What soapy thing have you done today?

[Peachy Clean Soap]

Second attempt. Hopefully it’s soap dough, and not, soap DOH!

I hope so too.

 

[Mels]

You might want to make this question its own thread in the lye forum where more people would be likely to see it and respond, but I started with my own recipe, and colors and fragrance. I really love to experiment with ingredients, colors, fragrances, and design techniques. If I'm very impressed with how a soap performs, I'll consider duplicating elements of the recipe, otherwise I'd rather experiment and see what happens.

Today I cut and beveled my 5th February SMF challenge candidate. I didn't expect the recipe to harden in time to be a contender for the challenge, but it did. So, it gets a photo shoot tomorrow. Along with a few other soaps I haven't gotten to taking pictures of yet.

Thank you for the feedback. I will check out the lye forum as well. I have been working on recipes I really like to see how they react with certain micas, essential oils and fragrances. I am learning that some colors really seize, OMG, I shoved that into the mold so fast. but it turned out really nice and one of my favorites.

I spent waaaay too much time in front of this screen today, so many rabbit holes to YouTube and this forum. Wait, what? It's after 10 p.m. and I haven't taken a shower yet?! Placed 3 online orders for ingredients. Got tons of concrete advice on this forum on a variety of topics. Lord help us but I bought 100 lip balm tubes, so the addiction is clearly morphing. I've been spending a fortune on chapstick my entire life and *smacks forehead* they're just lotion bars!!


Thank you. It's grown on me. I had a very public breakdown on this forum when I initially unmolded it. There was a weird yellow color that has since re-absorbed.


I'll tell you what worked for me. I focused on technique and the order of steps and left out color, fragrance, and design. It was several months before I discovered this whole new sub-culture of soapers, YouTubes, and this Forum, all which opened up a whole new world for me. I tweaked a recipe for the first 6 months to find one I really liked. I make some minor tweaks from time to time. Welcome!

Thank you! I have been working on the order of steps as I keep forgetting a step like adding fragrance then remembering at the last minute. Sigh, I am a work in progress!

 

[rdc1978]

Ahhh....beveling zen....ahhhhhhhh


So pretty, @KiwiMoose! Really like the delicate look of the confetti.


Ohh noooo. What happened?!

LOL, I'm so glad you asked, because I asked myself where it all went wrong all night. HA

It all begins with my love of trashy reality TV. 90 Day Fiance was on, and I thought to myself "don't be such a dork, the oils and lye water are at like 170 right now, you TOTALLY have time to sit down and watch a few segments while everything cools down"

Well, by the time I turned around, the oils and lye water were at like 107. And I hadn't done much of any prework because I thought I'd have plenty of time! Fail! Also, I had thought I'd be real cute and try adding shea butter and aloe vera juice....which I had had chilled. Fail! Of course, you will ask like "duh stupid, why didn't you just microwave the oils and the aloe vera juice?" I don't know, I think I was already panicking. Almost as soon as I got it to emulsion it was going straight into medium trace. These loofah soaps look awful (but smell great?). DISASTER #1

I thought maybe I could save the second soap from certain doom. The oils and lye water were cool, I think the lye water was like at 84 and the oils were at 92. I put the lye water in a hot water bahe th and microwaved my oils for a bit. I'll attach the video of what I was going for. But I was soooooo close with the second batch. I s/b to emulsion and I was really doing my thing! I split the batter, I colored it and fragranced it and it was all going well! For the design I wanted to do, I think the secret is in pouring at a fairly light trace, having the heights right and only filling half the mold. So, it was still at emulsion and I figured I would give it five minutes and wash a few dishes to wait until it got to very light trace. By the time the five minute was up, it was past very light trace and was at, what I'd call fully light trace (for me, this is where I can see the trace lines if I drop the batter from a high point). So I rushed to do the pour, but it just wasn't right because the trace wasn't as light as it should have been. DISASTER #2

OR, as a much kinder soaper said...."my results varied" LOL

Thanks for letting me vent. I tried to tell someone at work about it, and boy, you'd think you couldn't feel someone's boredom over skype....but you really can!

Cut my Rose Geranium confetti soap. It’s a really strong fragrance. Very nice.
View attachment 54609

That is so pretty, I think the colors work well with that scent. Is it the one from NS? I really like that scent. Its like rose, without being too ROSE!!!!

