SMF March 2017 Challenge- Black Background Soaps

[mx5inpenn]

mx6inpenn, hope all is better soon!

Oh no! I hope you are feeling better soon.

Thanks! Life has a way of throwing you for a loop sometimes. I am doing much better already. I might even manage to get my other batch made afterall. I'm not going to clog this thread up with anything else about it, but will post in the general forum.

 

[leilaninoel]

1.) earlene - Fun, and thank you for posting the challenge early!
2.) dibbles - Had to miss last month and happy to be Back in Black
3.) toxikon - Officially hooked on challenges, bring it on!
4.) Mx6inpenn
5.) BattleGnome - almost perfect for the scent combo I was thinking about using
6.) susiefreckleface -
7.) Soapprentice - perfect for my planned oily skin soap.
8.) amd - I have some men's fragrances I've been meaning to soap with.
9.) penelopejane - Isn't orange the new black? Kidding!
10.) Arimara- *groans at penelope*
11.)TwystedPryncess - I finally have time to play!
12) mommycarlson - why not?
13) jules92207 - black is my jam!
14) Artemis - started planning the soap, almost forgot to enter...
15) Stacyspy - good a time as any
16) Snappyllama - I haven't been able to do a challenge in a while so this will be great!
17) doriettefarm - now I have a plan for some discoloring FOs, Dragon's Blood and Pistachio Macaroon I'm talking bout you!
1 SheLion - oooh, my first challenge! So excited.
19) SunRiseArts I love challenges, because I always learn new things!
20) LunaSkye - Doubt I'll win, but I want to challenge myself!
21) SunWolf - Perfect challenge to get me back into the soapy action!
22) Catastrophe - yay, this term is almost over!!!!
23) Krystalbee - got 2kg of AC at xmas, time to crack the seal.
24) mintle - I hope I will make it this time!
25) leilaninoel - I'm game!

 

[Soapprentice]

I gave a try today and I have to say, I went crazy with swirls.. didn't stick blend this time, hand whisked it... used full water and was able to control trace..

 

[cherrycoke216]

1.) earlene - Fun, and thank you for posting the challenge early!

2.) dibbles - Had to miss last month and happy to be Back in Black

3.) toxikon - Officially hooked on challenges, bring it on!

4.) Mx6inpenn

5.) BattleGnome - almost perfect for the scent combo I was thinking about using

6.) susiefreckleface -

7.) Soapprentice - perfect for my planned oily skin soap.

8.) amd - I have some men's fragrances I've been meaning to soap with.

9.) penelopejane - Isn't orange the new black? Kidding!

10.) Arimara- *groans at penelope*

11.)TwystedPryncess - I finally have time to play!

12) mommycarlson - why not?

13) jules92207 - black is my jam!

14) Artemis - started planning the soap, almost forgot to enter...

15) Stacyspy - good a time as any

16) Snappyllama - I haven't been able to do a challenge in a while so this will be great!

17) doriettefarm - now I have a plan for some discoloring FOs, Dragon's Blood and Pistachio Macaroon I'm talking bout you!

1 SheLion - oooh, my first challenge! So excited.

19) SunRiseArts I love challenges, because I always learn new things!

20) LunaSkye - Doubt I'll win, but I want to challenge myself!

21) SunWolf - Perfect challenge to get me back into the soapy action!

22) Catastrophe - yay, this term is almost over!!!!

23) Krystalbee - got 2kg of AC at xmas, time to crack the seal.

24) mintle - I hope I will make it this time!

25) leilaninoel - I'm game!

26) cherrycoke216 - hope I'll squeeze some time between market and my FIRST SMF challenge!!!

 

[toxikon]

Soap's​ in the mold! Definitely the most liquid batter I've ever worked with. I didn't want a repeat of the thick Ebru batter. Really excited to cut it up in a few days! Unfortunately there will be some chunks of AC in it, I didn't manage to blend it in as well as I could have. Ah well!

 

[queennikki]

1.) earlene - Fun, and thank you for posting the challenge early!

2.) dibbles - Had to miss last month and happy to be Back in Black

3.) toxikon - Officially hooked on challenges, bring it on!

4.) Mx6inpenn

5.) BattleGnome - almost perfect for the scent combo I was thinking about using

6.) susiefreckleface -

7.) Soapprentice - perfect for my planned oily skin soap.

8.) amd - I have some men's fragrances I've been meaning to soap with.

9.) penelopejane - Isn't orange the new black? Kidding!

10.) Arimara- *groans at penelope*

11.)TwystedPryncess - I finally have time to play!

12) mommycarlson - why not?

13) jules92207 - black is my jam!

14) Artemis - started planning the soap, almost forgot to enter...

15) Stacyspy - good a time as any

16) Snappyllama - I haven't been able to do a challenge in a while so this will be great!

17) doriettefarm - now I have a plan for some discoloring FOs, Dragon's Blood and Pistachio Macaroon I'm talking bout you!

