In January 2008 I had this urge to re-visit to my 'Whipped Soap' method after a long time away from it. I have had some ideas going through my mind from time to time but just kept putting them off.  A friend suggested I showcase my own creations on my website in a 'gallery' environment so here it is and here are some of my new work.

My other interest is photography, you will see some of my techniques I am developing to add more interest to the soaps.

Simply 'click' on the thumbnail to enlarge the photo.

Whipped Soap

'Chocoffee'

I wanted to create a cube shaped bar of 'Whipped' soap with multi layers using a new technique to fill the mould cavities. I had some Brambleberry fragrant oils gifted to me from Jude & Dave Birch of AussieSoapSupplies  They had been sitting in the cupboard for about 9 months and this seemed the ideal time to use them. The FO's Chocolate (rich dark)  Turkish Mocha and Vanilla Select. The white layer has no fragrance at all. I wanted to keep it stark white.

These cubed whipped soaps were made in a divider mould.  The soap had set firm enough to remove from the mould box while still embedded in the dividers. I placed the soap and dividers into a plastic bag, sealed it and then into the freezer for a few hours.  The bars then slid out nicely. I used a small sharp knife to clean up the sides where they get a bit smeared when sliding off the dividers. It also cleans up the design to show cleaner edges.

The whipped soap was even soft enough to do a swirl on the surface to give it a great finish.

Whipped Soap

'Rose'

My next cubed soap is was using 'Rose Geranium' essential oil.  Virtually the same procedure as the 'Chocoffee' but I changed the way I placed the different colours into the divider mould to achieve a marbled effect. The 'Hot Pink' is intentional as I wanted a good contrasting deep pink with the other colours.

The silver 'cashous' I used were leftovers from some truffles I made at Christmas time. They made for an interesting prop. I like the way they reflect the other colours.

Whipped Soap

'Sea Moss'

This is square flat soap made in one of my divider moulds which produces 9 square shaped bars. I used Brambleberry's 'Sea Moss' I chose this FO specifically because I wanted to create a green/blue/yellow and white soap and what better fragrance for these colours and more importantly it won't discolour the soap. I achieved nice bright clean colours in this bar which I am particularly happy with the swirl technique I used with the whipped soap.

Whipped Soap

'Streamers'

I made up some plain coloured soaps and finely shred them. I took some of the white whipped soap from another soap I was making and folded the shredded colours into the white whipped soap. It was surprising just how much of the shredded soap you can fit into a small amount of white whipped soap. The soap reminds me of brightly coloured streamers floating in the air.

I packed it into 6 of my mould box cavities. My mould box has 15 cavities so this method is versatile. I can have several different colours and fragrances all from a single batch of whipped soap going into the same mould box.

Cold Process

'Testing Lily Stamens to Colour CP Soap'

Here's the 'Cold Process' soap I made last night testing the yellow stamens from my lilies growing in my garden. I collected them in a small jar then steeped them in vegetable oil for two weeks. It's a nice fresh lemon yellow but will it last ? I put a couple of bars away and checked on them occasionally, I can report they are fading after 4 weeks, the yellow is now a creamy lemon but they still look ok..

I also wanted to make 'cube' shaped soaps. I think cubes look cool but it was one of my customers who asked if I could make her a set of dividers to produce cube shaped soaps so I made myself a trial set. The soaps are on the large size they weigh in at approximately 190g that's 6.7 oz block. I could cut it down in size but I would lose the cube effect and I like this size. The dark green thin line in the centre of the soap is a mix of green mica and some blue ultramarine to make it darker. This is lightly sieved onto the surface, not too much or the layers will separate.

Some may think that cube soaps are not comfortable in the hand when showering, but not everyone rubs the soap over their body when showering. My wife is one of those people, she rubs the soap onto her natural sea sponge or face washer first. She said the cube felt comfortable in her hand.

Whipped Soap

'CupCakes - Whipped Soap'

I've had the cupcake bases made for some weeks now, I have been waiting until I finished piping the designs I wanted to decorate them with. These are made in 3 stages. First you make up the bases in CP or Rebatched soap. I then made piped the coloured decorations. After a few days these are firm enough to handle. I then made up a fresh batch of 'Whipped Soap' to pipe the rosettes on the surface of the CP bases, this gives the cupcakes height. I then added the decorations into the still wet whipped soap then left them to firm up.

I have photographed them on a black background which intensifies the colours in the photo. I have added 3 closer views so you can see more of the detail. The bases are vanilla and chocolate fragrances. I did not fragrance the second piped layer, I left it plain so I can be guaranteed that they won't discolour from the fragrant oils. I used 'Neon Colours' for the brighter shades and cocoa powder for the chocolate.

Cold Process

'Chai Tea'

This is one of those 'Cold Process' soaps that didn’t quite go to plan but turned out acceptable after all. The downside is when these ‘creative accidents’ happen, its very difficult to repeat them because of the uncontrolled process.

