Some of my Soaps

[TheGecko]

I usually don't post photos because I'm so critical and I'm not selling online right now so photos haven't been important. Some of the soaps have been planed, some have not. I have some soda ash I will steam and I will trim before boxing.

First up is 'Lavender & Sage' or I should say 'Lavender and Lavender & Sage' since I didn't have enough of either. The Lavender is from BB, the Lavender & Sage is from Nurture. The colorants are Lavender Mica from BB and Retro Green from Elements. Technique is a Drop/Chopstick Swirl. This is one of two soap for my upcoming Knitting Retreat that will be put in the Swag Bags.



Next is Lilac, the second of my Knitting Retreat Soaps. The FO is from Rustic Escentuals, the colorant is Ultramarine Violet Oxide Pigment from BB. Another Drop/Chopstick Swirl



Next is Green Apple; FO is from RE and really, really sticks. I had a bar from two years ago that I gave to a friend last month and it still smelt amazing. The colorant is Green Chrome Oxide from BB. It's just a Drop Swirl and the batter was super thin and I wanted to see what it would do. Too much green.



Next is Sweet Cardamom Chai. It was supposed to discolor to tan, but the sample on BB's website had it lighter so I decided to forgo any colorant except for a Toffeelicious Mica (BB) swirl on top to see what would really happen. This was a sample batch and I used .5 oz of FO for 14oz of oils. It smells really, really good, but it runs light. Hubby likes this one...said it wasn't bad. LOL



Next is my 'famous' Chocolate Espresso, I cannot keep it in stock. FO is Chocolate Espresso from BB and discolors to a medium brown, but I like it darker and so I add Brown Oxide (BB) and Hershey's Cocoa for the bottom layer and TD (in Oil) for the Whip Cream. I put a 'mica line' of cocoa between the layers and sprinkle with cocoa on top. The FO is strong enough at 5% that it doesn't matter that the Whip Cream is not scented, and yes, I adjusted the FO for the amount to be scented. When I first made it I used to put coffee beans on it but the first time I went to use it, I found them having to dispose of them to be annoying. I highly recommend dispersing TD in oil, I had zero issue with obtaining a white topping without rivers/crackling.




Next is another test batch...Blue Man. The FO is from BB and discolors so daughter picked a bright Caribbean Blue Mica (BB) and Celestial Silver Mica from Nurture for a Drop/Chopstick Swirl; I didn't add any FO to the Silver. Already know that this soap will end up in my 'donation box'; not only has the color changed to a green, you can see brown around the edge. And while it smelled 'okay' in the bottle, I'm not impressed. Hubby was a definite "NO". But this is exactly why I do 20oz (4-5 oz bars) test batches with trial sizes. Yeah it's a little more spendy and if it's something that you really like, like the Sweet Cardamom, I'll have to wait to order more. But if it sucks like this has, I'm only out about $5.00.



Last is the one I just did...Ancient Sedona. I had done a test batch about a year ago and bought a large bottle, but never got around to making it and now BB had discontinued it. This kind of, sort a test batch in that I am trying out Todd's Vanilla stabilizer and dispersing oxides in oil. The colorants are Red Oxide (BB), Yellow Mica (BB), Orange Burst Mica (RE) all with a touch of Brown Oxide (BB) all dispersed in about a tablespoon of Olive Oil. The plan was to do alternate pours and then a Chopstick Swirl. As you can kind of tell from the top, the pour turned into a bit of a plop. But interesting to not...only the batter with the Micas thickened up, the one with just Oxides stayed fluid to the end. The cut should be interesting.



I have a ton of FOs to get through, so I think I go back to soaping.

 

[TheGecko]

I am done for the day. I'll try to remember to take photos when I unmold/cut in a couple of days.

I made Honeysuckle (RE). The plan was for Lemon Sherbet Mica (RE) with a delicate ribbon of Clementine Pop Mica (RE). I forgot about the 'mild acceleration' and I was soaping warmer than usual today. I got plops. It will go to the donation box.

