Basti's Adventures in Soap (2023)

[Shelley D]

Thank you everyone!



Aw, don't worry! Not matching my vision doesn't mean it's bad The soap might not be the swirly milk tea I wanted, but she's the best smelling zebra at the watering hole instead


I used a circular column mold/soap cane mold. Specifically I used the mini circle column mold and the small circle column mold from Wholesale Supplies Plus. I cut them up into smaller canes so there'd be more variance in the bubble placement between the different bars and placed them in there while pouring my gradient.

Ah, I was working that out in my head because I noticed the pattern changed from one cut to the next

 

[basti]

Do you do videos?! I would love to watch you work! I get a sort of mad scientist vibe reading your posts!

Haha thank you! Soaping always feels like mad science to me.

I do not. I think it'd be fun to do videos. I tried to stream once but realized I needed to use my phone to do soapy math because I couldn't find a calculator Maybe someday.

 

[Shelley D]

Haha thank you! Soaping always feels like mad science to me.

I do not. I think it'd be fun to do videos. I tried to stream once but realized I needed to use my phone to do soapy math because I couldn't find a calculator Maybe someday.

I can relate ~ every time I plug up my phone to charge and go start a project, I quickly realize I need my phone to do a search, use the calculator . . .

 

[basti]

Time for some soap : 0

I'm skipping #34 for now, as I have a... Weird Journey to take you all down when the time comes. Patience for now, I suppose.

Batch #35 - 7 Oil Blend with Distilled Water

FO - Lavender Woods & Honey by WSP
My entry for the June 2023 challenge. : )
I'll add a little more detail here for anyone wanting to do something similar. I used 9 oz of scraps to 26 oz of oils (~34%). Each container below has roughly 2.2 oz of scraps.

After preparing my warmed oils(+ additives + fragrance), I split my oils into 4 containers. From there, I added my scraps to each oil container and stick blended until the scraps were smaller and the oils had taken on a muddy shade. I added AC to my black scraps + oil blend before I stick blended, as that layer was a single color.

From there, I prepped my lye water solution and set it aside. Then mixed up my six sky colorants with a little bit of NS Snowflake Sparkle. Then I walked away until my lye water was cool. I usually make lye water first so its cooling while I fiddle around with everything else, but scraps can really benefit from soaking in oil for awhile. When my lye water was cooled, I returned to the fray to add sodium lactate then divide my lye solution.

I stuck my first layer's oils into the microwave for just a smidgen (15 secs max) and then stick blended again. This gets things even smoother. Then, added one container of lye solution and blended as normal. Poured, textured it. Repeated with the next three layers, with the sky getting the additional step of splitting the emulsified batter in half, adding colorants, and then ITP swirling. Finished the top with some enviroglitter because what's a sky without stars?

Batch #36, 37, 38 - 7 Oil Blend with Mango Puree

FOs - Grapefruit & Mint by CS, Mango Sorbet by NG, 8th & Ocean by NS
I decided to be... ambitious and made three soaps in one sitting. I made a big batch of oils and lye solution, which I split each time I started a new soap. Not quite a masterbatch, but the concept was there. Since it's currently mango season, I decided to add some puree from my mango trees to my oils. : ) I've already tried out the lather on these and I see myself using mango puree a lot in the future as the bubbles are nice and I've got a freezer full of the stuff now haha. I considered making these ciaglia soaps as well, but the green/orange soap seemed like a dangerous color scheme and opted to simplify things a bit. Just means I have more ciaglia soap to make in the future...
Top right also has some Turmeric added for color/light exfoliation. Bottom has some Icelandic Kelp and Avocado Seed Powder from my avocado tree. International soap :'D

That's all my CP soap for now. Sorry for anyone eagerly awaiting the results of my meaty soap. Next time

MP Time? : )

FO - Goji Berry Bliss by WSP
Scrap soap! I made soap canes using my column mold, beveled bits, and some random end pieces. I embedded them into clear base colored with AC + enviroglitter with some bevels from a previous planetary soap sprinkled in.