I wanted to make a white layer on the base, uncoloured and un-fragranced to guarantee it kept white, I figured by fragrancing the top ¾ of the bar you wouldn’t notice any difference. I’ve done that before so I knew it worked LOL So far so good. I placed the log mould aside to set a little and to work on the swirl.

I knew BB’s Chai Tea will turn brown so I was going to use that to my own advantage. I used the BB Chai Tea FO in the remainder of the mix. Split the mix in two and added Titanium Dioxide to one half. This would give me a lighter brown colour so when I swirled the two halves together I would get a two tone brown swirl.

It was then I wanted to do the ‘Thin line’ layer on the surface of the white layer which had firmed up by this stage. The gold mica I used didn’t exit the little sieve uniformly, the mica looked a little ‘greasy’ ? it seemed to hold together more than my other mica’s and this is where I started losing time trying to get an even layer. Frustration started creeping in.

Some swearing at this stage and the decision to leave the thin gold layer as it was and get on with the swirl. By the time I poured the half mix with the TD incorporated into the bowl with none I find that the mix with no TD had firmed up more than the half with the TD in it…
 

By this stage I was moving fast and more swearing. I finished pouring the two together and using spatula gave it a quick swirl/fold/stirring then dumped it into the log mould. Crossed my fingers, cleaned up and thinking all the while I had stuffed it up. I went back to it after ten minutes and surprised to find it still soft enough to texture the top?

It gelled and set up nicely. I cut it the following morning and was totally surprised with outcome. Even the gold showed up nicely (in places) I’ll take it LOL The soap smells great and lathers nicely. The soap God’s were nice to me that day.

Cold Process

Rose Geranium - Lemon Myrtle - Patchouli 3-2-1

I thought I'd make a big batch and split it in 3. If that wasn't bad enough I wanted to do layers with the thin dark line separating the layers. I was only going to use EO's. I have about a dozen 100ml (4oz) bottles so I thought it was time to use some up. I have never blended EO’s before so this was a first also. Luckily I blended before I started to mix the soap.

My girls think its lovely :-) smells very 'Rosy' but when the warm water hits it the Lemon Myrtle bursts out. The Patchouli is hardly discernable but it must be in there somewhere LOL my nose is not as educated with EO's as most of you other soapers, I don't often use EO's.

The top half was supposed to be pale sugar pink but the Lemon Myrtle is so yellow, being so old and strong it changed the colour to apricot. This Lemon Myrtle I bought a few years back directly from the grower at a very reasonable rate, he now sells for triple the price :-( But it's good stuff, thick oil and yellowish. I use Lemon Myrtle in my salad dressings, cheesecakes, I've flavoured custard with it and used it in homemade mayonnaise to have with fish, it was like a 'tartare sauce' scrumptious. I'm currently making some chocolate truffles for Christmas lunch but its too warm to play with the chocolate this month so I'll leave it till its closer to Christmas.

Cold Process

Patchouli - Aniseed - Menthol is 3-2-1

Its still fresh I know but its coming over a little strong in Aniseed to me. I love eating aniseed :-))) Maybe when its cured for a few weeks it may be different? Maybe I should have done it 3-1-2 with the little extra menthol or add another portion of Patchouli.

The top half of this soap was supposed to be a pale mauve/violet but the nasty colour I purchased in liquid form didn't do what it was promised to do, its now down the plughole, I emptied the whole bottle so I don't make that mistake again and I won't purchase colour from that supplier again. I'll use my good ole trusty Ultramarine. The base of the this soap was coloured with a tiny smidgeon of 'Green' from the 'Neon' range of colours. As the soap dries out more each day it has turned into the faintest green colour. Not 'in ya face' at all :-) I did just use a little.

The thin dark line is apple green mica with ultramarine blue mixed in to darken it. Its turned out a really nice emerald green. I place the mica in a small round plastic container and stretch a piece of my wife’s pantyhose over the top then tap it onto the surface of the soap layer. I like my lines wavy not straight so I let the soap firm up then stir it up to roughen the surface then sprinkle the mica. I only use it sparingly, I don't want to risk a separation of the layers. You can use the same technique with oxides or coloured clays.

Cold Process

The soaps unmoulded like dream, the plastic laminate just peeled away leaving a mirrored surface. My dividers slid out nice and easy also leaving lovely smooth sides. I wasn't fussed on the colours at that stage and the patterns on the sides were a bit cloudy because I had to push the dividers into the layered soap and the process tends to drag the thin line downwards. I left them till the next day and the colour had cheered up. I decide to use my soap plane remove a very thin layer, extremely thin. I have one of my soap planers set up to remove the tiniest amount of soap, just enough to expose the pattern underneath. The beauty of making the planers yourself eh? LOL