Saturday, September 29, 2012

When Pretty Things Go Wrong...

I have been wanting to soap with Brambleberry's "Berry wine" fragrance oil.  It reminds me of this mulberry fragrance that I just to store in my first car to make it smell nice.  oh the memories :) LOL!

So I got all my oils and lye ready and proceeding to mix my colors for my color scheme.  I decided to use a recipe that produced a light color bar the last time I soaped with it.  Olive Oil, Sunflower, Coconut Oil, Avocado Oil, Shea Butter and Castor Oil to help with suds :)

I used my column mold once again and decide to split the batch in half to color.  One side with titanium dioxide to make it much lighter and white and the other side a dark pink.  I poured them at the same time (making sure that my flexible divider stay put).  I then removed the divider, twisting it side to side to add some swirl and then using two skewers taped together to swirl it some more.  I was pretty happy with my results.  I liked the color :)




So I safely put it away and let it do it's "thing" :)

This time I was patient and waited an additional day to try to unmold it to make sure it was ready.  I also added some sodium lactate to the lye mix to help make it a harder bar.  It unmolded pretty well and it smelled greattttt!!!  I started to cut it and imagine my surprise when I noticed that the white side looked a little weird.  I got worried because I thought maybe the lye did not dissolved correctly.  I tested it for zap (that's when you rub some water on the soap and then touch your finger with the soap to your tongue.  If it's lye heavy it will feel like you are liking a battery! :)  Lucky me it's only happened to me once :)

No zap, which meant it was OK...So off I run to my favorite Soap Forum "Teach Soap" and ask the question? " What did I do wrong?"

Well so far I have learned that the titanium dioxide did not mesh well with the soap mix and with the soap gelling as well that may have taken it a step forward.  I can still use it...it just looks weird...not so pretty :(


Well...I guess it's part of the learning process :o)

Thanks for checking out the blog and happy soaping!
Roxana

10 comments:

  1. It still looks great Roxana! You never know, the glycerin rivers might not be as noticeable after cure. I see so many blogging about the new BB mold, seems like it's a big hit already!

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    1. HI Laura!
      I am hoping that as it cures it may settle a bit :)
      I am loving this mold for sure. I keep thinking of different color schemes to do. :)
      Thanks for posting!

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  2. I love round soaps! That pink color is so gorgeous, and I still think your soap looks pretty even though it wasn't what you were expecting. My TD tends to crackle too, so now I make sure I put those ones in the freezer :)

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    1. Hello! Thanks for posting and for the compliments. I also liked how pretty the pink color came out, and that why I was so disappointed with how the TD crackled :(
      But now I know that when I use it to try to stick in the freezer or fridge :)

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  3. Beautiful colour and I really like the swirl!

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  4. I think the soaps still look great, Roxana. The pink is so pretty, and the crackled TD looks kinda cool! I usually mix my oxides (including TD) with a bit of liquid glycerin first before adding it to my soap and that's worked out pretty well for me.

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    1. Thanks Jenny! I started trying out the glycerin lately and it seems to be helping some. I am also have them go in the refrigerator right away :)

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  5. I love how it looks Roxana! I can tell you exactly what happened to the white side! This is TD marbling which happens when a soap containing TD undergoes gel phase. The only way to avoid this is to put the soap in the freezer to avoid gel completely. I personally love the marble look! And it is 100% safe soap!

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    1. Thank you Heather! I keep peeking at it everytime I walk by. It looks pretty cool and can't wait to try it out. It smells pretty good too! I do need to learn to be a little more conservative with my TD :)

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