Pumpkin Pie Spice (RE). Nothing special. But if Todd's VS works...then I plan to make an actual 'pie' and pull out my fancy frosting kit.

Cranberry Salsa (RE). Ruby Red by Nurture and I went fancy...I sprinkled some Cranberry Seeds and then got out my blush brush and sprinkled a little Snowflake Mica (BB).

Last was some Lemon Verbena (RE)...I LOVE this FO, reminds me of Lemon Drops and my grandma. I used Yellow Mica (BB) and Snowflake Mica (BB) and poured into some really cute 'Rose Cavity Molds'. I also use the same molds to make Rose, Lilac, and Jasmine and I sell them as a gift set.

ETA - I forgot about Silent Night (RE). It sounds like a Christmas FO, but it's not. My original thought was Navy Blue with White Stars, but I don't have an extruder. I thought about using a bottle with white batter and putting in lines like I see folks do with Watermelon for seeds, but I'm only doing a test batch in a 4" Square Mold AND I don't want to clean bottles. Then I though Black with a White Swirl, but I'm not big on black soap. Then I thought...who says that a silent night has to be blue or black? What about the absence of color? So I went with a White Soap (TD in oil) and a Drop/Chopstick Swirl with a small amount of Moonkissed Nights Mica from RE.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

You’re good with a chopstick! I like all of the soaps, especially that lavender and sage one, and including the one with the morphed color.

That’s a great idea about using a makeup type brush to sprinkle mica or glitter. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Feelin' Soapy]

You've been a busy soaper! Thanks so much for sharing photos along with details of how you made them. I especially like the Lilac one. So delicate and pretty.

 

[TheGecko]

You’re good with a chopstick! I like all of the soaps, especially that lavender and sage one, and including the one with the morphed color.

That’s a great idea about using a makeup type brush to sprinkle mica or glitter. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you.

I learned the chopstick swirl from Tiggy at Future Primitive Soaps and the makeup brush trick from Katie at Royalty Soaps.

You've been a busy soaper! Thanks so much for sharing photos along with details of how you made them. I especially like the Lilac one. So delicate and pretty.

Thank you. Sometimes it's one and done and sometimes I get on a roll.

I think it's a great idea to share the details to encourage other soap makers who might be hesitant to try a new scent or colorant or technique. And I don't care if someone copies my soap...7.9 billion people in world, plenty of customers to go around.

 

[Megan]

Love a good chopstick swirl to zhush up a loaf! They look great! Green and purple are my favorite colors so I'm liking your choices. Also Sweet Cardamom sounds like it smells amazing . I don't usually do BB for fragrances, but I may have to try it. Does the Chocolate Espresso actually smell like coffee? I have the worst luck picking coffee fragrances (although BB's Turkish Mocha was amazing).

 

[Cat&Oak]

Lovely soaps! Thank you for sharing all the details of the scents ❤

 

[TheGecko]

Love a good chopstick swirl to zhush up a loaf! They look great! Green and purple are my favorite colors so I'm liking your choices. Also Sweet Cardamom sounds like it smells amazing . I don't usually do BB for fragrances, but I may have to try it. Does the Chocolate Espresso actually smell like coffee? I have the worst luck picking coffee fragrances (although BB's Turkish Mocha was amazing).

I'm a red and black girl myself, but I'm not into black soap; don't mind it as an accent color. I did make a Black Cherry (RE)...I used Nurture's Really Red! Pigment and toned it down with some Black Oxide I purchased from @cmzaha and then did a Drop/Chopstick Swirl with some more Black Oxide. Turned out much better than the first time...way too much black and for some odd reason I used purple with the red (can you say donation box?).

My BIL can't drink coffee anymore so he had a standing order for a loaf of Chocolate Espresso. My youngest daughter, who doesn't even like coffee...LOVES this. Another good coffee FO is RE's Coffee House...at least in lotion bars. Previously mentioned daughter decided to be helpful one day and packaged up all my lotion bars in tins...except she forgot the labels. I didn't want to deal with, so I left them in a box for six months. Coffee House was the only one that I could tell what it was.