FO - Brown Sugar by WSP
Hrmm... does this look familiar? I posted my brown sugar soap earlier in the year and I wasn't very happy with it and well, I didn't sell a single bar either lol. I decided to melt it down and make it look a little more like a brown sugar milk tea and less like a zebra.

 

[dmcgee5034]

Beautiful soaps, @basti! Those M&Ps are awesome! Now….

Meat soap! Meat soap! Meat soap!

 

[basti]

Beautiful soaps, @basti! Those M&Ps are awesome! Now….

Meat soap! Meat soap! Meat soap!

All in due time!

Don't worry, I WILL take a before and after soda ash removal so everyone can see the fine marbling

 

[Chaiat5]

Awesome talent... such gorgeous bars!

 

[Shelley D]

All in due time!

Don't worry, I WILL take a before and after soda ash removal so everyone can see the fine marbling

So when, you say "fine marbling", does it look like Wagyu beef?! I can't wait to see it!

 

[basti]

So when, you say "fine marbling", does it look like Wagyu beef?! I can't wait to see it!

Unfortunately LOL It was "nice meat" before the soda ash kicked in and turned it full on kobe beef

 

[akseattle]

Thank you all~!


That was the goal! I was inspired by this lovely landscape:

View attachment 70301

@basti, those are beautiful soaps. As pretty as that landscape photo is, I think your interpretation actually surpasses it. Well done!

MP Time. Had a fun time with colors this month

View attachment 70722
FO: Black Salt & Cypress by WSP

View attachment 70723
FO: Moroccan Mint by WSP
This design didn't turn out the way I wanted it to, so I'll probably rework it next time I make it. But I love these colors.

View attachment 70724
FO: Caribbean Coconut by WSP

I have time for CP soap now so expect to see some of that soon~

@basti, that middle soap might be my favorite. I feel like I'm looking through mountains, across a bay to city lights with aurora borealis in the sky above - an interpretation of it.

 

[Terri E]

Totally amazed by the M&P! They are extremely beautiful!
Fantastic job! My favorite is the Brown Sugar & Fig

 

[basti]

Let's go on an adventure! I've got some ups and downs and weird ingredients to explore today.

Batch #34 - Umeboshi Tea & Umeboshi Puree

FO - Apricot by NG
Up first we have weird ingredients! This soap was made using umeboshi, a pickled Japanese plum. I added powdered umeboshi as a minor exfoliant, added pureed umeboshi, and used umeboshi tea as my lye solution water. I also added in some Gold and Pink Brazilian clay. The middle is a MP embed which... I didn't care for as it made cutting these bars so difficult. I'll experiment with CP embeds in the future : )
I don't expect the umeboshi to do anything special beyond acting as a sugar, but it was fun to try it out for the novelty.

Batch #39 - Green Tea

FO - Green Tea by NG
A remake of a soap I've made before Made using green tea as the lye solution water plus green tea and nori as exfoliants, and sea clay. I tried to do more of a drop swirl this time, since I've never actually done a drop swirl before! : D

Batch #40 - Moringa & Hibiscus Tea

FO - Loving Spell by NG
IT'S HERE IN ALL ITS MEATY GLORY! MY MEAT SOAP!
I added in some Red and Pink Brazilian Clay, but otherwise had no other additives.
So, my secret is I did, in fact, want this to look like meat. *dodges the thrown at me* And when it went on a trip to Wagyu City, population 8 bars, I was horrified because that was the WRONG KIND OF MEAT. I did buy a steamer for these and this is the post steaming picture. As you can see, the ash went DEEP so it didn't all come off (I tested the steamer on some other random soaps and the ash on those came off completely, had to check) but it's a lot better than was did pre-steam.

