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Saturday, July 13, 2013

2013 Soap Challenge ! -- Mantra Swirl

This month's soapy challenge is the MANTRA SWIRL technique.
Amy Warden (Great Cakes Soapworks), the creator of The Soap Challenge Club, taught us 2 different mantra swirl techniques. I opted for the advanced / modified mantra swirl technique to enter for the challenge. I love this technique as it showcases the swirl on different sides of the soap when cut.
I used Amanda Griffin's slow-moving recipe, replacing rice bran oil with olive oil and shea butter with mango butter; and Cranberry Fig Fragrance Oil from Bramble Berry. MeiMei suggested that I use Yellow, Pink and Green for the 3-colour technique of the advanced / modified mantra swirl.
So, after watching the various videos provided by Amy (numerous times!); I finally felt "confident" enough to embark on my new swirly adventure.
Preparation: (clockwise) mold with dividers, hanger with chopstick taped to it, 1 tsp colour pigments in 1 Tbsp olive oil, Cranberry Fig FO, Mango Butter and blend of Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Avocado Oil and Castor Oil.

I wish I had remained calm enough to snap some photos of the soaping process. I was home-alone and was battling a fast tracing batter with impossible dividers! HA!

Earlier, I was feeling pretty proud of myself for diligently taping down the dividers to the mold - very securely ... then I realised when it was time to remove them that they would not budge and ended up cursing and scratching madly at the "invisible" tape to pull them off !

When they (the dividers) were finally removed, I had to bang the mold several times to smooth out the surface and immediately ploughed my hanger contraption through it. Next was the mantra swirl on the top - was I supposed to do a "S" or an "8" ??

This was the aftermath of my soapy war ...





Pretty happy with the result, I sprayed the top with rubbing alcohol and placed a piece of cardboard over the top of the mold. 2 hours later ... quite horrified to see tiny bubbles on the surface of the soap! urgh!


The soap was unmoulded after 2 days and cut. I fell in love with it instantly! WOOHOO!!

DAZZLE !

Kiddos and I decided to call this - DAZZLE! ... cool lah!


12 comments:

  1. Nice pure bright colors! Nice!

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    1. Thank you! The colours turned out better than I had expected ... phew! :D

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  2. Wow! Love the bright, bold colors!! This was NOT an easy technique, and you did it beautifully! Well done!

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    1. Thank you Amy! Couldn't have done it without your guidance! I watched your video a zillion times! :P

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  3. Dazzle is right! I love your choice of colors. I have had that same soapy aftermath as well...

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    1. Thank you Cris! We had a massive brainstorm ... it went from "Tropical-something" to " Tango" to "Disco" ... so glad we've found the right name for it! HEE! :D

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  4. OMG, I love how your mantra swirl turned out. I know you were a bit nervous, but I think all the time and effort put into this soap really made it just perfect! =)

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    1. Thank you Anne-Marie! I am getting soapy addicted to this adrenaline rush! haha!! :P

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