Both the Lilac and Lavender Sage are for the Swag Bags for an upcoming knitting retreat. The gal that is running it, her logo is purple and white and I have noticed that she likes a lot of greens. I've also made a loaf of the Chocolate Espresso for her and her husband.

 

[Zing]

Wow! Um, when do you sleep? They all so nice, but that chocolate espresso, mmm, I want to eat that!

 

[TheGecko]

Wow! Um, when do you sleep? They all so nice, but that chocolate espresso, mmm, I want to eat that!

The advantages of Master Batching; I can easily make two to three times as much soap before my back says enough. Yesterday was a really good day and I was going to make a couple of more, but hubby told me to quit while I was ahead. Six soaps took about four hours...most of which was spent deciding on colorants and scent...and washing up as I go. Just like with cooking and baking, I really dislike being done and then having to face a pile of dishes. Except for the ladle and the measuring cup/spatula for my lye, I wash everything after each batch.

I need to make a couple of more batches of it, maybe this coming weekend. I'll save you a bar.

 

[Orebma]

I usually don't post photos because I'm so critical and I'm not selling online right now so photos haven't been important. Some of the soaps have been planed, some have not. I have some soda ash I will steam and I will trim before boxing.

First up is 'Lavender & Sage' or I should say 'Lavender and Lavender & Sage' since I didn't have enough of either. The Lavender is from BB, the Lavender & Sage is from Nurture. The colorants are Lavender Mica from BB and Retro Green from Elements. Technique is a Drop/Chopstick Swirl. This is one of two soap for my upcoming Knitting Retreat that will be put in the Swag Bags.

View attachment 60995

Next is Lilac, the second of my Knitting Retreat Soaps. The FO is from Rustic Escentuals, the colorant is Ultramarine Violet Oxide Pigment from BB. Another Drop/Chopstick Swirl

View attachment 60996

Next is Green Apple; FO is from RE and really, really sticks. I had a bar from two years ago that I gave to a friend last month and it still smelt amazing. The colorant is Green Chrome Oxide from BB. It's just a Drop Swirl and the batter was super thin and I wanted to see what it would do. Too much green.

View attachment 60997

Next is Sweet Cardamom Chai. It was supposed to discolor to tan, but the sample on BB's website had it lighter so I decided to forgo any colorant except for a Toffeelicious Mica (BB) swirl on top to see what would really happen. This was a sample batch and I used .5 oz of FO for 14oz of oils. It smells really, really good, but it runs light. Hubby likes this one...said it wasn't bad. LOL

View attachment 60998

Next is my 'famous' Chocolate Espresso, I cannot keep it in stock. FO is Chocolate Espresso from BB and discolors to a medium brown, but I like it darker and so I add Brown Oxide (BB) and Hershey's Cocoa for the bottom layer and TD (in Oil) for the Whip Cream. I put a 'mica line' of cocoa between the layers and sprinkle with cocoa on top. The FO is strong enough at 5% that it doesn't matter that the Whip Cream is not scented, and yes, I adjusted the FO for the amount to be scented. When I first made it I used to put coffee beans on it but the first time I went to use it, I found them having to dispose of them to be annoying. I highly recommend dispersing TD in oil, I had zero issue with obtaining a white topping without rivers/crackling.

View attachment 60999


Next is another test batch...Blue Man. The FO is from BB and discolors so daughter picked a bright Caribbean Blue Mica (BB) and Celestial Silver Mica from Nurture for a Drop/Chopstick Swirl; I didn't add any FO to the Silver. Already know that this soap will end up in my 'donation box'; not only has the color changed to a green, you can see brown around the edge. And while it smelled 'okay' in the bottle, I'm not impressed. Hubby was a definite "NO". But this is exactly why I do 20oz (4-5 oz bars) test batches with trial sizes. Yeah it's a little more spendy and if it's something that you really like, like the Sweet Cardamom, I'll have to wait to order more. But if it sucks like this has, I'm only out about $5.00.

