Thank you! As far as the FO, I think I like it. I purchased it after I had covid and lost my taste/smell, which are still somewhat distorted. I can smell it, but I'm not sure if what I smell is accurate...so I don't feel like a good judge.
I love your swirls Peachy, just beautiful!Thank you Dear' most appreciated. Though I'm happy w/ my entry.
I feel you, the idea and the blob of colour was there on my soap, but it's a tricky one to achieve with the delicate balance between swirl motion and the batter you can't really see below the surface. On another cut the antennae were showing more, but the butterfly shape not so much! My hanger was also on the thinner side so I agree with you that a thicker hanger might do the trick.
Hmm, interesting question - I guess it's probably all from the same bag since we don't go through a lot of it. Just regular granulated sugar, nothing unusual.
Citrus juice (lemon, lime, orange) is a thing that does turn bright orange-red (and hot) when dissolving lye in it. But nothing of this colour remains after the alkali has been eaten up by the oils. Let's hope your sugar knows this and behaves accordingly. Theoretically, sugar (fully refined and fresh beet/cane sugar at least) should be unimpressed by lye, and turn slightly yellowish at most. But who knows?
At least you're out of danger to have swirled at too thin trace
I fear (at least for the sanity of the curing racks) that there will be quite some latecomer/debriefing butterflies fluttering throughout our soap kitchens soon.
Anytime I've added sugar or coconut milk or agave to my lye solution it has always turned a shade of pinkish orange. Its never really affected my soap. I just thought it got too hot. I don't add sugars too often though because of that. It scares me!
I love your entry and I am a huge monarch fan! I thought of entering this month and was going to go with monarch colors. I plant my gardens to attract pollinators. For many, many years I would count 1 monarch per summer. This summer I saw several per week and it makes my heart sing. I hope these little ones can survive extinction!Now that I have entered my photo, I'll show the progression of my attempts. The first 3 were the same color palette, but batch #1 (made on 10/10/2021 while in Branson, MO) did not turn out as vibrant in color as I had hoped; I did not used enough colorant.
Batch #2 turned out better in terms of color and swirl, but not to my satisfaction. Still I am not totally displeased with the resulting soap.
Batch #3 was my entry, still seeking the majesty of the Monarch Butterfly because it has been prolific in my butterfly experience throughout my life:
Then for Batch #4, I moved away from the Monarch and although my original plan was to emulate the Luna Moth, or a Blue Morpho, I ended up using both blue and green and it represented no particular butterfly or moth. I also had a lot of bubbles in this batch, so it's not as smooth on the surface as the others. But I did use Zany's No-Slime Castile recipe with Faux Seawater and am very impressed with how fast this recipe can be unmolded and how hard it gets so very very fast.
When I look at soap #2 and imagine matching the base of the bars together so the they are standing vertically, I see a spectacular butterfly!Now that I have entered my photo, I'll show the progression of my attempts. The first 3 were the same color palette, but batch #1 (made on 10/10/2021 while in Branson, MO) did not turn out as vibrant in color as I had hoped; I did not used enough colorant.
Batch #2 turned out better in terms of color and swirl, but not to my satisfaction. Still I am not totally displeased with the resulting soap.
Batch #3 was my entry, still seeking the majesty of the Monarch Butterfly because it has been prolific in my butterfly experience throughout my life:
Then for Batch #4, I moved away from the Monarch and although my original plan was to emulate the Luna Moth, or a Blue Morpho, I ended up using both blue and green and it represented no particular butterfly or moth. I also had a lot of bubbles in this batch, so it's not as smooth on the surface as the others. But I did use Zany's No-Slime Castile recipe with Faux Seawater and am very impressed with how fast this recipe can be unmolded and how hard it gets so very very fast.
In Europe Asclepias syriaca, the milkweed, is included in the list of Invasive Alien Species of Union concern (the Union list) of Regulation (EU) 1143/2014. The species included on the Union list are subject to restrictions and measures. I know it has been grown in gardens for its interesting seedpods. On the other hand, monarch butterfly is extremely rare in Europe.
Sorry, I was being Americancentric. To be more precise,In Europe Asclepias syriaca, the milkweed, is included in the list of Invasive Alien Species of Union concern (the Union list) of Regulation (EU) 1143/2014. The species included on the Union list are subject to restrictions and measures. I know it has been grown in gardens for its interesting seedpods. On the other hand, monarch butterfly is extremely rare in Europe.
So I am not going to plant milkweed while I love other insect attracting/feeding plants
.I'm gonna look into planting milkweed. I saw only one Monarch Butterfly this past spring / summer. Agree they are so beautiful.
