Stargazer Lilies

Wait, where are the marbles?

When I first heard the name of this technique ("Mantra Marbles"), I thought: cool, marbles! What are we going to do with them? I had visions of dropping them into the pot, or rolling them around in mica oils or something. It turns out this is a linear mantra swirl with a catchier name, and it is pretty cool!

Amy was very clear that we had to stick with her guidelines or I would have centered the swirl rather than having it on one side. Something about the lack of symmetry with this technique makes me itch to move the swirl to the middle. :)

Here was my inspiration, the incredible Stargazer Lily:

 

BTW, it took all my willpower not to make the speckles!

I created a palette somewhat similar to my Spring Wreath soap, as it's one of my favorite color combinations. The color sequence is: pale pink - dark green - light green - pale pink - dark pink - bright pink - dark pink - pale pink - light green - dark green + the plain side of pale pink.

Recipe

I'm still liking Soybean oil, and am not sure why it's not more popular, as it's properties are excellent. Perhaps if we called it just "Soy", minus the "bean"? "Lard" is even worse, though! How about these names, for the sake of marketing:

• 32% Coconut (minus the "Oil") - $20/gallon from Amazon (for popcorn, link)
• 32% Soy (minus the "Bean Oil") - super cheap, from Smart & Final
• 32% Tallow (aka lard) - also super cheap, from Walmart
• 4% Ricinis (aka castor, minus the "Oil") - Wholesale Supplies (link)

So that makes it Coconut-Soy-Tallow-Ricinis soap. Sounds very "skin-loving" to me! :)

Additives

• 1.5:1 water:lye - discounted to minimize rivers (link) - DIY pre-mixed
• 1 oz/ppo fragrance oil - Black Raspberry & Vanilla - Nature's Garden (link) - love this one, as the fragrance is lovely, it doesn't accelerate trace, and it doesn't discolor (so it clearly doesn't actually have ANY vanilla in it!)
• 0.5 oz/ppo 60% Sodium Lactate to harden bars - Wholesale Supplies (link) - BTW, working on some experiments with this for slowing trace; more later
• 0.5 oz/ppo 1:1 Simple Syrup to increase bubbles - DIY (link) - going to try corn syrup in another experiment

Colors

• Pale pink: Cosmic Caroline + titanium dioxide + Soapberry purple
• Dark pink: Soapberry purple + Cosmic Caroline
• Bright pink: Cosmic Caroline + 82nd Avenue
• Dark green: Chromium Oxide Green + gold mica
• Light green: the dark green + titanium dioxide + True Yellow

I was very happy that this soap took third place, as I there were so many pretty soaps and I didn't expect it!