Dandelion Zebra Swirl Challenge

Though I'm very new to soap making, nothing kept me back trying this challenge.

The wonders of nature, the unbelievable colors always mesmerize me.
I've seen this picture and wanted this color combination to be realized in soap.

First attempt:  Aurora Borealis aka Northern Lights

 

I used Catherine's (Soaping101) Bastile Soap recipe at room temperature as it was recommended for a slow moving recipe for this technique.
The scent I used is a new one from my supplier - "Aurora Borealis" type. It's simple divine.

There is nothing wrong with this recipe, I've already made 2 batches of soap using it.
But now in the excitement of my first challenge I made plenty of mistakes: (as I'm aware of them so far...)

So I

• need much more experience to recognize emulsification/light trace. This time I did NOT make it and the result is a crumbly batch.
• miscalculated the ratio of mold vs soap batch resulting a flat figure.
• more experience needed to get the same color-mix I dreamed of...
• did not insulate this batch

Here are the results:

The surface of Northern Lights

The surface of this soap was too shiny.

Crumbly Northern Lights

The base color supposed to be black.

 

Second attempt:  Wisteria

The idea of color combination of this batch was the colors of my lovely baby wisteria tree.
It's spring in Sydney. My little wisteria tree already shed its blossom, but I still smell the wonderful  sweet scent of flowers.

My little wisteria in pot.

This time I used Amy's recommendation for a slow moving recipe:

• 35% olive oil, 
• 30% lard,       (replacing lard with sustainable palm oil)
• 25% coconut oil,
• 10% rice bran oil,
• 5% super fat 

The scent I used was a hint of Violet Blossom. Smells just like the flower she got the name of. Sweet, strong and very feminine.

The temperature of lye water and oils was 40 ℃

I was very pleased with the outcome. 

 

Color combination

After cutting.

Ready to cut

 Variation of wisteria theme

More wisteria

Together with the leftovers

Thanks for the opportunity I could be part of this challenge.
There are still lots of things to learn about soap making, photography and blogging as well.

Wishing all participant best of luck.