Sweet Inferno

A challenge for me this year, will be to actually submit an entry for each of the Amy Warden's Soap Challenges.  I kind of drifted a bit last year, made some of them but never entered them in time, etc.  I left this one til the last minute, deciding at 10:00 last night to use up that oil blend that I had re-heated several times now.  No time for improvement, but I got it done!

This month's challenge was Hanger Swirls.  I've done these before, some with amazing results!  It's one of my favorite techniques, that's been around for a long time.

This below is Amy's hanger swirl that she did for the tutorial.  So Beautiful!!!

I've been thinking about the swirl all month, and was wondering if I could get my head properly wrapped around creating a heart shape in the center.

So, the plan here was to pour some natural soap in the bottom, and starting with a thin layer of color (I went with red, pink and gray), gradually build up to a wider amount of color.  Then the hanger would go down the center and out to the side, back down the center and out the other side.  I've included a rough schematic of what I attempted below.  I ended up doing the swirl 2-3 times - I lost count.  Maybe getting a heart shape?  If the heart doesn't show up, I'm fine with that too :)

Here are a couple process pictures, showing the batter colors.

The colors are achieved with rose clay and charcoal.  I scented these bars with a combination of orange, sandalwood, jasmine and cinnamon - interesting in a good way!  And, my hangar swirl device is...I don't even know...  Not sure where I pulled it from?  It's metal, and larger than a typical hanger size, not perfect, but it works :)

I had intentions of swirling the top before putting it to bed, but totally forgot!  So disappointed in myself when morning came and I realized...Lol!

Not too promising for a heart shape from the end view. 
Here they are cut...

A lovely swirl, but no heart...looks more like a flame to me?

I may attempt this again after doing some actual research on swirls.  Might be able to figure out a heart, as there are heart like elements in these bars?  Either way, this is a beautiful batch of soap!