World's ugliest soaps

[kirsten.]

I've been working away, tweaking recipes and making mistakes but learning. Today I *thought* I finally had a great soap - and then I forgot to put the EO in it *facepalm*
I've been hoping to have something to 'show off' by now, but instead I think I'll just post some of my smell-great-technically-are-soap attempts!

I'd love to see some other fails if only to feel like I have a little company!

cold process cucumber/aloe soap - colour is not at all what I expected! Super soft - I used way too much water. Smells great - looks bad!!

The batch oils I mixed up for my cucumber aloe soap were WAY too much. So I made one batch hot process with some coconut cream. This one looks meh, but it smells and feels fabulous!

This one is lovely - cold process oatmeal/oat milk/oat oil with cocoa. I used some titanium and cocoa for colour and scented with vanilla. It's rough, and the colours are bleeding, but I like it )

I think I'm gonna go make a batch of liquid soap to make me feel better.

 

[kagey]

i was trying for a fancy "kiss pour" -- only my trace was too light and everything blended into the activated charcoal taking over everything like the prince of darkness.

I learn by doing - so, chalk it up to a lesson learned that I won't ever forget!

welcome to the club @kirsten.

 

[Zing]

Okay, both of you have good looking soap there. Really, @kagey, I have no idea what you're talking about -- it looks great! And what is this kiss pour thang that's all of a sudden on every thread?

And @kirsten. , not bad -- especially that bottom soap, it looks great. My trick is to call unplanned soaps "rustic." And even if it doesn't look or smell as planned, homemade soap is still the best!

My epic fugly fail was a coupla years ago but it still cracks me up! It may have been my first challenge soap, too! That month was a dancing funnel technique. I especially love the hint of pepto bismol. I used half of it, felt great. I made confetti soap out of the rest.

 

[Cat&Oak]

Okay, both of you have good looking soap there. Really, @kagey, I have no idea what you're talking about -- it looks great! And what is this kiss pour thang that's all of a sudden on every thread?

And @kirsten. , not bad -- especially that bottom soap, it looks great. My trick is to call unplanned soaps "rustic." And even if it doesn't look or smell as planned, homemade soap is still the best!

My epic fugly fail was a coupla years ago but it still cracks me up! It may have been my first challenge soap, too! That month was a dancing funnel technique. I especially love the hint of pepto bismol. I used half of it, felt great. I made confetti soap out of the rest.
View attachment 60935

That is indeed fugly it cracked me up! I don't personally think any of the others are ugly at all we are always more critical of ourselves!

 

[earlene]

Right, one person's ugly may be another person's attractive.

Zing, I made a soap years ago using a discoloring FO that turned the white to about that shade of brown and the pink was also pretty close. I think it was a spoon swirl, and it looked like the popular lady cammo fabric that was becoming popular at the time. So that's what I named it. And it smelled divine. I wrapped it with lace ribbons and the ladies in my family really liked it. If I could get more of that FO (long ago DC'd and no duplicate has turned up in my searches over the years, so it was a one-time thing) I would do it again, because it was actually quite fabulous.

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

That is indeed fugly it cracked me up! I don't personally think any of the others are ugly at all we are always more critical of ourselves!

Agree

 

[TheGecko]

I'd love to see some other fails if only to feel like I have a little company!

Unfortunately, I don't have photos of one of more spectacular soap "Opportunities to Learn". It was H E double-toothpicks to get it out of the mold and then every single bar I tried to cut just shattered.

I've forgotten to add scent on a more than a couple of occasions, fortunately, the soap still had a nice natural smell to it.

Then there is the time I was making Mrs Zing's Christmas Crack Soap (Neapolitan)...three layers, three jugs. Got the Chocolate layered pour and it was setting up nicely and it was now time to mix the Vanilla layer and instead of grabbing the container with Vanilla Bean FO, I grabbed Strawberry and poured it into my white batter. I started to panic big time and then remembered that it was just soap. So grabbed the third jug that I hadn't mixed...added the Lye Solution, added some TD, added the Vanilla Bean, blended to a medium trace so it would set up quicker (so much for perfect layers) and poured. I then added some red to the Strawberry to make it 'pink'...gave the white layer about 10 minutes and then poured the Strawberry. Not want I wanted, but no one has complained.

