December 2019 Un-Challenge - New to You
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The_Emerald_Chicken
Well-Known Member
This is quite cool. Is it a funnel pour, @Curtis ?
Beautiful lace...it adds such a simple but elegant touch.I gave myself one weekend to go crazy with the Un-Challenge before I get serious about holiday prep and then take off for Arizona for a week. It’s been wonderful to see the soaps others are posting. I am always inspired by the creativity!
My first un-challenge was to make color blocks for all of the blue micas I have. This was my “be more disciplined” challenge! The micas are all from Nurture. I added 1/16th teaspoon to 55 g of batter (just under 2 oz). That’s less than half the recommended amount for Navy in the upper left corner, which is probably why it looks grey. I used that mica at a higher concentration in a soap I made this past summer and it was fine. For Baby Blue in the lower left corner, I ran out of batter, so that one is more concentrated with the same amount of mica in 20 g of batter. I used that one in a soap I made recently and it went green due, I think, to an FO that Is a bit yellow. My base recipe for the test blocks was made with GV tallow, lard shortening which has a wee bit of soybean oil, and CO, OO, and castor oil. I left them unscented.
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With the blue test blocks done, I moved on to use an impression mat I bought during the summer, but never used. I selected Klein Blue (upper right corner) as a base color and added a small amount of TD to a portion of uncolored batter for the lace. I haven’t cut it yet, but I’m really pleased with how easily it came out of the mold and how easy it was to remove the mat. The scent is White Lily and Aloe from BB which is new to me and known to accelerate, but not discolor. I successfully avoided disaster by soaping at 90F and adding the fragrance at trace. I switched to my Bastile base recipe for this soap. Unfortunately, the blue looks a lot more grey than it does in the test block. I suspect the culprit in the color shift is the RBO (5%) I used to up the linoleic just a tad. Even with the addition of TD, the soap in the lace is verging on tan. I don’t like to use a lot of TD, so I guess I will be relegating the RBO to darker soaps for the future.
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More to come! ETA: Here’s the rest of my Un-Challenge results.
First, the cuts of the lace soap:
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for this next one, I used BB’s Apricot Freesia FO and a new to me mica called Summer Crush from Nurture. The FO does not accelerate or discolor. I was hoping for a nice apricot color from the mica, but no luck. I used the same recipe as above, which has 5% RBO. It’s not quite the dreaded flesh color, but almost. Perhaps it will cure to a better color. If not, I will be sticking to a very white base in the future.
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Here’s my last soap for the Un-Challenge. It’s my first attempt at making a marbled soap. Same base recipe as above, but colored with rose clay from BB at 1 tsp ppo. Note to self: the base recipe did not affect the color of the clay... the FO is a custom blend of BB’s White Ginger and Amber (80%) and Wild Rose (20%) that I call “Desert Rose.” I used what I thought was a ton of mica, but it hardly shows up in the soap. I poured a bunch of layers that I did not allow to set and dusted each with a continuous layer of mica. The intent was to have each successive layer break through the mica and batter layer below to produce highly uneven layers accented by mica. I think that part was somewhat successful. Out of the mold, I cut blocks of soap from the loaf and then cut horizontally through the blocks. A lightbulb came on as I was doing that. I think I should angle the layers a bit the next time so that more of them are cut when I make the horizontal cuts through the blocks. Or, I should find a YouTube video that shows the right way to make a marbled soap. In any case, the texture of the soap is perfect and I think it will clean up nicely.
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Thank you @dibbles for this fun Un-Challenge and for your always inspiring soaps!
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atiz
Well-Known Member
@Mobjack Bay, that lace is beautiful! I also have one of these impression mats that I have never used -- maybe I should try it, I just always worry that it'll be a mess. But I just love everything about that lacey soap .
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Thank you@Mobjack Bay, that lace is beautiful! I also have one of these impression mats that I have never used -- maybe I should try it, I just always worry that it'll be a mess. But I just love everything about that lacey soap
. I put off using the mat for a long time for the same reasons. It turned out to be easy and not messy based on the method I used, which was similar to what she does in this YouTube video, except that I used a loaf mold:@SoapSisters I love your soap. It’s very modern looking with those crisp edges between the colors.
I put the soap into squeeze bottles and layered the soap that way. There is a YT video titled DIY Circles, I copied that method.
Geeky.mama89
New Member
MarnieSoapien
Well-Known Member
Here's a picture of my first attempt at mica lines. I used Raspberry and Vanilla FO, added a little TD because I couldn't remember if the FO discolored. The pink is Terra Cotta mica. I was worried about my batter being too thin and breaking through the lines but I think I let it get too thick. Maybe I should watch a video... I think it turned out pretty well for a first attempt.
atiz
Well-Known Member
Thank you
@SoapSisters I love your soap. It’s very modern looking with those crisp edges between the colors.