View attachment 61000

Last is the one I just did...Ancient Sedona. I had done a test batch about a year ago and bought a large bottle, but never got around to making it and now BB had discontinued it. This kind of, sort a test batch in that I am trying out Todd's Vanilla stabilizer and dispersing oxides in oil. The colorants are Red Oxide (BB), Yellow Mica (BB), Orange Burst Mica (RE) all with a touch of Brown Oxide (BB) all dispersed in about a tablespoon of Olive Oil. The plan was to do alternate pours and then a Chopstick Swirl. As you can kind of tell from the top, the pour turned into a bit of a plop. But interesting to not...only the batter with the Micas thickened up, the one with just Oxides stayed fluid to the end. The cut should be interesting.

View attachment 61002

I have a ton of FOs to get through, so I think I go back to soaping.

wow - I really like the colours you've used - even the ones you don't like!

 

[TheGecko]

wow - I really like the colours you've used - even the ones you don't like!

Thank you.

I'm fine with the colors. For the Green Apple Soap, the color itself is fine, I just used too much. For Blue Man, I was going for blue and it morphed to green. There is nothing wrong with the green, but that's not the color I wanted.

 

[TheGecko]

So here is the next set of pics and I have included my original posting as well as thoughts.

Honeysuckle (RE). The plan was for Lemon Sherbet Mica (RE) with a delicate ribbon of Clementine Pop Mica (RE). I forgot about the 'mild acceleration' and I was soaping warmer than usual today. I got plops. It will go to the donation box.

It smells wonderful, reminds me of summer, but it is not what I wanted and will be wrapped and donated to the local food bank.



Pumpkin Pie Spice (RE). Nothing special. But if Todd's VS works...then I plan to make an actual 'pie' and pull out my fancy frosting kit.

You can see that is already discoloring. It's a little on the light side FO wise, but it could deepen.



Cranberry Salsa (RE). Ruby Red by Nurture and I went fancy...I sprinkled some Cranberry Seeds and then got out my blush brush and sprinkled a little Snowflake Mica (BB).

I got a bit of a partial gel on one end of this one, but OMG, it smells so good!



Last was some Lemon Verbena (RE)...I LOVE this FO, reminds me of Lemon Drops and my grandma. I used Yellow Mica (BB) and Snowflake Mica (BB) and poured into some really cute 'Rose Cavity Molds'. I also use the same molds to make Rose, Lilac, and Jasmine and I sell them as a gift set.

The soap on the left is upside-down, didn't notice it because it was late and I was having problems getting enough light on it as it was. One of my co-workers told me that her husband really likes my Rose Soap (made in this mold) and would like a list of all my soaps so they can place an order...for themselves and for gifts when they go to Dubai the end of November (more than enough time to have them pick what they want). But it's given me the idea of just making a gift set of Rose Soap in just different colors



Silent Night (RE). It sounds like a Christmas FO, but it's not. My original thought was Navy Blue with White Stars, but I don't have an extruder. I thought about using a bottle with white batter and putting in lines like I see folks do with Watermelon for seeds, but I'm only doing a test batch in a 4" Square Mold AND I don't want to clean bottles. Then I thought Black with a White Swirl, but I'm not big on black soap. Then I thought...who says that a silent night has to be blue or black? What about the absence of color? So I went with a White Soap (TD in oil) and a Drop/Chopstick Swirl with a small amount of Moonkissed Nights Mica from RE.

Obviously there is a bit of discoloration going on, though the website said there was none. I just went back and checked and there is a customer review (made after I purchased) that said it discolored to a beautiful butter yellow. That is a possibility as there is a slight brown tint to the top, but I did use TD...will have to wait and see. I'm hoping for the best since it smells gorgeous and would like to make more. Oh, and I didn't mix my new batch of TD as well as I should have, have a few white spots here and there (I'll call them 'stars').



