I did two experimental pours of the lump of coal soaps. I did a clear base and a .25 oz white base in 2 oz of clear, to make it a little solid. It gives a neat look to the soap when mixed and has a better gloss than solid white base in my opinion. Anyway, like I mentioned in a previous post, I put the play doh in varying spots in the ghost molds to keep the soaps from looking the same and to keep the pumpkin design covered. I did the two pours and let them set. When I removed them from the molds the play doh was still gooey. (Usually it dries out really quickly and I use it for a stopper if I have a lollipop mold that I’m using for soaps.) The moisture of the soap rehydrated the play doh. Lesson learned! Anyway, I worked on removing the slimy play doh and it has left the weirdest texture behind. The second part that makes this an epic failure is that after 26 drops of black dye I only managed to get the soaps to grey. *pouting* Usually I only add like 3 drops of dye to 2 oz of base! The clear soaps took the color better, but it is still a dark grey. *sigh* If I put more dye, I run the risk of the color bleeding onto any surface once wet or even dying the skin of the user. I’m chalking this round up as a loss, since I could never sell them with the possibility of color bleeding and knowing the gross residue/texture that was left behind. Back to the drawing board. I think I’ll omit the play doh, but still use the ghost mold. I’ll do the pours and then whittle on each soap with my Xacto knife, to make each one unique and resemble coal a little better (it’s soap, so I’m not going to try to get too realistic). I’m just not sure about the dye issue. I suppose I’ll have to mix some colors to add to the black. I’d like to do the quarter white base, but white bases make colors soften into pastels, which still happened with the black in such a small amount of white.
Thankfully the scent is good, though. A strong licorice with just a hint of something else. It’s hard to distinguish, even for me, that there is vanilla in it. You can pick up just a slight different note though.
Lots of work still to do, but at least I learned a few new lessons. It’s still a disappointment and adds some stress, since I wanted some ready for the event at the end of the month. I think I’ll just make sure I make some easier products, like ones I’ve made recipes for and tested, to have on hand.
I’m off to package the last of the cancer ribbon soaps. *happy dance* Have a great day!
Georgia's Pampering 