Batch #41 - Triple Rice (Rice Puree, Fermented Rice Water, Sweet Rice Flour + RBO)

FO - Golden Sunshine by NG
I know most people don't wait until their erm... 41st batch of soap to make an uncolored soap but look... I like color. :'D
I decided to give triple rice a try! I've used rice flour and fermented rice water before, but the rice puree is new. I just saved a little rice from dinner one night.

Batches #42, 43, 44
I don't have any pictures, so maybe I'll talk about these another day. These went poorly due to a mistake on my part. Luckily, they're still functioning batches of soap. I'm glad my first major "failure" wasn't a lye thing but just an additive issue lol.

Batch #45 - 80% CO/20% OO/20% SF/35% Salt

FO - Avalon by NS
I decided to make these for two reasons: 1. I needed a win after batches #42-44 and 2. I really wanted to try a salt bar as my skin is not having a great time this summer. I know salt bars need a nice long cure, but I'll probably snag one of these to use in the shower as soon as my current bar runs out. I will let the others sit, luckily I haven't noticed any sweating issues despite the weather.
I am glad I was able to make these in a loaf mold instead of a cavity mold. Even though the swirl gets blocked by the salty cracky texture, I find these super fun : D I am clearly on some kind of blue/pink/purple kick. These were cut at approximately 1:45 hours after pouring.
My one major thing I learned from these was to use more oil and salt than I think I do! I undershot my mold by a lot

I need to make a soap for the challenge (still...) but maybe after that I'll make some more salt bars. And maybe find something special to make for my 50th batch.

 

[The_Emerald_Chicken]

I just LOVE the triangle mold! Is this something that you got custom-made? And your pre-steam Wagyu bars are definitely the meatiest soap I've seen for a while

 

[Shelley D]

Let's go on an adventure! I've got some ups and downs and weird ingredients to explore today.

Batch #34 - Umeboshi Tea & Umeboshi Puree
View attachment 73663
FO - Apricot by NG
Up first we have weird ingredients! This soap was made using umeboshi, a pickled Japanese plum. I added powdered umeboshi as a minor exfoliant, added pureed umeboshi, and used umeboshi tea as my lye solution water. I also added in some Gold and Pink Brazilian clay. The middle is a MP embed which... I didn't care for as it made cutting these bars so difficult. I'll experiment with CP embeds in the future : )
I don't expect the umeboshi to do anything special beyond acting as a sugar, but it was fun to try it out for the novelty.

Batch #39 - Green Tea
View attachment 73664
FO - Green Tea by NG
A remake of a soap I've made before Made using green tea as the lye solution water plus green tea and nori as exfoliants, and sea clay. I tried to do more of a drop swirl this time, since I've never actually done a drop swirl before! : D

Batch #40 - Moringa & Hibiscus Tea
View attachment 73665
FO - Loving Spell by NG
IT'S HERE IN ALL ITS MEATY GLORY! MY MEAT SOAP!
I added in some Red and Pink Brazilian Clay, but otherwise had no other additives.
So, my secret is I did, in fact, want this to look like meat. *dodges the thrown at me* And when it went on a trip to Wagyu City, population 8 bars, I was horrified because that was the WRONG KIND OF MEAT. I did buy a steamer for these and this is the post steaming picture. As you can see, the ash went DEEP so it didn't all come off (I tested the steamer on some other random soaps and the ash on those came off completely, had to check) but it's a lot better than was did pre-steam.
View attachment 73666

Batch #41 - Triple Rice (Rice Puree, Fermented Rice Water, Sweet Rice Flour + RBO)
View attachment 73669
FO - Golden Sunshine by NG
I know most people don't wait until their erm... 41st batch of soap to make an uncolored soap but look... I like color. :'D
I decided to give triple rice a try! I've used rice flour and fermented rice water before, but the rice puree is new. I just saved a little rice from dinner one night.

Batches #42, 43, 44
I don't have any pictures, so maybe I'll talk about these another day. These went poorly due to a mistake on my part. Luckily, they're still functioning batches of soap. I'm glad my first major "failure" wasn't a lye thing but just an additive issue lol.