Ancient Sedona. I had done a test batch about a year ago and bought a large bottle, but never got around to making it and now BB had discontinued it. This kind of, sort a test batch in that I am trying out Todd's Vanilla stabilizer and dispersing oxides in oil. The colorants are Red Oxide (BB), Yellow Mica (BB), Orange Burst Mica (RE) all with a touch of Brown Oxide (BB) all dispersed in about a tablespoon of Olive Oil. The plan was to do alternate pours and then a Chopstick Swirl. As you can kind of tell from the top, the pour turned into a bit of a plop. But interesting to note...only the batter with the Micas thickened up, the one with just Oxides stayed fluid to the end. The cut should be interesting.

Not sure if this was discussed the the @Todd Ziegler's ZVCS thread of not. I made this soap around noon on Sunday and unmolded and cut it late last night, so over 48 hours. I typically unmold between 18 to 24 hours during the Spring/Summer and 36 to 48 hours during the Fall/Winter, but we're still having nice weather (supposed to be another 80F day) and even though it rained some over the weekend, the house and garage was still in the high 70s. So I was really surprised with how soft and sticky it was when I went to unmold...mainly the sides and bottom. The interior was fine...it cut nice and clean, but I had to wash quite a bit of soap off my cutter afterwards. All the soaps I made later unmolded fine, so I'm wondering if, when using ZVCS, I will need to allow another day or two.

I also noticed that my Yellow isn't quite as yellow on the inside as it is on the outside. But all-in-all, I'm pleased though I won't be able to make more than a few more batches before the FO is gone.

 

[Zing]

Just. Wow. to everything! This looks like a full-time job! So hard to pick a favorite. The cranberry is pretty. When I want to get a fancy top, I also break out the snowflake mica. Great job!!

 

[impish]

Thank you.

I'm fine with the colors. For the Green Apple Soap, the color itself is fine, I just used too much. For Blue Man, I was going for blue and it morphed to green. There is nothing wrong with the green, but that's not the color I wanted.

They're all quite lovely. Blue Man immediately brought the Oregon Coast to mind. Inspiring and generous of you to share.

 

[Todd Ziegler]

So here is the next set of pics and I have included my original posting as well as thoughts.

Honeysuckle (RE). The plan was for Lemon Sherbet Mica (RE) with a delicate ribbon of Clementine Pop Mica (RE). I forgot about the 'mild acceleration' and I was soaping warmer than usual today. I got plops. It will go to the donation box.

It smells wonderful, reminds me of summer, but it is not what I wanted and will be wrapped and donated to the local food bank.

View attachment 61086

Pumpkin Pie Spice (RE). Nothing special. But if Todd's VS works...then I plan to make an actual 'pie' and pull out my fancy frosting kit.

You can see that is already discoloring. It's a little on the light side FO wise, but it could deepen.

View attachment 61087

Cranberry Salsa (RE). Ruby Red by Nurture and I went fancy...I sprinkled some Cranberry Seeds and then got out my blush brush and sprinkled a little Snowflake Mica (BB).

I got a bit of a partial gel on one end of this one, but OMG, it smells so good!

View attachment 61088

Last was some Lemon Verbena (RE)...I LOVE this FO, reminds me of Lemon Drops and my grandma. I used Yellow Mica (BB) and Snowflake Mica (BB) and poured into some really cute 'Rose Cavity Molds'. I also use the same molds to make Rose, Lilac, and Jasmine and I sell them as a gift set.

The soap on the left is upside-down, didn't notice it because it was late and I was having problems getting enough light on it as it was. One of my co-workers told me that her husband really likes my Rose Soap (made in this mold) and would like a list of all my soaps so they can place an order...for themselves and for gifts when they go to Dubai the end of November (more than enough time to have them pick what they want). But it's given me the idea of just making a gift set of Rose Soap in just different colors

View attachment 61089

Silent Night (RE). It sounds like a Christmas FO, but it's not. My original thought was Navy Blue with White Stars, but I don't have an extruder. I thought about using a bottle with white batter and putting in lines like I see folks do with Watermelon for seeds, but I'm only doing a test batch in a 4" Square Mold AND I don't want to clean bottles. Then I thought Black with a White Swirl, but I'm not big on black soap. Then I thought...who says that a silent night has to be blue or black? What about the absence of color? So I went with a White Soap (TD in oil) and a Drop/Chopstick Swirl with a small amount of Moonkissed Nights Mica from RE.

