Experimenting With Colour

Left to Right:  Powdered Strawberry, Indigo, Alkanet and Brazilian Purple Clay,
Alkanet, Cocoa Powder

These are the results of my experiment on the weekend using natural ingredients to colour my cold processed soap.

My soap batter was made up of the following base oils.  Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Rice Bran Oil & Cocoa Butter.

Into 500 ml of batter I added:

1. 2 tsp of Strawberry Powder - Initially there was a faint smell of strawberry. Four days later, there is no indication of the smell of strawberries, and the soap has turned a light tan colour.

2. 4 tsp of infused Indigo - Initially, there was a pale blue tint to the soap.  However, after four days, the soap appears white.  I don't think this will deepen in colour but will check back in a week.  Most likely, I will need to increase the quantity of infused oil.

3. 1 tsp Brazilian Purple Clay mixed with 2 tsp Infused Alkanet - I'm really loving this colour and I'm hoping this won't deepen too much.

4. 2 tsp Alkanet - Initially there was a very pale pink tinge to the soap but it seems I have completely missed the mark and used too little Alkanet infusion.  At the moment, I can't see any colour tint to this soap.  Back to the drawing boards for this one :-(

5.  2 tsp Cocoa Powder - This is a nice brown colour to the soap.  This one I think will darken over the next few days as it is exposed to the air.

Even though some of the colours haven't turned out how I thought they would, I am really happy with the colours produced and how creamy and complimentary they look all lined up together.

Drop Swirl Design - 1st Attempt

Drop Swirl Design - I see a Jelly Fish

After finally waiting long enough for the soap to finish curing, here is my first attempt at the drop swirl technique.  The addition of clay sped up the trace time of the batter and the colours were 'plopped' in thicker by the end than what I would have liked.  I was also hoping for more distinction between the French green clay and purple Brazilian clay.  Having said that, I really quite like the patterns that were formed especially how there is a mix of solid and wispy patterns.

I'm interested to see what the colours will look like in a couple of weeks.

What Have I Got to Lose?

It has been months since I made any soap.  I guess I could say that I lost track of the time or that other priorities have taken place in my life.  The truth dawned on me last weekend.  Simply put, I have lost my nerve.  Since the end of last year, a few things occurred at work (AKA my non-soapy job) including a large scale restructure which resulted in 217 people being made redundant.  Although I kept my job, it has unsettled me, and I wonder how much longer before I too become redundant.  Until now I hadn't realised how much it had impacted on my life.  I know I have been keeping my head down and grateful that I have not lost my job but afraid to take risks (not reckless).  The redundancies have had a spillover effect into my home life and hobbies / interests.

For so long now, I have been making just honey and oatmeal soap.  Don't get me wrong; I love my honey and oatmeal soap but after awhile my soapmaking feels bland.

Last weekend I forced myself to get back in the saddle after many months of feeling 'lost'.  I felt extremely anxious about making soap and challenged myself to step out of my comfort zone by trying new techniques and blends.

Challenge 1: Drop swirl design using Brazilian purple clay and French green clay as colourants.  Scented, with a blend of lavender, spearmint and vanilla followed by a sprinkling of dried heather on top.

Challenge 2: A blend of sweet and valencia orange and patchouli for that hippy feeling mixed into a batch if soap coloured with activated charcoal and paprika.  Decorated on top with a feathered pattern.

Beautiful pattern on top moments before the clingwrap
 saga coloured with activated  charcoal and paprika.

I actually had panic attacks and many bouts of tears about what could go wrong and made mistakes because of my nerves.

Batch 1 - I forgot to add salt to harden my bars, and I didn't think to blend some water with the clay initially to break up clumps.  The portions of batter that were mixed with the clay started to become a thick trace quicker than the uncoloured batter.  I'm not sure if it was because of the clay or because I only poured my essential oil blend into these portions of the batter.  The drop swirl became more of a plop swirl.

Batch 2 - Forgot to add the Vitamin E.  Placed clingwrap over the loaf mould after making a pretty feathered pattern on top, only to watch the wrap sag and destroy the pattern.

I'm really not sure how these are going to turn out but I feel more relaxed now.