Being a creative Soapartisan means to explore one´s boundaries and trying out new techniques.
Therefore Amy Warden has established the Soapchallenge Club where Soapmakers from all around the globe come together to create soaps according to monthly themes and rules.
January´s challenge was to create either salt crystal soap or geode soap (like natures geodes, for example the amethyst geodes).
I am a very big fan of fantasy literature and since the theme for the January challenge was presented I thought about creating a geode soap that resembles the Arkenstone. The Arkenstone is a powerful crystal from J.R.R. Tolkiens book The Lord of the Rings.
The first challenge was to create the crystals of the Geode which had to be made out of Melt & Pour Soap (a soap made which is clear and can be remelted). As Austria is in lockdown at the moment, there was no quick and easy way for me to purchase Melt & Pour Soap, especially since I did not want to use palm oil in my soap (many Melt & Pour products contain palm oil).
The only way to create the geodes was to make the Melt & Pour soap from scratch. What a luck that there are quite a few recipes to be found in the net as well as some very good video tutorials.
My first attempt looked promising but did not get solid as I used to much alcohol in my recipe.
After rethinking my recipe and stepping away from the idea to stick to the instructions (I definitely suck at sticking to recipes or instructions), I tried again with using lard and coconut oil along with alcohol and lots of glycerin for my soap. Attempt two worked perfectly and yielded the desired Melt & Pour Soap.
The result was clear and solid. The melting point of my soap was around 45°C .
After the success with my Melt& Pour Soap I started to melt and color it, using mica powder and glitter. After the soap was solid again I turned on my favorite music (at the moment I am into Studio Ghibli soundtracks, so inspiring and relaxing) and started cutting the soap into gem like crystals.
For the soap that should hold my crystals I decided to use my shea butter soap recipe (creamy and perfect for use under the shower) and try to create an ombre effect with turquoise and pink mica. For fragrance I used palmarosa, ylang yland, patchouli and clove essential oils.
The ombre effect was as always not as easy accomplished as I intended it to be. I totally forgot what a problem clove esential oil could be in soap. I started out with emulsion but after adding the fragrance trace accelerated and my batter was getting thick very quickly. However, if I have learned something from the last challenges ( and Douglas Adams) it was: don´t panic!
I stuck to my plan and started pouring (or shoveling 🤣 ) my soap into the loaf mold). After the soap was solid enough, which did not take long in my case, I shaped the top in to a rounded shape according to the guidelines. I tried not to be to precise as geodes in nature are everything but not symmetric.
Afterwards I covered the top with mica and started to place my crystals, fixed them to the cold process soap with a bit of leftover Melt & Pour soap and sprinkled the top with glitter.
The result was pretty awsome if you ask me 😁.
I really enjoyed doing this technique. It allows you to combine many different design elements and the results look very neat. Making my own Melt & Pour Soap was a milestone for me, as it provides me with new design opportunities in the future.I will definitely use this design again.
Since we also get to participate in the bonus category I also did an attempt at the salt crystal soap.
For this soap I used my almond oil cacao butter recipe (along with the salt crystals the soap will be great as peeling soap, or for scrubbing away dirt after a day gardening) , lots of spirulina powder for coloring and Himalayan pink salt in different coarseness colored with golden mica to create the crystal effect. CPOPing my soap yielded pretty halos around the salt crystals. The name of the soap is Gaya like the Greek goddess of the earth.
Thanks to Amy Warden for hosting this challenge, the Bubble Support Team for the very helpful insights in both techniques and Creamy Obsessions for sponsoring this months challenge! It is always a pleasure!
I’m automatically amazed that you made your own melt & pour base! Still on my bucket list! Excellent job pushing forward with your misbehaving soap batter. If you didn’t say so, I never would have known! It’s a gorgeous ombre, and the crystals look fantastic sitting there on top. Congratulations on your success!!
Thank you Amy!
Eine wunderschöne Seife sehe ich da. Super gemacht!!!
Herzlichen Dank!