Taiwan Swirl

I loved the sweeping swirls of the Taiwan Swirl when I first saw this design. I was excited to see that this was to to be the next soap challenge from Amy Warden of Great Cakes Soapworks.[ http://www.greatcakessoapworks.com/handmade-soap-blog/ ]

Part of the challenge is the cut of the soap. I had two choices - I could use a slab mold which would spread the soap over a greater surface area or use a loaf mold. Instead of cutting the bars across the mold (using my nifty soap cutter) the loaf would be cut horizontally in half and then cut into bars. This would show the Taiwan Swirl on the top layer and on the bottom layer. I must be somewhat challenged in this area as it took me some time to figure it out. . 

The recipe used a higher percentage of olive oil than what I usually use along with some coconut, palm and rice bran oils. I also had some new micas to work with and was pleased with the resulting colors. 

My first batch ended up a little thicker than it should have (I probably stick blended a bit too much) so the colors didn't get quite deep enough in the mold. I really like the color choice of purple and orange and the essential oil blend of patchouli, orange and mint is really nice. I ended up cutting this soap into regular bars with the cutter for a different look.

Purple and orange micas ready to pour for the swirls

The colors did not make it to the bottom of the mold

As usual I am not satisfied with the results of just one try at a new challenge. For the 2nd batch I decided to try the slab mold, but without the dividers so that I could control where the cuts would be. This time I chose yellow, orange and green micas for the colorants with a blend of lime, lemongrass and orange essential oils.

Colorants and oils ready to make soap

Soap cut into two sizes

Next try I used a loaf mold again as I was feeling a little more confident on the swirling technique (which was proving more difficult that I thought it should). This batch would be a rosemary and mint essential oils blended together with light green and blue micas. This time I didn't over blend the soap mixture and I could tell that the color was getting deeper into the mold. Oh, and the kitchen was smelling wonderful with this blend! The color on the bottom layer is lighter in color than the top, creating an interesting difference in the bars.

Rosemary and mint essential oils - Love this blend!

The first few cuts off the loaf mold, oops, miscalculated the first cut and ended up with two a bit larger than the rest.

So now I am having some fun and decided to do one more Taiwan Swirl. I had about 1 oz of Ylang Ylang and blended it with some lavadin essential oil. Oh, so flowery and with a little pink and teal micas should be quite lovely. 

Pretty in teal and pink!

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Definitely a challenge for me considering I had to figure out how to cut the loaves sideways and then into the right size bars. Although I chose a slow moving recipe it thickened a bit in all three batches than I expected and I got air bubbles in a couple batches. Ugh. I do love the design and will do this one again! 

So which of the above three would you have chosen for the Taiwan Swirl Challenge???

Thank you again Amy for challenging us!