Embedded circles cold process soap

My adventure with cold process soap embeds. :)

This is the soap I used for embeds:

being cut in circles:

My new batch of soap with the embeds:

 

 

And here are the cut bars:

 

 



 

Thanks for watching! :)

 

 

Update:
The soap was submitted to Saponifier's 2015 Design Mania contest and was selected as the winner of the 'Embedded Circle' Soap Design Technique!

 

 



Cold-process Soap Gemstones 3 - agate

Here is another one cold-process soap - purple agate. It was made very similarly to my other gemstone soap - Botswana Agate.

I used squeeze bottles to fill the mold:

 

After that I spun the mold clockwise, using the spinning swirl technique.

 

Here are some pictures of this soap after being cut:

 

 

 

Thank you for watching! :)





Fordite (or Detroit Agate) - handmade soap

This is my cold process soap called Fordite. It was prepared for the April Soap Challenge Club, but I changed my mind and decided to go with another entry (you can see it here). Both of these soaps were made with the spinning swirl technique. I was really amazed at how unique each bar of soap looked!

or this way:

Fordite, also known as Detroit Agate, is not actually a gemstone at all. It was formed from layers of paint over several tens of years, in factories that painted automobiles long ago. Especially in Detroit, and hence its name. :) Recently, Fordite has been recycled as eco-friendly jewelry.

Mini Dessert Soaps - Soap Challenge

Here is my entry for this month's soap challenge. In my 3 out of 4 recipes I used cocoa powder ( I cannot live without chocolate!), and the 4th recipe is made with half and half.

 

Rose cupcakes.
They are made from cold-process soap, not whipped. I am pretty happy how they turned out. :)

Here are some pictures of the process of making two tone CP soap cupcakes.

The 1st layer of soap spread on saran wrap:

The 2nd layer on the top of it:

I rolled the saran wrap into a log:

Then I inserted it into my piping bag. For the rose pattern, I used Wilton 2D decorating tip:

Coffee and Caramel Mousse. The coffee beans are also made from soap. :)

Chocolate butterfly (made from CP soap):

 

I found an image online of a butterfly and printed it out to create a template. Then I placed a piece of parchment paper over each image and creased them down the middle:

 

I could still see the outlines of the butterflies and then I began to pipe my chocolate soap over the outlines:

 

That's where I rested my soap butterflies so that they'd dry in 3D:

 



 

Mandarin slices dipped in chocolate.

My inspiration for this dessert was these simple yet yummy Salted Chocolate Dipped Mandarin Slices, from this blog post. The slices as well as the chocolate are made from M&P soap.

 

 

 

Cold-process Soap Gemstones 2

Lately I've been experimenting with making slightly translucent CP soap, and I decided to create a soap that would look like agate. Apricot Agates are banded agates that are mostly mined in Botswana, Africa, that's why they are usually called 'Botswana Agates'. They look like this:

(source: pinterest)

 

To make the soap, I did a faux funnel pour in 1 spot in the mold, using squeeze bottles. Here is what it looked like:

 

 



 

After all the soap batter was poured, I spun the mold clockwise. You can learn more about the spinning swirl technique by watching this video.
I forgot to take a picture right away (oops!) and took it only after covering the mold with plastic wrap:

And here are my cold-process soap gemstones! I spritzed them with alcohol for a shiny finish.

After that I prepared another batch of soap called Malachite. I poured the soap batter differently but also used the spinning swirl technique. Here is how the soap looked in the mold after being spun:

After being cut:

I hope you enjoyed looking at my new gemstone soaps. :)

Cold-process Soap Gemstones

I made this soap in February and have been told that it looks like a gemstone, something like malachite.

Since then I knew I had to make cold-process soap that would resemble gemstones. At first I picked onyx and here is my cold-process soap called Onyx:

 

After that I prepared a soap called Fordite and planned to submit it as my entry for the Soap Challenge, because I was using the spinning swirl technique to create it. But I changed my mind and decided to go with another entry. I haven't taken pictures of the fordite soap yet.



soaps by Steso

I am so excited! I received a wonderful gift from a very talented soaper and my friend Tatsiana! (here is her blog). She sent me 6 of her handmade soaps, all of them are amazing.  Each soap is nicely wrapped in a matching box.

Here is Tatsiana's Lavender soap with 15% mango batter:

This is her castile type soap with 95% olive oil and 2% olive leaf powder,  with the addition of goat's milk. The soap is scented with a blend of essential oils: cypress, peppermint, marjoram, basil, grapefruit and lavender.

 

This one is made with calendula petals, it smells and looks truly fantastic!

 

 

Here is another rimmed soap, this time it's all cold-processed. It was created in our "duel" with Tatsiana where we challenged ourselves to make a cold-process rimmed soap. This one is scented with vanilla:

And another rimmed soap - the rim mimics the look of crocodile skin. This bar of soap is made with kelp powder and it's scented with a blend of essential oils.

The 6th soap is made with an unusual recipe: 55% extra virgin coconut oil, 25% mango butter and 20% shea butter, superfatted at 18%. It is unscented but it smells very nice. I love its look too! I am really curious to try this one.

But that's not all! I've also received this amazing soap cutter made by Tatsiana! It is designed to cut soaps made in slab as well as log molds.

 

It's wonderful, isn't it?

P.S.
P.S. You can read about our meeting with Tatsiana and see a few soaps which we made together here.

Cold-process rimmed soap

This soap was created as a result of a "duel" between me and my friend Tatsiana. For our "duels", we choose a difficult soap technique and kind of compete with each other who can do it better.

Never in my life I had seen a cold-process soap with a CP rim, I was not even sure it was possible to make anything like that. So I "threw a glove" and suggested to Tatsiana we both try it.

Here is my result, a CP soap with a double rim:

 

Now I know it's possible! But I admitted that Tatsiana had won that duel. :) Here you can see both of her wonderful soaps she prepared for it:
http://bysteso.blogspot.com/2015/03/blog-post.html

I received the vanilla one as a gift from her! It looks fantastic and smells delicious!