1 SheLion - oooh, my first challenge! So excited.

19) SunRiseArts I love challenges, because I always learn new things!

20) LunaSkye - Doubt I'll win, but I want to challenge myself!

21) SunWolf - Perfect challenge to get me back into the soapy action!

22) Catastrophe - yay, this term is almost over!!!!

23) Krystalbee - got 2kg of AC at xmas, time to crack the seal.

24) mintle - I hope I will make it this time!

25) leilaninoel - I'm game!

26) cherrycoke216 - hope I'll squeeze some time between market and my FIRST SMF challenge!!!

27) Queennikki- Sounds like a lot of fun!

 

[Soapprentice]

I have a question guys! yesterday, I made my soap for the challenge. 24hrs later, today, I checked it. It did not zap, went through gel phase beautifully but there were droplets on the part with activated carbon. What causes this? I mean why just the one coloured with AC and not micas?

 

[penelopejane]

I have used activated charcoal many times before with the same recipe but this time it turned brown instead of black! Don't understand it at all

 

[Soapprentice]

I have used activated charcoal many times before with the same recipe but this time it turned brown instead of black! Don't understand it at all

Last time I added less and turned grey, never heard it can turn brown!! Is there a probability that there is vanilla in the fragrance and you happened to add less than required AC resulting in the whiter parts of grey turning brown?

 

[mx5inpenn]

I have a question guys! yesterday, I made my soap for the challenge. 24hrs later, today, I checked it. It did not zap, went through gel phase beautifully but there were droplets on the part with activated carbon. What causes this? I mean why just the one coloured with AC and not micas?

Did you scent only the ac portion? I do this with discoloring fo's sometimes. And on occasion the fo does what you are describing. I've just let it sit and it has always reabsorbed in a day or so.

 

[Soapprentice]

Did you scent only the ac portion? I do this with discoloring fo's sometimes. And on occasion the fo does what you are describing. I've just let it sit and it has always reabsorbed in a day or so.

Nope.... I added fragrance to the oils before adding lye. May be I should specify that I added ac to water and micas to oil.. water is not extra but removed a lil that has to be mixed with lye from the recipe. I will let the soap stay in th for another day or till it gets absorbed I suppose.

 

[beardguy]

I do not qualify for entry due to post count/join date, but can I still participate, ask questions and upload pictures as a non entry ?

 

[newbie]

Please do, oh Bearded One! Everyone is happy to see more soap and it's a good way to play along until you qualify next month. Thanks for joining in.

PS. You would only be able to put pictures in this thread, not the entry thread, which I think you know but I'm saying just for clarification.

 

[newbie]

The AC part turning brown sounds like it has to be something with the FO. Which fragrance did you use and which supplier?

I'm not sure why the black portion would sweat a little compared to the others; one would think the water difference would not be significant. I think it will be a non-issue once it has resorbed.

 

[penelopejane]

Nope.... I added fragrance to the oils before adding lye. May be I should specify that I added ac to water and micas to oil.. water is not extra but removed a lil that has to be mixed with lye from the recipe. I will let the soap stay in th for another day or till it gets absorbed I suppose.

I always had issues with colours until I became pedantic about dividing the water or oil amount exactly for each portion of the soap. So if I took some water out of the recipe to mix the AC I would also take the same amount out of the recipe and add it back to the non AC portion or portions.

AC also needs to sit in the water you mix it in to absorb the water for a little while. This stops spots and or graininess.

 

[penelopejane]

The AC part turning brown sounds like it has to be something with the FO. Which fragrance did you use and which supplier?

Thanks, newbie and soapapprentice. I'll check the FO.

 

[Soapprentice]

I always had issues with colours until I became pedantic about dividing the water or oil amount exactly for each portion of the soap. So if I took some water out of the recipe to mix the AC I would also take the same amount out of the recipe and add it back to the non AC portion or portions.

AC also needs to sit in the water you mix it in to absorb the water for a little while. This stops spots and or graininess.

Interesting, every batch I learn something new. Is that the case for full water as well? Will try it next time. Yeah, I let it sit for 2 hrs before mixing in.

 

[Soapprentice]

The AC part turning brown sounds like it has to be something with the FO. Which fragrance did you use and which supplier?

I'm not sure why the black portion would sweat a little compared to the others; one would think the water difference would not be significant. I think it will be a non-issue once it has resorbed.

Hmmm... Let's wait and see then

 

[Soapprentice]

I do not qualify for entry due to post count/join date, but can I still participate, ask questions and upload pictures as a non entry ?

Oh yes, feel free to post pictures and questions. Always happy to see some soaps and answer/learn from the questions.

 

[penelopejane]

Interesting, every batch I learn something new. Is that the case for full water as well? Will try it next time. Yeah, I let it sit for 2 hrs before mixing in.

I pedantically equalise all portions of liquid in a batch no matter what the lye concentration.

Re AC: I only wait ten mins or so for the AC to absorb water. Maybe you have another problem. Sorry.