Regency Soaps: August 2013

Soap Club Challenge - Holly Swirl

Hello and welcome to my first blog. I am from Australia and began making soaps about a year ago. It didn't take me long to become a soaping addict! Over the coming months, I'll be developing my blogsite and I'll be sharing all things soapy and hopefully learn a lot from you guys too!

This month's Soap Club Challenge, organised by Amy Warden of Great Cakes Soapworks is a technique developed by Holly from Missouri River Soaps. A huge thanks to both Amy and Holly. It has been described as a swirl within a swirl; it combines an ITP swirl and a drop swirl with quite spectacular results. I am really looking forward to seeing everyone's creations.

My first attempt turned out very well I think. I used a pineapple cilantro fragrance, which behaved beautifully for me. Colours chosen were black, cherry and white, and I decided to add poppy seeds and red jojoba beads to the top layer of white to give some interest and a little exfoliation.

I decided to try another batch - this time with a twist. I divided the batter to make the layers even, deep sea green on the bottom with an apple green and white swirl, and apple green on top with deep sea green and white swirl. For this one I used a blend of citrus essential oils which also behaved well. The bottom layer had set up a little further than I'd have liked, so the swirl in that layer is not as defined as it could have been. Oh well, I'll just have to try this one again! This is a fun technique, but the trick is definitely in the preparation!

Here are some pics of the end results