 

[KimW]

LOL, I'm so glad you asked, because I asked myself where it all went wrong all night. HA

It all begins with my love of trashy reality TV. 90 Day Fiance was on, and I thought to myself "don't be such a dork, the oils and lye water are at like 170 right now, you TOTALLY have time to sit down and watch a few segments while everything cools down"

Do I laugh or do I cry? lol I could see it all unveiling as I read. Almost like a bad horror movie where people keep opening doors. hahaha Well, at least it smells fab and it will still be soap! Your tenacity in continuing is sincerely inspiring. Still hope we get to see it - all soap is beautiful!

I like Fraulein Winter and sure hope she does more videos soon.

 

[msunnerstood]

I cut my blue soap last night and took pics today. It's scented with Dancing Waters.
View attachment 54618

Beautiful. and the design matches the scent

 

[rdc1978]

Do I laugh or do I cry? lol I could see it all unveiling as I read. Almost like a bad horror movie where people keep opening doors. hahaha Well, at least it smells fab and it will still be soap! Your tenacity in continuing is sincerely inspiring. Still hope we get to see it - all soap is beautiful!

I like Fraulein Winter and sure hope she does more videos soon.

I prefer to laugh, the cries are all out of me over the debacle! I think thats the sweetest line "all soap is beautiful" I never thought about it that way. And yes, I think you bring up an excellent point and one of the things I love about soaping. Yeah, I screwed the pooch, but its still soap, I can still use it. LOL I betcha a solid 20 that I will be trying the exact same design again, LOL Yes, Fraulein Winter, such talent! I really love her creativity in using different angles, different amounts of the mold and different batter thickness to achieve her looks. And she always makes it look so easy breezy!

Thanks for the kind words......I think I needed it!

 

[Catscankim]

That moment when you realize something has gone terribly wrong.

I was making a 4 color dancing wave soap inspired by @rdc1978 LOL. That's not the reason the session went wrong...

I got all my color pots measured and poured. Then I add my FO, the first one started to rice right away. Immediately thought "ok, this is going to be lightly scented" LOL. I added a smidge to the uncolored soap and it riced instantly. The smell is Beach from Crafter's Choice. This is the second time I used it, I don't remember it ricing like this.

Anywhoo, I started pouring. I probably should have added the stupid fo to the other two pots, cause now two are thick and two are still at emulsion.

What I REALLY should have done was filled a bunch of little cavity molds and called it a day. But noooo...I need to try to make something fancy with it and I keep pouring in what is obviously a total fail. I keep stirring and pouring. Finally get to the end and stuck a chopstick in it and now I have half thick batter and half watery batter, that probably wasn't ready to pour to begin with, but I was in panic mode LOL. I was swirling clumps of riced soap into the thin batter. I wish I had a video.

I should have went with my first plan for tonight and just wrapped soaps LOL

 

[The_Phoenix]

@Catscankim Nothing gets the heart pumping like that first sign that your FO is causing your batter to seize/rice.

 

[Jersey Girl]

That moment when you realize something has gone terribly wrong.

I was making a 4 color dancing wave soap inspired by @rdc1978 LOL. That's not the reason the session went wrong...

I got all my color pots measured and poured. Then I add my FO, the first one started to rice right away. Immediately thought "ok, this is going to be lightly scented" LOL. I added a smidge to the uncolored soap and it riced instantly. The smell is Beach from Crafter's Choice. This is the second time I used it, I don't remember it ricing like this.

Anywhoo, I started pouring. I probably should have added the stupid fo to the other two pots, cause now two are thick and two are still at emulsion.

What I REALLY should have done was filled a bunch of little cavity molds and called it a day. But noooo...I need to try to make something fancy with it and I keep pouring in what is obviously a total fail. I keep stirring and pouring. Finally get to the end and stuck a chopstick in it and now I have half thick batter and half watery batter, that probably wasn't ready to pour to begin with, but I was in panic mode LOL. I was swirling clumps of riced soap into the thin batter. I wish I had a video.

I should have went with my first plan for tonight and just wrapped soaps LOL

Sorry to hear you had a bad soapy night...now to go add “Beach” to my list of “Bad Boys” to stay away from. [/QUOTE]

 

[Adobehead]

Cut my Rose Geranium confetti soap. It’s a really strong fragrance. Very nice.
View attachment 54609

Girl after my own heart, kudos! Love this.