There have been many more of course and I have a donation box with some of the soap going to the local homeless shelter and some going to the local food bank.

 

[kirsten.]

@kagey I agree, that's kind of pretty. Sorry @Zing that IS bad! I'm sure it takes time and practice getting to know how various colours behave and, as a hobby/making for practical use soaper I'll likely stay away from dyes in the future. Tumeric, charcoal and paprika are calling to me...

 

[Zing]

Right, one person's ugly may be another person's attractive.

Zing, I made a soap years ago using a discoloring FO that turned the white to about that shade of brown and the pink was also pretty close. I think it was a spoon swirl, and it looked like the popular lady cammo fabric that was becoming popular at the time. So that's what I named it. And it smelled divine. I wrapped it with lace ribbons and the ladies in my family really liked it. If I could get more of that FO (long ago DC'd and no duplicate has turned up in my searches over the years, so it was a one-time thing) I would do it again, because it was actually quite fabulous.

I'll speak for myself but I think others too find that when I get an unexpected attractive result, it's hard to replicate it again! Lace and cammo -- sounds great!

 

[Zing]

@kagey I agree, that's kind of pretty. Sorry @Zing that IS bad! I'm sure it takes time and practice getting to know how various colours behave and, as a hobby/making for practical use soaper I'll likely stay away from dyes in the future. Tumeric, charcoal and paprika are calling to me...

Also a hobbyist here who likes me some swirl and color action. The brown above is baking cocoa which I really like to work with. I also like tumeric, charcoal, and paprika. Have you tried rosehips? It's trippy to watch because the color morphs. In addition to natural colorants, I mostly use micas.

 

[Ford]

Tough crowd today Zing. Soap reminds me of coconut candy. Had as kid's. Had same color stripes. Very good memories. Thank you.

 

[kagey]

@kagey I agree, that's kind of pretty. Sorry @Zing that IS bad! I'm sure it takes time and practice getting to know how various colours behave and, as a hobby/making for practical use soaper I'll likely stay away from dyes in the future. Tumeric, charcoal and paprika are calling to me...

I dunno. It looks like camouflage soap! Hmmm... maybe I can sell it to the military base nearby??

Really, @kagey, I have no idea what you're talking about -- it looks great! And what is this kiss pour thang that's all of a sudden on every thread?

ha ha -- for me, I thought it was so bad that it deserved to be featured twice! Besides, not sure that everyone reads every thread.
As for your Pepto-Bismal soaps -- I could see it selling well at a color-blind convention!

 

[Zing]

Tough crowd today Zing. Soap reminds me of coconut candy. Had as kid's. Had same color stripes. Very good memories. Thank you.

Rough is right! I can take it -- every time I look at that photo, it cracks me up! To do that design, I watched hours of YouTube and reading and thought I was prepared!

I did not think of that candy until you mentioned it. I totally know what you're talking about!

 

[Becky1024]

No picture, but the first time I used vanilla EO and the color morphed from a beautiful lemon yellow to puke dark brown. Not even an attractive brown! I was just starting out and didn’t know that vanilla EO needs to be stabilized.

 

[Jennfromoz]

Ok, I'll put my very first attempt, made by grating hotel soap and remelting it with water.

 

[SoapDaddy70]

This was from the batch i posted about last week with the EO blend that had Clovebud Oil. I think I win the ugliest soap contest. Smells amazing though.

 

[kirsten.]

This was from the batch i posted about last week with the EO blend that had Clovebud

I don't hate it! Yes, it's rustic, but it reminds me of sponge toffee.

 

[DMack]

Because I didn’t want to waste a lot of ingredients but wanted to play around with clays for colour and maybe a pattern I stupidly tried to make individual soaps
Lesson learned

 

[Johnez]

Because I didn’t want to waste a lot of ingredients but wanted to play around with clays for colour and maybe a pattern I stupidly tried to make individual soaps
Lesson learned

Ugly doesn't come to mind here....more edible, heck that one on the left looks kinda delicious.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Here’s one of my earliest soaps. I still have absolutely no explanation for what happened. Everything I’ve seen above at least looks safe to use. These, not so much.