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9/24/2018

Bubble, Bubble, Toil & Trouble

10 Comments

Read Now
 
Amy Warden's Soap Challenge Club is back after a brief hiatus, and that means another fun soaping adventure.  This month's tutorial is entitled Mini Drop Swirls, and I have tried to create this look before without success.  However, the lesson she provided helped me to understand the process better, and I really like the final product.
So, with Halloween approaching quickly, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to make a slimy, drippy soap to add to the fun we have with the celebration.  Amy showed the drips using various colors, but I really wanted to make a goopy looking soap and decided, for my first batch anyway, to go with a solid purple dripping into an orange background, something similar to the image below. 

I forgot to take pictures during the making of the soap, oops!  Therefore, you will get more words than pics, sorry about that!
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The purple was achieved by infusing half of my oils with alkanet root and straining it out before making the final soap batter.  The orange was infused with annatto seeds and, again, strained out to make the rest of the batter.

I added the lye to each of the oil mixtures at the same time, one third purple oil base and two thirds orange oil base.  I stirred and stick blended the mixtures to an emulsion and then put the purple batter into a condiment dispenser.  With this first batch, I just used the tip on the containers, since they are fairly long, and thought I would see how that went before adding more length to it.

I poured the orange two thirds into the mold and got the purple ready.  The idea was to get the tip into the batter at the appropriate depth and then squeeze the purple out slowly as you move the dispenser from one end of the mold to the other, lengthwise.  It is somewhat tricky to get the tip of the dispenser into the base before the purple started to ooze out, but I did it without too much difficulty - once I decided to just do it. 

I did three or four lines, trying to put them at various levels in the orange batter.  When I was done with those lines, I started layering lines of purple on the top, covering up the orange that kept peeping through.  The end result was a solid purple top, which I wasn't sure if I wanted or not - it looked a bit plain.

Unmolded and cut the next morning, and I absolutely love the result, it is exactly what I was going for!  Sometimes I amaze myself :)


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The second batch I made using this technique was inspired by the same thought, oozing slime.  These bars were made directly after the orange and purple bars, and I wasn't sure if my technique was good or not, since I couldn't cut them to see the result until the next day.  So, I decided a couple of things.  For one, I thought that the orange bars were too small - the batter did not fill up the mold so I was afraid that I did not have enough space at the bottom to really separate out the drops properly.  So, I added more oils to give it more depth.  And, I changed the colors to green (using chlorophyll at trace) and yellow (using annatto infused oils) drips, hoping to give the "slime" a more realistic look, with the yellow "highlights".  I made the background black this time, hoping the green and yellow would have a nice contrast with the darker color.
The results of this batch were pretty, but not at all what I was going for.  After cutting and looking at each batch, I like the size of the orange and purple bars better.  I may end up cutting these bars in half.  The yellow contrasts nicely, but the green did not get bright enough.  I do have to say that the top of these bars are perfect CSU Rams colors!!!

Now, in this second batch, I used a straw attachment added to the tip of the spout on the condiment dispenser.  The drops probably would not have made it deep enough without the additional length the straw provided. 
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 These drops also ended up being quite a bit smaller than the first batch.  However, I think that it has more to do with the amount of pressure applied and the speed in which the line is drawn.

Here are pictures of the final bars from this second batch.
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10 Comments
Amy Warden link
9/26/2018 10:51:12 am

Excellent documentation and really great job on your soaps! When I was attempting the suspended drops, I always felt like I needed to move fast and not squeeze too much, but I think slower is better to really get the drops to pool. These will be great for Halloween!!

Reply
Taralyn
9/27/2018 05:28:04 pm

Thank you Amy! And, yes, I agree about the speed at which you move. These drops turned out perfect for the idea, quite by happenstance. And, the green and yellow are better smaller I think, but I didn't really know that going in. Happy Day that they turned out well - that's not always the case :) Great for Halloween!

Reply
Danielle Levenson
9/27/2018 02:36:03 pm

Beautiful job on this challenge! I love the way your drops are suspended!

Reply
Taralyn
9/27/2018 05:29:36 pm

Thank you Danielle! It worked beautifully the first time around and I didn't have to rework it and put more thought into it - which is good, because I was pushing the time limit for the original deadline :)

Reply
Debi Olsen link
9/27/2018 04:36:20 pm

Taralyn, this is so amazing! You created exactly what you were going for (I just love it when that happens!) and you absolutely nailed the technique! Such a fabulous soap that couldn't be better for Halloween and the Challenge!

Reply
Taralyn
9/27/2018 05:30:28 pm

Thank you Debi! I loved yours as well :)

Reply
Holly
9/29/2018 11:48:24 am

These are just beautiful! I love the colorants you used and they're so pretty in your final soap! I really enjoyed reading about your entire process, too! :)

Reply
Taralyn
9/30/2018 08:55:08 am

Thank you Holly! This was certainly a fun challenge!

Reply
Juli3
9/29/2018 02:15:51 pm

Perfect drops and I love the orange color!

Reply
Taralyn
9/30/2018 08:49:27 am

Thank you Jul13! Yes, I love this shade of orange made with Annatto too :).

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    Taralyn

    Colorado Artisan, making beautiful hand-crafted soaps with all natural ingredients.

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Our soaps and body care products are handcrafted the old-fashioned way, in Boulder County, Colorado by your local Soap Making Artist, Taralyn.  Small artisan batches allow for considerable attention to detail during all stages - soap making, hand cutting, six week cure time and hand wrapping - an extensive journey that nurtures the formation of the perfect bar of luxury soap.  And to make it even better, we will deliver to your door!  Shop by Signature or Artisan, by scent families, ingredients or by name.  So much to explore!  Check out our collections today!
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  • Home
  • Soap
    • Soap of the Month
    • New Year New You >
      • Winter 2025 Collection
    • Signature Series Soap Bars A-Z
    • Signature Series Literary Inspired
    • Artisan Series Soap Bars A-Z
    • Soaps by Recipe/Ingredients >
      • Specialty Recipe Soaps >
        • The Bee's Knees
        • Coffee Bar
        • Gardener's Companion
        • Gentle Face Bar Argan
        • Gentle Face Bar Almond
        • Shampoo
    • Soaps by Fragrance Family
    • Soaps by Fragrance Source
    • Limited Edition Bars A-Z
    • Limited Edition Soaps by Collection
    • Cleaning Time!
    • Bargain Basement
  • Man Cave
  • Bath & Spa Accessories
  • Nourish
  • Say It With Soap
    • Wedding Soap Favors
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