well-Known Member
I did horizontal, vertical, then circular.
Callie
Well-Known Member
These are my three attempts. I really need to work on my photography skills!
The first was Raspberry Dreams. I used a bit of TD in the cream section and Bubblegum, Elegance and Graphite mica from Bath Bomb World in the other three. There is some Snowball mica on top. The fragrance was Raspberry Dream from Eroma. It smells gorgeous, behaved well, but did discolour a bit. I used a supposedly slow to trace recipe with Olive Oil, Tallow, Coconut Oil and Rice Bran Oil.
I wouldn't say that it was that slow to trace, but I think it was fairly easy to work with and turned out well.
My second attempt was By the Fire. I used activated charcoal and Graphite mica in the black section and Sahara, Banana Split and Smoke mica from Bath Bomb World in the other three. The fragrance was By the Fire from Eroma. It is lovely and accelerated a tiny bit but behaved quite well. I used a 1:1:1 Olive Oil, Coconut Oil and Tallow recipe for this one. It was great and the hanger swirl is quite defined.
My final attempt was Jasmine and Wild Peony. I used loads of TD in the white section, TD with Soda Pop Mica for the pink and Elegance and Kiwi micas from Bath Bomb world for the others. There is some holo glitter on top. The fragrance was Jasmine and Wild Peony from Eroma. It slowed trace in the colours, whereas the TD really thickened up the white, so that was tricky. I used the same 1:1:1 recipe as for the By the Fire soap. I really didn't think this one was going to work because of the different levels of trace in the colours, but it actually turned out well.
The first was Raspberry Dreams. I used a bit of TD in the cream section and Bubblegum, Elegance and Graphite mica from Bath Bomb World in the other three. There is some Snowball mica on top. The fragrance was Raspberry Dream from Eroma. It smells gorgeous, behaved well, but did discolour a bit. I used a supposedly slow to trace recipe with Olive Oil, Tallow, Coconut Oil and Rice Bran Oil.
I wouldn't say that it was that slow to trace, but I think it was fairly easy to work with and turned out well.
My second attempt was By the Fire. I used activated charcoal and Graphite mica in the black section and Sahara, Banana Split and Smoke mica from Bath Bomb World in the other three. The fragrance was By the Fire from Eroma. It is lovely and accelerated a tiny bit but behaved quite well. I used a 1:1:1 Olive Oil, Coconut Oil and Tallow recipe for this one. It was great and the hanger swirl is quite defined.
My final attempt was Jasmine and Wild Peony. I used loads of TD in the white section, TD with Soda Pop Mica for the pink and Elegance and Kiwi micas from Bath Bomb world for the others. There is some holo glitter on top. The fragrance was Jasmine and Wild Peony from Eroma. It slowed trace in the colours, whereas the TD really thickened up the white, so that was tricky. I used the same 1:1:1 recipe as for the By the Fire soap. I really didn't think this one was going to work because of the different levels of trace in the colours, but it actually turned out well.
A
amd
So which one are you entering? I think the 2nd and 3rd are great attempts!
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