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A Daffodillian Disaster

Daffolidish? Daffodilesque? Daffolidic? I don’t know, answers on a postcard please πŸ˜€ What I DO know is that I won’t be soaping with Daffodil fragrance oil again any time soon!

It’s been a while since I participated in one of Amy’s challenges over at Great Cakes Soapworks so I decided to give the December challenge a shot. ‘Cos of course I’m not reallyΒ really busy with Christmas Fairs at the moment, oh no, not me…

Having decided to sign up for the challenge (which, by the way, I have done for the last goodness knows how many months but not actually managed to make anything in time) I also signed up for a new idea Amy’s organised, a Soap Swap. I really love trying other soapers’ creations, but if I’m honest I think my main motivation for signing up was to make sure that I actually entered the challenge. Once I’d commited to swap my soap with another contestant, I knew I couldn’t just ‘not get round to it’.

The challenge this month was to make a soap using the spoon swirl method. This is something I’ve done many times before, and which I knew needed no fancy equipment other than the usual, plus a spoon. And Amy’s excellent tutorial video confirmed that yes, I did indeed already know how to do this one. So far so good.

I took a moment to decide on which fragrance to use. I didn’t want to use any of my regular range, as they have fixed designs, none of which is a spoon swirl. So something different, something that could, possibly, become part of the range if it turned out fantabulous. I opted for a delicious daffodil fragrance. First mistake. Using a new-to-me fragrance for a challenge / swap soap was not one of my greatest decisions.

I melted the oils and butters that needed it, then stirred in the liquid oils, and the fragrance oil. I chose three lovely micas which I thought represented daffodils perfectly, and combined them with a little of the melted fats. I know many soapers add the powdered mica directly into the soap and stick blend it in, and it works just fine. I keep meaning to try that but I guess I’m a little stuck in my ways!

Prepped Micas
Prepped Micas

I usually soap at room temperature, so I used some pre-prepared (water discounted) lye solution, and there you have my second mistake.Β  Knowing that floral fragrances have a tendency to accelerate, I really should have used the full recommended water amount.

Anyway, you can probably guess what’s coming. I slowly added the lye solution to the fats and immediately it started to thicken. There wasn’t a lot I could do but, knowing that I wasn’t going to get another opportunity to make a challenge soap by the deadline, I carried on, managed to get a bit of colour mixed in, and squished it into the mould.Β  I DID then spoon swirl it. I really did! If you look closely at the pic below you can see where the spoon moved within the mould, but it’s not really that clear πŸ™

Daffodil Spoon Swirl (honest!)
Daffodil Spoon Swirl (honest!)

Oh dear. My poor swap partner.Β  Sam – if you’re reading this, I will send you a bar of this one (it does smell lovely!!) but I’ll also send you one of my more successful soaps!

0 thoughts on “A Daffodillian Disaster

  1. I have had a similar experience with freesia FO. Yet, your soap turned much better than mine and your colors are pretty. One thing I like in soaping though is that no matter the design, a good soap is a good soap and there is no changing this πŸ™‚

    1. Thank you Maya – that’s very kind of you! It smells good anyway πŸ™‚

  2. I think your soap is still pretty, Vicki! I’ve been there, though. I’ve had glorious plans dashed by a misbehaving FO. It’s disappointing, but the soap still usually turns out pretty enough, even if it wasn’t quite what I wanted. Have fun with the swap!

    1. Thanks Jenny! Hope my swap partner sees the funny side lol πŸ™‚

  3. I am sorry for your troubles but I must say that I greatly enjoyed your write-up!

    1. πŸ˜€ Thank you Amy – appreciate you stopping by!

  4. Ditto on all of the above!!! Stinks to have a misbehaving fragrance, but the soap is still quite good!! πŸ™‚ Congratulations on getting your soap done in time too!!

    1. Thanks Amy, was really good to get back on the soaping wagon, so to speak. Roll on the next challenge!!

  5. Honestly, while I was reading the post I expected to see real disaster… However, the soap you presented is far away from that! I can imagine your frustration because I recently had experience with FO discoloration which made me so sad and disappointed.

    1. Ah Gordana, that’s so kind of you, but it’s also very far away from what I intended. Oh well, like you say, we’ve all been there! I’m sorry you’ve been disappointed recently too.

  6. Sigh, we’ve all been there with misbehaving FOs, I feel you. πŸ™‚ While the design is not obviously a spoon swirl, it is a lovely looking soap, and I am sure it smells awesome! πŸ™‚

    1. You know what Silvia, if there’s on good thing I can say about it, it DOES smell great lol πŸ˜€

  7. Thats happend to my my first time using vainilla !!! But your final result looks great ! Abd I’m sure Sam going to be happy with that soap ! :0) … you teach simething today about put a little more watter when I use floral fragances … thank you! And congratulation because you were on time for this challenge again

  8. Your soap looks good! I was expecting to see air pockets, which to me, I get upset about when I use a fast moving FO and I can’t get all the air gaps out. I was wondering how well this technique would work with fast FOs since I like to use thin trace. So, I am grateful for your post!

    1. Thanks πŸ™‚ I banged the mould SO hard on the kitchen floor in the hope of reducing air pockets and I got most of them out – there are one or two in other bars though. Thanks for reading, I’m glad it was helpful in some small way!

  9. It might not have turned out as you were thinking, but it’s still a very pretty soap and the colours are complementary to your scent. I’m sure your swap partner will be thrilled with it.

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