Landscape Soap

This month's challenge was to make a Landscape-inspired soap. My kids have been begging me for some time to make an ocean soap, as I had tried before, but with mixed results. This time, much brighter colors and and a fairly compulsive approach really paid off! :)

Here is my inspiration photo (we're allowed to do seascapes, just nothing not found in nature):

My daughter helped with this one, as it was really hard to keep track of all the colors. And yes, it's really this bright in person! I took more pictures of it, but could only get the colors to look right in two of them. :(

Embeds

I made the cold process sun in a piece of 3/4" PVC pipe lined with freezer paper, taped shut at one end. It's mostly white (TD), with a pinch of True Yellow (link). After unmolding it, I shaved one side flat with my homemade soap planer.

I tried making the birds out of cold-process in dark purple (Soapberry purple, link and black oxide), but they were too fragile to use. So, I switched to melt and pour for them, pouring two in zig-zag folded freezer paper, and the rest as long free-form strips that I shaped by hand. I tried photographing them, but they didn't look like much of anything. And at one point, I almost threw them away, thinking they were leftover scraps!

Ocean

On the same day, using the same batter as the sun embed, I made the ocean using squeeze bottles, inspired by Anne-Marie's Rainbow Squirty Swirls (link):

 

Except I used 10 colors (combinations of the sky colors, below, some mixed with TD and some with brown oxide), as I wanted the ocean to reflect the sky's colors, and to look frothy. I gradually squirted the lighter colors narrower and narrower in the center as the mold filled up, to reflect the sun. (my inspiration photo has a different sun reflection, but I wanted to add some perspective)

I'd say the most time-consuming part of it was actually cleaning out all the squeeze bottles afterward!

A day later...

Sky

To make the rest, I used only four colors, but swirled some of them together to help soften the transitions. Here are the layers, from the horizon up, which were very gently spooned on top of each other:

1. Orange (I *think* it was actually Yellow Lake #6, link)
2. True Yellow (link)
3. Yellow swirled with orange
4. Orange swirled with bright pink (Cosmic Caroline, link + Red #27, link)
5. Bright Pink
6. Pink swirled with purple (Soapberry Purple, link + Red #27, link)
7. Purple

The embeds were dipped in rubbing alcohol and then gently inserted along the way. I was worried I might get air trapped under the birds, so I put them in point down, then rotated some in place.

I don't love the tops, as I think the other colors detract from the sky effect, but I just couldn't bring myself to plane them off!

Recipe & Fragrance

I'm currently experimenting with Soybean oil, not because it's cheap (OK, so that doesn't hurt), but because it's one of the few that can penetrate the skin (link):

• 35% Coconut Oil - $20/gallon from Amazon (for popcorn, link)
• 34% Palm Oil - Wholesale Supplies (link) 
• 27% Soybean oil - Smart & Final
• 4% Castor Oil - Wholesale Supplies (link)

Additives:

• 1.5:1 water:lye - discounted to minimize rivers (link) - DIY pre-mixed
• 1 oz/ppo fragrance oil - Abalone & Sea - Wholesale Supplies (link)
• 0.5 oz/ppo 60% Sodium Lactate to harden bars - Wholesale Supplies (link)
• 0.5 oz/ppo 1:1 Simple Syrup to increase bubbles - DIY (link)

Results

Cool -- I actually won this one! :) $100 at TKB Trading should keep me in colors for quite awhile!