Obviously there is a bit of discoloration going on, though the website said there was none. I just went back and checked and there is a customer review (made after I purchased) that said it discolored to a beautiful butter yellow. That is a possibility as there is a slight brown tint to the top, but I did use TD...will have to wait and see. I'm hoping for the best since it smells gorgeous and would like to make more. Oh, and I didn't mix my new batch of TD as well as I should have, have a few white spots here and there (I'll call them 'stars').

View attachment 61090

Ancient Sedona. I had done a test batch about a year ago and bought a large bottle, but never got around to making it and now BB had discontinued it. This kind of, sort a test batch in that I am trying out Todd's Vanilla stabilizer and dispersing oxides in oil. The colorants are Red Oxide (BB), Yellow Mica (BB), Orange Burst Mica (RE) all with a touch of Brown Oxide (BB) all dispersed in about a tablespoon of Olive Oil. The plan was to do alternate pours and then a Chopstick Swirl. As you can kind of tell from the top, the pour turned into a bit of a plop. But interesting to note...only the batter with the Micas thickened up, the one with just Oxides stayed fluid to the end. The cut should be interesting.

Not sure if this was discussed the the @Todd Ziegler's ZVCS thread of not. I made this soap around noon on Sunday and unmolded and cut it late last night, so over 48 hours. I typically unmold between 18 to 24 hours during the Spring/Summer and 36 to 48 hours during the Fall/Winter, but we're still having nice weather (supposed to be another 80F day) and even though it rained some over the weekend, the house and garage was still in the high 70s. So I was really surprised with how soft and sticky it was when I went to unmold...mainly the sides and bottom. The interior was fine...it cut nice and clean, but I had to wash quite a bit of soap off my cutter afterwards. All the soaps I made later unmolded fine, so I'm wondering if, when using ZVCS, I will need to allow another day or two.

I also noticed that my Yellow isn't quite as yellow on the inside as it is on the outside. But all-in-all, I'm pleased though I won't be able to make more than a few more batches before the FO is gone.

View attachment 61091

I usually can cut my soap around 18 hours and that's when I use ZCS. However I'm using a very simple recipe.

I have had soaps that needed a full 24 hours cure before cutting and some that needed longer. The soaps that needed a longer wait time before cutting, were the ones in which I used multiple colors. However they all contained the same percentage of ZCS. I have yet had a problem that I could pin on the ZCS. Have others, maybe, but I have yet to see a 100% sure ZCS problem.

I'm going to post some pictures today of the first test soap with ZCS and the results are good.

 

[Todd Ziegler]

@TheGecko I was not trying to say that the ZCS is not the problem, it very well could be. I didn't want you to think that I was discounting your observation.

 

[Johnez]

So here is the next set of pics and I have included my original posting as well as thoughts.

Honeysuckle (RE). The plan was for Lemon Sherbet Mica (RE) with a delicate ribbon of Clementine Pop Mica (RE). I forgot about the 'mild acceleration' and I was soaping warmer than usual today. I got plops. It will go to the donation box.

It smells wonderful, reminds me of summer, but it is not what I wanted and will be wrapped and donated to the local food bank.

View attachment 61086

Pumpkin Pie Spice (RE). Nothing special. But if Todd's VS works...then I plan to make an actual 'pie' and pull out my fancy frosting kit.

You can see that is already discoloring. It's a little on the light side FO wise, but it could deepen.

View attachment 61087

Cranberry Salsa (RE). Ruby Red by Nurture and I went fancy...I sprinkled some Cranberry Seeds and then got out my blush brush and sprinkled a little Snowflake Mica (BB).

I got a bit of a partial gel on one end of this one, but OMG, it smells so good!

View attachment 61088

Last was some Lemon Verbena (RE)...I LOVE this FO, reminds me of Lemon Drops and my grandma. I used Yellow Mica (BB) and Snowflake Mica (BB) and poured into some really cute 'Rose Cavity Molds'. I also use the same molds to make Rose, Lilac, and Jasmine and I sell them as a gift set.

