Nature's Little Treasures: 2015 Soap Challenge Club -- Butterfly Swirl

I found my heart beating just a bit faster when Amy Warden announced that she would be attempting to de-mystify the Butterfly Swirl in her January Soap Challenge Club. I have always been in awe when I see the amazing swirl designs created using the Butterfly Swirl technique but have never attempted it myself.

I was all set to video the soaping process, however things did not proceed as planned. The fragrance oil was added into the oils and once the lye was stirred in, the batter started to thicken up very quickly. I barely had time to blend in the colours. Could this be due to the new recipe that I was trying out? Perhaps it was the fragrance oil that I used?

It was almost impossible to pour the batter into the mold. I practically globbed all the different colours into the mold, banging real hard along the way. By the time I stuck the hanger into the batter, it was pretty stiff. Then the camera d-i-e-d ... shut down on its own. DUH.

The TOP. Now, I had to redo the top 4 times! I had planned for a swirled mica top but it just did not work out with the batter getting so thick and lumpy. Each time I tried to texture the top, it ended up looking so rough and ugly!

In the end, I improvised by smoothening the top as much as I could and popped on some soapy toppers. Aaaahhhh ... much better! Thank goodness for some leftover soap balls from my Rainbow Pop Soaps!

Butterfly Swirl Soap -- #1st attempt

As expected, the soap was riddled with lots of air bubbles. The new recipe however produced a very hard and nice bar of soap with lots of creamy bubbles! OOohhh...I love it!

I decided to attempt this technique one more time even though I knew that I would not be able to submit my entry in time for this month's challenge. This time I used my regular recipe and a trustworthy fragrance oil - Blackraspberry Vanilla from Bramble Berry.