#lemonverbena #DNA/HelixSwirl #coldprocesssoap
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
First, we are going to give a shout out to +Rustic Escentuals in Roebuck, SC. They are the best!
We ordered new mica colorants last Thursday with this colorful challenge in mind, and on Friday a mere 24 hours later they were in my kitchen. We didn't take a road trip this time; our friendly UPS driver delivered them in record time. Honestly, service that great is just exceptional, and we wanted to give them a special THANK YOU!
Unfortunately with Alison being under the weather and my making lots of cheesecakes, today was the first time we were able to use the new colors. They are great, they mix easily, and they are vivid and bright, but more about them later.
Alison tried the last DNA helix swirl and now I am going to have another go at it trying not to repeat beginner's mistakes (all the junctions need to match up and the S swirls should be the same size).
Lemon Verbena is the scent of choice today, and we kind of mixed up two different scents. One, the Yankee Candle type, is from +Bramble Berry, and the other, simply called Lemon Verbena, is from +Rustic Escentuals. Together they equal nirvana.
A wonderful combination of scents.
Using some of the new colors from +Rustic Escentuals, Robin Egg Blue, Clementine Pop, Ooh La La, and Pistachio Micas. The TD comes from +Bramble Berry. We tried to get colors opposite each other on the color wheel.
1 tsp. of each colorant mixed with 2 tsp Safflower oil.
Yay! I remembered to add the scent!
Tried not to mix this batter too much. The oils we used are: Olive, Coconut, Shea Butter and Castor.
I added Tussah silk to the lye/water to give the bars extra sheen and luster.
Filled the bottles with about 1/2 C batter each, added colors and shook to mix them together.
I poured the remaining non colored batter into the slab mold, then quickly applied
random squirts of all the colors, back and forth, no pattern just lots of color.
Next the individual lines of color went in. They are supposed to be wider squirts of color. Unfortunately the batter was noticeably thickening, so I had to shake the bottles repeatedly to get batter to squirt out.
Once I had squirted in the individual lines of colors, I did a linear swirl up and down the lines. Starting with the skewer on the top side (either side can be considered the "top") of the mold, I pulled to the bottom through the colors, made a tight/close U turn, and then drew the skewer back the other way as close as I could get to the first pass, trying to make as many passes, as close together as possible.
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kind of like that!
Once all the back and forth lines are in, you make the Helix swirl which is basically a large loopy S back and forth with the swirls meeting in the middle of the S's
And here is how the helix (lazy S swirl) looked.
We did get better in centering and matching up the junctions.
The colors are terrific, so bright and vivid.
Close up
The dividers are in place and this batch will go to the curing box until tomorrow.
We've discovered this swirl technique leaves us with left over batter in the squirt bottles.
It's too thick to squirt, so we spoon it out of the bottles and make small soaps in a silicone mold.
Very colorful small soaps.
The fun part was being able to swirl them....a lot!
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Flash forward 24 hours and we have cut and unmolded the soap.
These small soaps are crazy looking, but they smell heavenly, and I know some people who will love them even if they do look like they had a bad color day.
The finished, more professional looking bar of Lemon Verbena.
Once cut it's hard to see how intricate the design was.
Lemon Verbena will be cured the week of March 25.
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