 

[Something witty]

Yesterday I started my Excel spreadsheet breaking down the costs of everything.
Boy is that emotionally taxing...
Lol taxing...
Because excel is often used in accounting...
Yea I'd better take a nap I'm clearly still drained.

 

[Arimara]

I spent money I shouldn't have on soaping/cooking oils and FO samples.

 

[rdc1978]

That moment when you realize something has gone terribly wrong.

I was making a 4 color dancing wave soap inspired by @rdc1978 LOL. That's not the reason the session went wrong...

I got all my color pots measured and poured. Then I add my FO, the first one started to rice right away. Immediately thought "ok, this is going to be lightly scented" LOL. I added a smidge to the uncolored soap and it riced instantly. The smell is Beach from Crafter's Choice. This is the second time I used it, I don't remember it ricing like this.

Anywhoo, I started pouring. I probably should have added the stupid fo to the other two pots, cause now two are thick and two are still at emulsion.

What I REALLY should have done was filled a bunch of little cavity molds and called it a day. But noooo...I need to try to make something fancy with it and I keep pouring in what is obviously a total fail. I keep stirring and pouring. Finally get to the end and stuck a chopstick in it and now I have half thick batter and half watery batter, that probably wasn't ready to pour to begin with, but I was in panic mode LOL. I was swirling clumps of riced soap into the thin batter. I wish I had a video.

I should have went with my first plan for tonight and just wrapped soaps LOL

I'm so sorry for your night, but I really enjoy reading these stories. And just LOL at panic mode, isnt it so weird what things you'll do when you get flustered!
I'm really curious as to how your soap will turn out. You think it might be skin to like a spoon swirl design?

 

[TashaBird]

It would have been great if I’d learned my lesson LAST time I made this mistake. Forgot to mark my mold before I soaped. So when I tried to put my little caterpillars on top I had to keep scootching them around. Also, the mold is more full than I planned, even though I reduced the recipe. But, that’s what happens when I put 7 embeds in there!! My green also morphed instantly. Hopefully it brightens up.

 

[KimW]

It would have been great if I’d learned my lesson LAST time I made this mistake. Forgot to mark my mold before I soaped. So when I tried to put my little caterpillars on top I had to keep scootching them around. Also, the mold is more full than I planned, even though I reduced the recipe. But, that’s what happens when I put 7 embeds in there!! My green also morphed instantly. Hopefully it brightens up.

Too cute!

 

[Katie68121]

First attempt on beach theme soap. Also first time using TD and learned I need to mix it in more because I got the white TD specks But still happy with the outcome!

 

[Jersey Girl]

@Mobjack Bay I shamelessly copied your brilliant idea of using dividers to make a confetti soap. So much easier than making separate small batches and waiting for a layer to set up! I used Rose Garden from WSP in this soap and it smells sooooo nice, and I’m not really a rose scent fan. Thank you for sharing the idea!

 

[amd]

Beveling zen achieved. Also made two more batches of soap for a custom order (wedding favors). I did not make lotions.

Tonight I think I will be finishing the third batch of wedding favors, and if the soap gods are still in my favor I will do two batches of Japanese Cherry Blossom now that I have all 40 of the embeds done. I made the lye solution over my lunch break so it should be cooled enough by after dinner. Sorry lotions, you're going to have to wait a few more days, when the soap gods are favoring you, one does not ignore them!

 

[Tara_H]

Scaled back a bit today from the fancy stuff and tried my hand at a nice gardener's soap. It's just out of the oven after an hour of very low CPOP and looking like soap, which is a good start!
Top layer has oven-dried coffee grounds incorporated for scrubbing, bottom layer plain per DeeAnna's suggestion.

 

[Arimara]

Scaled back a bit today from the fancy stuff and tried my hand at a nice gardener's soap. It's just out of the oven after an hour of very low CPOP and looking like soap, which is a good start!
Top layer has oven-dried coffee grounds incorporated for scrubbing, bottom layer plain per DeeAnna's suggestion.
View attachment 54659

That's gonna be a very scrubby soap indeed. Are those espresso or regular?