Soap Challenge February 2017: CP + MP

I had so much fun last month I just had to do it again! This months challenge was to combine cold process soap with melt and pour soap.

The soap I made didn't quite turn out the way I had it in my mind, but I love how it turned out!

My Master Plan

In my mind I was envisioning a drop swirl. Into the white CP base, I would pour the CP first, and follow that with the MP of the same color in the same location. What I was hoping to get was a translucent shimmery swirl nestled inside the opaque CP swirl. With a clear differentiation between the two.

How it Went Down

I used clear M&P soap and Energy fragrance oil from Bramble Berry, micas from Mad Micas.

 The MP soap got melted down and color was added.

I mixed the CP base to just an emulsion and poured off into individual containers.

CP and MP were alternated along the same path until all the soap was almost gone.

Cold Process

Melt & Pour

A swirl was added to the top with the rest of the soap.

The Reveal

What I ended up with was amazing, although not what I had been hoping for. There was no clear differentiation between the CP and MP swirls, I have a feeling that it was because I made my MP colors too dark and didn't leave it clear enough. It was quite challenging to manage EIGHT different cups of soap, especially with the MP which I had to keep fluid, so considering how it turned out it would have been way easier to just do MP swirls and not the CP with it. Oh well...that's how we learn!!

Soap Challenge January 2017: Collaboration

UPDATE: We got 4th place in the contest!! We were out of prize contention, but still, not bad for our first time!! Check out the winners here, and to see all the entries, click here.

I used to make soap. I used to sell soap. I took a long break from making soap and now I am making soap again.

After I made that first simple batch in October I was hooked all over again! I started joining groups on Facebook, watching YouTube videos, and revisiting my favorite blogs and realized that soapy creativity had soared since the last time I had made soap. What I saw was pretty amazing and I knew right away that I had to get back in on that action!

I found that soapers were frequently mentioning the Great Cakes Soap Challenge, so I knew I had to take a look. I found it just in time to sign up for the January challenge and because there was the option, I signed up for the two months after that as well.

The January challenge was all about collaboration. I asked my bestie, Rachel, to work with me on this challenge. We ended up making seven batches of soap in that weekend and we had a blast doing it. It was a hard choice, but this is the soap we decided was the winner...

The technique is called the Dancing Funnel Swirl. I had watched several YouTube videos about this one and knew we were going to have to give it a try. I think is is fantastic for having been our first time!

Here is a recap of our soapy weekend collaboration:

Of course, no one wants to soap on an empty stomach, so a pizza delivery was required! Yum!!

Don't worry, we cleared away all the food before we got started! 

Soaping supplies out and ready...

 Rachel mixing up the lye water and measuring out the oils...

Me scooping out the coconut oil...

A few of our first tries...

We saved the best for last.

Here is Rachel pouring the soap to mix the colors:

My turn (I, of course, had to do the pink!)

Rachel's turn (She did the purple and teal)

Ta-da!!

Our only regret was that we didn't have a third person there helping us take the pictures. What you don't see is that we each had two squeeze bottles in our hands and taking turns squirting the soap into the mold. It was quite entertaining, but definitely hard to get great photos!!

All of our soaps resting...

We made a lot of soap!!

Finally, the unveiling...

And all cleaned up...

We totally thought these looked like something from Dr. Seuss, so we are calling this soap, "Seussical Swirls"!

This soap challenge was a blast and I am so glad that my first challenge ever was the Collaboration Challenge! I am super excited and already have ideas swirling around in my head for next month!