Batch #45 - 80% CO/20% OO/20% SF/35% Salt
View attachment 73671
FO - Avalon by NS
I decided to make these for two reasons: 1. I needed a win after batches #42-44 and 2. I really wanted to try a salt bar as my skin is not having a great time this summer. I know salt bars need a nice long cure, but I'll probably snag one of these to use in the shower as soon as my current bar runs out. I will let the others sit, luckily I haven't noticed any sweating issues despite the weather.
I am glad I was able to make these in a loaf mold instead of a cavity mold. Even though the swirl gets blocked by the salty cracky texture, I find these super fun : D I am clearly on some kind of blue/pink/purple kick. These were cut at approximately 1:45 hours after pouring.
My one major thing I learned from these was to use more oil and salt than I think I do! I undershot my mold by a lot

I need to make a soap for the challenge (still...) but maybe after that I'll make some more salt bars. And maybe find something special to make for my 50th batch.

You never disappoint!
First question ~ when you say green tea, do you use matcha to get that pretty green? I tried making a green tea soap in the beginning, but I only had a regular old green tea and it sorta turned a blah drab color, barely green, more like a dirty green
Love you triple rice soap! I was wondering what a coconut soap would be like with coconut oil, coconut milk and coconut cream with cocoa and shea butters but I'm still working that out in my head.
And finally meat soap! Meat soap! Meat soap! It really does look meaty!
I love them all!

 

[basti]

I just LOVE the triangle mold! Is this something that you got custom-made? And your pre-steam Wagyu bars are definitely the meatiest soap I've seen for a while

It's by Custom Craft Tools! It's eternally sold out but I stalked and stalked and stalked and finally caught it on preorder in April. I've wanted a triangle mold for ages and I love this one so much

You never disappoint!
First question ~ when you say green tea, do you use matcha to get that pretty green? I tried making a green tea soap in the beginning, but I only had a regular old green tea and it sorta turned a blah drab color, barely green, more like a dirty green
Love you triple rice soap! I was wondering what a coconut soap would be like with coconut oil, coconut milk and coconut cream with cocoa and shea butters but I'm still working that out in my head.
And finally meat soap! Meat soap! Meat soap! It really does look meaty!
I love them all!

Aw, I'm afraid my greens are not natural. My darker green is Savage Garden and my lighter green is Emerald Green, both Nurture. I'm under the understanding that matcha also turns dirty green and doesn't keep its vibrancy, though I haven't tried it. I simply used green tea as my water replacement and also added loose leaf green tea (which I blitzed in my spice grinder to make a little finer) as an exfoliant.

 

[Zing]

Time for some soap : 0

I'm skipping #34 for now, as I have a... Weird Journey to take you all down when the time comes. Patience for now, I suppose.

Batch #35 - 7 Oil Blend with Distilled Water
View attachment 73248
FO - Lavender Woods & Honey by WSP
My entry for the June 2023 challenge. : )
I'll add a little more detail here for anyone wanting to do something similar. I used 9 oz of scraps to 26 oz of oils (~34%). Each container below has roughly 2.2 oz of scraps.
View attachment 73249
After preparing my warmed oils(+ additives + fragrance), I split my oils into 4 containers. From there, I added my scraps to each oil container and stick blended until the scraps were smaller and the oils had taken on a muddy shade. I added AC to my black scraps + oil blend before I stick blended, as that layer was a single color.

From there, I prepped my lye water solution and set it aside. Then mixed up my six sky colorants with a little bit of NS Snowflake Sparkle. Then I walked away until my lye water was cool. I usually make lye water first so its cooling while I fiddle around with everything else, but scraps can really benefit from soaking in oil for awhile. When my lye water was cooled, I returned to the fray to add sodium lactate then divide my lye solution.