The soap on the left is upside-down, didn't notice it because it was late and I was having problems getting enough light on it as it was. One of my co-workers told me that her husband really likes my Rose Soap (made in this mold) and would like a list of all my soaps so they can place an order...for themselves and for gifts when they go to Dubai the end of November (more than enough time to have them pick what they want). But it's given me the idea of just making a gift set of Rose Soap in just different colors

View attachment 61089

Silent Night (RE). It sounds like a Christmas FO, but it's not. My original thought was Navy Blue with White Stars, but I don't have an extruder. I thought about using a bottle with white batter and putting in lines like I see folks do with Watermelon for seeds, but I'm only doing a test batch in a 4" Square Mold AND I don't want to clean bottles. Then I thought Black with a White Swirl, but I'm not big on black soap. Then I thought...who says that a silent night has to be blue or black? What about the absence of color? So I went with a White Soap (TD in oil) and a Drop/Chopstick Swirl with a small amount of Moonkissed Nights Mica from RE.

Obviously there is a bit of discoloration going on, though the website said there was none. I just went back and checked and there is a customer review (made after I purchased) that said it discolored to a beautiful butter yellow. That is a possibility as there is a slight brown tint to the top, but I did use TD...will have to wait and see. I'm hoping for the best since it smells gorgeous and would like to make more. Oh, and I didn't mix my new batch of TD as well as I should have, have a few white spots here and there (I'll call them 'stars').

View attachment 61090

Ancient Sedona. I had done a test batch about a year ago and bought a large bottle, but never got around to making it and now BB had discontinued it. This kind of, sort a test batch in that I am trying out Todd's Vanilla stabilizer and dispersing oxides in oil. The colorants are Red Oxide (BB), Yellow Mica (BB), Orange Burst Mica (RE) all with a touch of Brown Oxide (BB) all dispersed in about a tablespoon of Olive Oil. The plan was to do alternate pours and then a Chopstick Swirl. As you can kind of tell from the top, the pour turned into a bit of a plop. But interesting to note...only the batter with the Micas thickened up, the one with just Oxides stayed fluid to the end. The cut should be interesting.

Not sure if this was discussed the the @Todd Ziegler's ZVCS thread of not. I made this soap around noon on Sunday and unmolded and cut it late last night, so over 48 hours. I typically unmold between 18 to 24 hours during the Spring/Summer and 36 to 48 hours during the Fall/Winter, but we're still having nice weather (supposed to be another 80F day) and even though it rained some over the weekend, the house and garage was still in the high 70s. So I was really surprised with how soft and sticky it was when I went to unmold...mainly the sides and bottom. The interior was fine...it cut nice and clean, but I had to wash quite a bit of soap off my cutter afterwards. All the soaps I made later unmolded fine, so I'm wondering if, when using ZVCS, I will need to allow another day or two.

I also noticed that my Yellow isn't quite as yellow on the inside as it is on the outside. But all-in-all, I'm pleased though I won't be able to make more than a few more batches before the FO is gone.

View attachment 61091

Beautiful soaps Gecko. I just got that same mold to make rose soap for my sweetie. I was thinking making the soap pink with yellow dock but she wants a white soap.

Does anyone else see a mask wearing pony and an ominous dog in Silent Night? Looks like the cover of an off the wall comic book series haha! Amazing stuff.

 

[ResolvableOwl]

Does anyone else see a mask wearing pony and an ominous dog in Silent Night? Looks like the cover of an off the wall comic book series haha! Amazing stuff.

Congrats! You've passed the Rorschach test!

Seriously, letting the eye wander through swirled soaps (Ione/hanger swirl in particular) can be “strenuous” when your subconsciousness decides to get rid of an excess of creative potential.

 

[Mistrael]

Those are some gorgeous soaps.

On the backaches... I soap in a corset. 10/10, highly recommend. The back/bust/core support is amazing, and it's not even a high quality or custom one.