Learning to Slide

I've been busy making some custom soap batches the last few weeks, so I used the opportunity to try out a swirling technique that's new for me. If you haven't seen any videos by Clyde at Vibrant Soap, you are missing out on something really special! He has a superb eye for color, and gives lots of great advice about developing your own "vibrant" color choices for your soap.

Clearly I need a little schooling on obtaining truly vibrant colors, but it's his unique take on swirling that I'm infatuated with. And I'm not the only one - Amy Warden's soap challenge is featuring the "Clyde Slide" for September. I'm not a participant - not yet! - but I took a stab at the technique and these are my results.

On top we have a batch of lavender (all essential oil) soap using some new micas from Mad Oils. Here I used Guava Lava and Tempest micas. The pink is very soft and feminine, but wish I'd used more of this incredible purple. These are gorgeous micas and fun to work with. I had to dig in with a spoon and give it a spin because my batter got a bit thick...too much stick blending is always a No-No! It wasn't much of an issue, and I think it came out looking pretty cool. I'll definitely be experimenting with the "sliding swirl" alot more - it's too darn fun!

Below, I got a much better "slide" but only used two colors. It reminds me of a zebra stripe. This time I used my new Deep Rose mica from Be Scented, and Blackstar Blue mica from TKB. The rose mica is so beautiful, but again, I should have used more. I'm perpetually afraid of getting colored lather - do I need therapy?! This soap is going to the Renaissance Festival next month for the wine and rose celebration. It's a true white wine soap and scented with a blend of Rosebud from Mad Oils and Chardonnay from WSP. It smells amazing! The rose base is perfect - rich and natural and the chardonnay adds a fruity pop. I'll be keeping a slice of this one for myself for sure!

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