Beer Soap

So earlier this week, I decided to try making soap with beer. Supposedly the soap is good for your skin, and I thought male/Air Force customers would find it amusing. Instead of boiling the beer like some people online recommended, I just let the beer get flat by leaving it out for a day. However, I did not properly research the fact that alcohol can speed up trace. My soap seized and got so thick so fast, it was crazy. I used a recipe that I've used many times before, so unless it was the oatmeal stout fragrance oil that accelerated trace, I'm pretty sure it was the beer that made the soap seize. I was planning to do a simple three-layered hanger swirl. By the time I got the last layer in and tried to do the hanger swirl, it was like cutting mousse cake, it was so thick. I knew before cutting it that there'd be a ton of air bubbles in the soap.

Overall, it turned out ok looking, aside from the air bubbles. The oatmeal stout FO discolors to a chocolate brown over time, so I left the middle layer unscented and added some titanium dioxide. I'm not sure how much I like the FO, but hopefully other people will like the smell. The FO caused the soap to darken really quickly--the top and bottom were a warm caramel color when I first made the soap and this is what it looks like now a couple of days later:

So the lesson learned from my first attempt at making beer soap: burn off the alcohol first.

On another note, here are some of the other soap bars that I've made recently:

This is a very nice rose soap in which I used the in-the-pot-swirl technique. The batter was a little thick so the swirl didn't quite work the way I wanted it too. I ended up scooping some soap from the bottom of the bowl to the top to try and even out the colors. Overall I am very pleased with how the soap turned out. It smells just like roses (I used this FO), and the dried rose petals I sprinkled on top have retained their color nicely so far. I think this soap will sell well. :)

I also just made another ombre soap using a pomegranate champagne FO. The bottom layer has brick red oxide pigment with just a dash of yellow pigment. I'm worried I didn't mix in the pigment properly, because there were these red streaks when I cut the soap? I'm hoping that's just from the cutting and after I clean up the hardened bars, the streaks will come off. 

Crossing my fingers that planing the soap will do the trick. Otherwise, I think it looks great. Doing the ombre layers was much easier the second time. I'm hoping to do multiple colored ombre soap soon, once I feel confident enough. 

Finally, on a happy note, I made my first sale on Etsy yesterday! I was super stoked since I haven't advertised my shop to anyone. Let's hope it's the first of many :)

First Ombre Attempt

Before Thanksgiving break, I crammed in several more soap loaves so that they'd be cured by Christmas. I attempted the hanger swirl and doing ombre layers (not in the same batch). My first attempt at the hanger swirl turned out decent--see the chai tea soap picture below. I tried it again with an apple scented soap (not pictured), but I didn't pour the layers correctly so my red soap punctured the white soap layer. Boo.

Anyway, I just thought I'd share how the lavender soap is looking now. Fortunately the ultraviolet pigment stands out much more and looks much more purple than gray. I was a bit worried when I first made the soap that I'd have white and gray soap.

Here is a picture of my chai tea soap and my first attempt at the hanger swirl. Everyone keeps saying this soap looks like fudge! I might try attaching wooden skewers to the hanger in the future to get more distinct lines.

Finally, I wanted to share pictures of my first ombre soap! I have to admit that I am very happy with the way it turned out. Considering that it was a small batch, it was extremely hard to measure the right amount of soap for each layer--I ended up just having to eyeball it. Hence, some of the layers in the middle all look the same hah. I did seven layers, starting with a teal pigment. Aside from some small air bubbles, I think the soap looks great, though. Hopefully my future ombre endeavors turn out this good!