Lemon Poppy Seed FAIL! I should have known...

[Dennis Marquez]

Hey guys!

Sooo... after many years, I've decided to give Soap Making another go, since I have so much time on my hands at the moment, being stuck at home. I'm a Nurse in Training and was supposed to have School right now, but we're working from home at the moment.

I saw the beautiful tutorial by the Soap Queen for this Lemon Poppy Seed soap. It has a layer of bright yellow lemon soap, and a white layer with poppy seeds in it, divided by a mica layer of black. I used Black oxide as my black colorant, and when I started working with it, I should have known this was going to go all wrong. The stuff was everywhere, and was so hard to clean from surfaces and hands. I used a very thing layer I though, and spritzed it with some 99.9% alcohol.

I just finished cutting the soap, and was very proud of how it looked. I gave the end bit a quick test, and immediately the two parts separated and on top of that my hands were BLACK instantly.

Oh well, I'm still very proud of my first try. I have another soap that will be cut within the next 2 days, and at least it has no colorants or layers in it, so I'm pretty sure it's going to turn out a lot better than this one!

You learn from your mistakes! I managed to cut the yellow parts of all my soap blocks, so that I don't have to waste it all.

Have you guys ever had any mishaps with colorants?

I hope you're all healthy and staying positive!

 

[shunt2011]

They look very pretty. Yeah, black oxide is a mess for sure. I prefer black micas for pencil lines. Also, that's a lot of poppy seeds might be a bit scratchy when used.

 

[Dennis Marquez]

They look very pretty. Yeah, black oxide is a mess for sure. I prefer black micas for pencil lines. Also, that's a lot of poppy seeds might be a bit scratchy when used.

Thanks for the tip on using micas!
It was made to be used as a hand soap though, I tried the bit with the poppy seeds and it's not too scratchy on the hands. I don't imagine it would feel that great as shower soap ;-)

 

[Obsidian]

Such pretty soap, too bad the line failed. You could always glue the tops and bottoms back together with a thin layer of new soap or even mp.

I've never used oxide for a line but I imagine it needs to be very thin, like barely covering the soap thin.
You think oxide is bad, try activated charcoal sometime, that stuff is a nightmare.

 

[Dennis Marquez]

Such pretty soap, too bad the line failed. You could always glue the tops and bottoms back together with a thin layer of new soap or even mp.

I've never used oxide for a line but I imagine it needs to be very thin, like barely covering the soap thin.
You think oxide is bad, try activated charcoal sometime, that stuff is a nightmare.

Oh good that you mention that! I was gonna try that next, as I imagined it to be less messy, but I guess I'm wrong! Maybe I'm better trying it without the pencil line for now. At least I'll be sure the two layers will stick together, and my hands will stay black-free!

Thanks for the tip on gluing them together, although I'd rather make a new batch I think! At least I had fun making it
Oh and what does mp stand for? Edit: Never mind, I found it! Melt & Pour!

 

[Misschief]

Melt & Pour

 

[Obsidian]

You really need mica for mica lines. People do use other things but sometimes they fail.

I also think you used too much oxide. I recommend watching some videos on mica lines, I know I was surprised how little it used.

 

[Dennis Marquez]

You really need mica for mica lines. People do use other things but sometimes they fail.

I also think you used too much oxide. I recommend watching some videos on mica lines, I know I was surprised how little it used.

Thank you! Here in Germany I haven't found any black mica, just the black oxide. I'll just try some other things for now!

Also, I just realised I can totally chop op my failed soap (i already removed the black oxide part) and embed them in a new batch, as fun color blocks!
Now I've gotten all motivated to make a new soap tomorrow!

 

[CatahoulaBubble]

So here's the deal with oxide. it's going to lather up gray and smear on everything when it gets wet. It's great for coloring soap but not for a pencil line because of the mess it makes. You want to use a black mica for pencil lines and you won't have near the mess.

 

[Dennis Marquez]

So here's the deal with oxide. it's going to lather up gray and smear on everything when it gets wet. It's great for coloring soap but not for a pencil line because of the mess it makes. You want to use a black mica for pencil lines and you won't have near the mess.

Yeah, I won't make that mistake again ;-) I just finished chopping the clean parts of of the soap without the black oxide in it into tiny cubes, and will make new batch tomorrow, using the cubes as embeds in my soap. Should make for a nice effect! At least I won't have to waste it all.

 

[dibbles]

That’s a beautiful yellow. I’m glad you worked out what to do with the soap. I’m sure it will look great in the end.

 

[Dennis Marquez]

That’s a beautiful yellow. I’m glad you worked out what to do with the soap. I’m sure it will look great in the end.

I'll post my results once it's finished!!!
Yeah I'm very happy with the yellow, it looked terrible when it was still in the bowl, very orange and dark! I was happy with how it came out of the mold though!

 

[Arimara]

Are you able to order from MicaMoma? I was under the impression they are a European company.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Well, despite your learning and mishaps, they look really good!

 

[penelopejane]

Thanks for the tip on using micas!
It was made to be used as a hand soap though, I tried the bit with the poppy seeds and it's not too scratchy on the hands. I don't imagine it would feel that great as shower soap ;-)

Mica's are great for pencil lines.
If you don't want to use mica you can use Activated charcoal. You need to sprinkle it on the soap really thinly - so you can see it wetting up. You will think it isn't enough AC but it works well once it is finished.
Your soap looks great and so do the poppy seeds - but they scratch my skin!
I've used cinnamon as a "mica" line in soap and it works well but even that small amount of cinnamon scratches my boys sensitive skin!

 

[Jersey Girl]

You did such a nice job on them. Sorry they didn’t work out but you are right! Confetti soap is very cool looking and a great way to use up mistakes and leftovers!

 

[Dennis Marquez]

Are you able to order from MicaMoma? I was under the impression they are a European company.

Thanks for the suggestion!!! Shipping is through the roof though but I see wonderful colors there!!!

 

[cmzaha]

As much as I like the look of pencil lines I simply do not make them. I have purchased several soaps with them and never had one that did not eventually come apart after using it for a while which I find very annoying. I am sure many here will disagree with me and tell me I just have not purchased the right ones so that is just my opinion, but I love the look of pencil lines. I also hate soaps painted with mica as it is so messy on soap although also very pretty.

 

[Dennis Marquez]

As much as I like the look of pencil lines I simply do not make them. I have purchased several soaps with them and never had one that did not eventually come apart after using it for a while which I find very annoying. I am sure many here will disagree with me and tell me I just have not purchased the right ones so that is just my opinion, but I love the look of pencil lines. I also hate soaps painted with mica as it is so messy on soap although also very pretty.

Yeah I have decided not to try it again as it’s not that important to me. Also don’t really want to risk wasting another batch! Thanks for the input!

 

[Arimara]

Thanks for the suggestion!!! Shipping is through the roof though but I see wonderful colors there!!!

I know that pain quite well. They do have nice colors though.