I stuck my first layer's oils into the microwave for just a smidgen (15 secs max) and then stick blended again. This gets things even smoother. Then, added one container of lye solution and blended as normal. Poured, textured it. Repeated with the next three layers, with the sky getting the additional step of splitting the emulsified batter in half, adding colorants, and then ITP swirling. Finished the top with some enviroglitter because what's a sky without stars?

Batch #36, 37, 38 - 7 Oil Blend with Mango Puree
View attachment 73264
FOs - Grapefruit & Mint by CS, Mango Sorbet by NG, 8th & Ocean by NS
I decided to be... ambitious and made three soaps in one sitting. I made a big batch of oils and lye solution, which I split each time I started a new soap. Not quite a masterbatch, but the concept was there. Since it's currently mango season, I decided to add some puree from my mango trees to my oils. : ) I've already tried out the lather on these and I see myself using mango puree a lot in the future as the bubbles are nice and I've got a freezer full of the stuff now haha. I considered making these ciaglia soaps as well, but the green/orange soap seemed like a dangerous color scheme and opted to simplify things a bit. Just means I have more ciaglia soap to make in the future...
Top right also has some Turmeric added for color/light exfoliation. Bottom has some Icelandic Kelp and Avocado Seed Powder from my avocado tree. International soap :'D

That's all my CP soap for now. Sorry for anyone eagerly awaiting the results of my meaty soap. Next time

MP Time? : )
View attachment 73267
FO - Goji Berry Bliss by WSP
Scrap soap! I made soap canes using my column mold, beveled bits, and some random end pieces. I embedded them into clear base colored with AC + enviroglitter with some bevels from a previous planetary soap sprinkled in.

View attachment 73268
FO - Brown Sugar by WSP
Hrmm... does this look familiar? I posted my brown sugar soap earlier in the year and I wasn't very happy with it and well, I didn't sell a single bar either lol. I decided to melt it down and make it look a little more like a brown sugar milk tea and less like a zebra.

Wowzers as always! How the heck did you do the bottom one? It's stunning!

 

[Shelley D]

It's by Custom Craft Tools! It's eternally sold out but I stalked and stalked and stalked and finally caught it on preorder in April. I've wanted a triangle mold for ages and I love this one so much


Aw, I'm afraid my greens are not natural. My darker green is Savage Garden and my lighter green is Emerald Green, both Nurture. I'm under the understanding that matcha also turns dirty green and doesn't keep its vibrancy, though I haven't tried it. I simply used green tea as my water replacement and also added loose leaf green tea (which I blitzed in my spice grinder to make a little finer) as an exfoliant.

They are pretty greens though! My green tea attempt was in an olive oil recipe so that did help give it a mellow green color, but I didn't blitz my tea so the bits turned brown.
I do have an organic greens powder mix that I tried to get a darker shade of green to swirl into my olive oil soap but I didn't use much so it was barely noticeable ~ but at least I tried!
My lighting sucks, so I tried to use the sunlight

 

[basti]

Wowzers as always! How the heck did you do the bottom one? It's stunning!

If you mean the MP brown sugar, then it's cut up bits of the former soap divided by color (mostly dark, mostly light, mixed), melted and each poured a little bit at a time. With MP like that, I work in small layers and give a little waiting time before pouring the next layer. I wanted that one to be a little more fluid, so I poured sooner and hotter than usual.

They are pretty greens though! My green tea attempt was in an olive oil recipe so that did help give it a mellow green color, but I didn't blitz my tea so the bits turned brown.
I do have an organic greens powder mix that I tried to get a darker shade of green to swirl into my olive oil soap but I didn't use much so it was barely noticeable ~ but at least I tried!
My lighting sucks, so I tried to use the sunlight

My bits will turn brown over time, too. It did the first time I made that soap.
I really do wish green tea and matcha made a proper green in soap. The matcha that I drink is borderline radioactive in its green. I'd never have to buy green mica again... I could just steal a lil scoop from my pantry

 

[dibbles]

So pretty

 

[SSC Oregon]

Basti, you are a very, very talented soap artist. I love every single one.