Ah, this is very helpful, thanks! I totally would have done it the wrong way without watching this
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Jamielynn
Member
Wanted to try a few hanger swirl techniques. Bottom layer made with circular hanger swirl through entire layer. Second later I took the hanger through two times horizontally only (thought I would get a different look). White layer; then top layer with a thicker batter swirled together. This is unscented goat’s milk for a family member with fragrance allergies. I’ll have video on insta at some point soon @latheringlotus
Happy Holidays
Happy Holidays
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Carly B
Well-Known Member
@Jamielynn That's beautiful.
Considering how I imagined my soap would turn out and how it actually did, this is an epic fail. Even though it is not the same as my pictured ideal, I sort of like how it turned out. New to me was layers, using stout as my liquid and using TD. I've always been a get 'er done utility person for soaps until I found this website. So having anything fancy is a big production. The stout I used was called Rasputin's Revenge. It lived up to it's name! It seemed to take forever to stir the lye into the liquid and I couldn't find my stainless strainer so just kept stirring. I was doing HP and it was the first time that I almost had soap on a stick. The stout maybe? It started to get very stiff but never got to the greasy mashed potato stage. I went ahead and did the zap test and it was definitely soap. So I quickly stirred in the yogurt and FO, then took some out to add the TD. That was supposed to be just a bit lighter but more of a tan color. Obviously I added more than I needed had to add some more of the darker brown or it might have been white. Then my notes said to add a quarter teaspoon of AC to the brown and it instantly turned gray. I hurried to glop it into the mold, tossed the lighter portion on top...tried for a swirly design on top but it was already too stiff. I cut it within two hours. The FO is Barnwood and the colors seem like they were
deigned for it. However, I was disappointed as I cannot smell any of the FO in the soap, but both my husband and daughter can. Goes to show you that scent is very personal.
I may have time for another first before the end of the year. But if not, at least I have some of my soaping firsts done. Thanks to Shereen for reminding me to use my wavy cutter. I love the look, especially with this soap.
deigned for it. However, I was disappointed as I cannot smell any of the FO in the soap, but both my husband and daughter can. Goes to show you that scent is very personal.
I may have time for another first before the end of the year. But if not, at least I have some of my soaping firsts done. Thanks to Shereen for reminding me to use my wavy cutter. I love the look, especially with this soap.
violets2217
Well-Known Member
Next I tired an activated charcoal with embeds. I had so much soap cured I shedded a bar! It was fun, but next time I’ll probably add more shredded soap. I just wanted an AC face bar.
The_Emerald_Chicken
Well-Known Member
@Jamielynn That's such a great looking soap!
I had a few things I wanted to try. So I made three batches of soap, all coloured with TD, lavender & blue ultramarines.
And all scented with Lavender, Patchouli, Orange & Geranium because one was an order for a B & B, the other 2 for me.
I wanted to try Ione's swirl from Eve's Garden Soaps. So the small one I did as exactly as I could to hers. That was a 16 bar log mold.
After I did the 16 bar mold I knew I wouldn't want to do my 28 bar mold that way. Too nerve racking! So I wanted to try to get a similar effect in an easier way. This I did by doing an ITP but didn't swirl it at all in the pot. When pouring I did a lengthwise back and forth motion from end to end and then did only the first 2 hanger moves that Ione's does. I liked this
even better!
For the 3rd batch in a 28 bar log mold I did an ITP swirl but instead of swirling in the pot with a spatula I swirled with a large ss wire whisk.
And all scented with Lavender, Patchouli, Orange & Geranium because one was an order for a B & B, the other 2 for me.
I wanted to try Ione's swirl from Eve's Garden Soaps. So the small one I did as exactly as I could to hers. That was a 16 bar log mold.
After I did the 16 bar mold I knew I wouldn't want to do my 28 bar mold that way. Too nerve racking! So I wanted to try to get a similar effect in an easier way. This I did by doing an ITP but didn't swirl it at all in the pot. When pouring I did a lengthwise back and forth motion from end to end and then did only the first 2 hanger moves that Ione's does. I liked this
even better!
For the 3rd batch in a 28 bar log mold I did an ITP swirl but instead of swirling in the pot with a spatula I swirled with a large ss wire whisk.
I LOVE your soap!! Thanks for your explanations. I'm going to try too.
Jamielynn
Member
Thanks!
Love them! Another thing to add to my soaping Bucket List. I should have never joined this group! You (collectively) have waaaay too many great ideas for me!
I haven't been inspired. The holidays depressed me since I lost my mom and dad in rapid succession in 2018. I did see something I might try. Sorry for the bummer post. Just really feeling it this year and miss the forum.
