Combing techniques - soap challenge

I've been working on my soap combing techniques as part of the Great Cake Soapworks Soap Challenge. This soap was one of my first attempts at a combing type swirl. The whole batch is scented with Brambleberry's "Ginger Ale"  fragrance oil, which smells amazing and gives you all the time in the world to play with it.  I prepared 5 different colors of mica plus some titanium dioxide.

I separated my batch in half and poured the colored soap differently into each mold:

 

Then I swirled, using a simple comb made with cardboard and bamboo skewers.

1st mold:

2nd mold:

 

I liked the swirls of the first soap better.  Here is a closer look at it:


Soap Challenge Club - Combing Techniques

I was really excited to participate in this month's soap challenge, because combing techniques produce such beautiful swirls. Besides, I love to learn new techniques, and I had so much fun with this one!  I made my soap comb with cardboard and bamboo skewers. I prepared 6 different colors of mica plus some titanium dioxide.

 

In marbling, this is called a Nonpareil pattern (nonpareil means “without equal” or unique in French). To make it, you have to take your comb and draw it gently through the soap batter from left to right.

This is a Chevron pattern, made by bisecting the lines exactly in the reverse direction:

 

Finally, I took my wide-spaced comb to make a wavy pattern:

 

Here is the resulting look of my soap while it's still in the mold:

 

This soap is scented with Brambleberry’s Sensuous Sandalwood - a very nice, sexy, woodsy smell. I love it!

 

I’m really pleased with how the soap turned out, and believe the earthy colours match the scent perfectly. Thank you Amy for the challenge, I want to play with this technique more!