Tuesday, February 18, 2014

February 2014 Great Cakes Soap Challenge Club - Embeds

I'll start by sharing that I've never tried cold process embeds before. I have tried M&P once and liked the results, but making the embeds ahead of time and switching into "M&P mode" in my head requires planning - something I'm not the best at.   So I was excited to try this challenge with cold process embeds.  I didn't have a super hard bar recipe or small silicone mold that I trusted enough not to ruin my embeds by sticking, cracking or (more likely than not)  just never hardening. I've had that happen before! so I used two 4 lb loaves instead. One loaf was used as embeds and one was used as the base.

My recipe was the same for both, a moisturizing blend of olive, coconut, organic sustainable palm, avocado, cocoa butter and castor.  I added tussah silk to my lye water and a touch of cream to the soap base.

Here is the soap I used as the embed ~  The fragrance is Love Spell, a clean fragrance that blends with so many others. It was a bulk purchase a year or so ago and I wish I could remember who the company was because it's softer and more rounded than some I've smelled.  The colors are a blend of ultramarine violet, ultramarine blue and a touch of black mica.  The gold is heavy metal gold - all from Bramble Berry.



I cut this bar on the vertical into 1/4" slices. I then lined the left side of my loaf pan with these slices, but I alternated them blue/purple on top, gold on top.  I hoped this would give some interest and make it more geometric looking.

I held the stacked embeds in place with a sheet of plastic while I slowly poured the TD lightened base around and over the embeds.  After pouring, I let it set up a bit and then removed the plastic sheet. I was SO worried that the stacked embeds would all fall sideways and I'd end up having to line up slippery soap coated embeds again.  I got lucky - they held perfectly and my loaf went into a cold oven with the light on overnight. 

This is the final result - the base is scented with BB's Citron et Figue, a favorite of mine that sadly isn't available any longer on the website.  Maybe it's a seasonal Holiday fragrance?  If you know, please post in the comment section or I'll continue to hoard and ration my bottle. 













Once again, another great challenge learning experience.  Please check out all the other awesome entries at Great Cakes Soapworks    A big thank you to Amy Warden 
 for this month's challenge. We appreciate the time you put into these challenges and the knowledge we gain from them!   Until next month ~      Suzy/Spoonbridge Soaps

34 comments:

Fresh Made Soap said...

This is really beautiful Suzy. I love it. -Michelle Ulmer

Unknown said...

Thank you, Michelle ! I was worried it was a bit plain, but sometimes simple is good.

Amy W said...

So pretty!! I do love the geometric design!

Unknown said...

Thank you, Amy! I'm going to keep playing with CP embeds - I really did enjoy this challenge.

Pooja said...

Very unique !

Unknown said...

Thank you !

Diva Prirodna Kozmetika said...

Oh I like the contrasted colours top it looks like a mosaic. The embeds make this soap very unique. Well done,Suzy!

Anonymous said...

I love your soaps They are simple but so stylish!

Unknown said...

Thanks! It's a simple soap, but I like the way it turned out.

Unknown said...

Thank you! I'm pretty pleased with this one. I'd still like to try Amy's hot process in the microwave recipe though. So many cool things to do with embeds!!

Unknown said...

Unique and beautiful! :)

Unknown said...

Beautiful pattern....This turned out fantastic!

Katy said...

Stunning design and colors. Love it, Suzy!

Unknown said...

Thank you, Tricia !

Unknown said...

Thanks, Janet ! I was happy with the depth of the blue/purple and how it stood out against the white.

Unknown said...

Thanks, Katy !!

Simple Pleasures Handmade Soap said...

Beautiful colours, very elegant!

LatherBeSoaping said...

How cool! I love how the embed soap turned out, Suzy. The original is stunning, too!

Anonymous said...

How elegant! IThe first soap is great looking but the embed one looks beautiful and tones down the "bling" factor.

Unknown said...

Thank you! I'm pretty pleased with this one and am up for trying CP embeds again.

Unknown said...

Thanks, hon !! I bet you're looking forward to warm weather and running - this has been a brutal winter.

Unknown said...

I agree, the first was a bit too dark for me, but embeding it in the white made a difference. I was so worried the embeds would crumble when I cut it, but I was lucky this time. My soaping is still 90% luck and 10% skillset, but I'm learning !

Zahida said...

This is so beautiful and your embed soap is gorgeous too!

Cris said...

I love your sophisticated look!

Unknown said...

Love it! Clean design, minimalist, yet so elegant! I agree sometimes less is more.

Unknown said...

Thanks, I might do things a bit differently if I had it to do again, but I enjoyed the process !

Unknown said...

Thank you, Cris !!

Unknown said...

Thanks, Coqui ! This soap is more "me" than some I've made. I'm a bit of a neat freak and like organization, although I don't always meet my own expectations. This is an "organized" soap to me :-D

The Soap Hag said...

Brilliant! I love the design and color choices! Just beautiful.

Anne-Marie said...

Your soaps are absolutely stunning. I really like the way the heavy metal gold looks in contrast with the blue =)

Unknown said...

Thank you! I love your name *big smile* - so clever. Thanks for taking the time to comment, it's appreciated!

Maitri said...

I wish I'd thought of that! Clear and concise, just beautiful.

Victoria
http://maitribathbody.com

Unknown said...

Thanks, Anne-Marie ! Do you recognize the BB micas?!? I have to say I expected some bleeding but there was none.

Unknown said...

Thank you, Victoria ! It's a simple design, but I'm happy with the way it turned out. I've done M&P embeds before, but never CP. I'd like to try Amy's HP embed method too !