Just got this drop swirl done in time for this month’s soap challenge!

Bamboo Charcoal & Clay Drop Swirl

The base was made with coconut oil, olive oil, shea butter and mango butter. I used bamboo charcoal and red and yellow clays for the swirls. The soap was scented with a blend of grapefruit and patchouli essential oils.

The bamboo charcoal was a special gift from the talented Maya of Infusions. I am so excited about how charcoal came out; I didn’t use very much and still had a beautiful design!

This was the first time I have done the drop swirl and I am hooked! The technique is easy but looks great. I am looking forward to seeing all the other drop swirl designs.

I tried a mica oil swirl for the first time on the top of the soap. I used Ruth’s tips for this technique. I love mica swirls too!

Mica Oil Swirls

I have also been busy making a lot of plain soap over the past month. I have to do a project for one of my graduate statistics classes this semester, so I was somehow trying to work in soapmaking just to make it fun for me. I was so happy when my project on dreaded orange spots (DOS) was approved by my professor! He really liked the idea and even suggested more factors to study.

I am using Kevin Dunn’s DOS study as a starting point and was also fascinated by the results of Anne-Marie Faiola’s study.

So far, I have made 24 batches of 100% olive oil soap. I am studying how various factors affect the onset of DOS in soap. DOS is typically very frustrating for me but now I carefully inspect each of my Castile soaps, hoping to see an orange spot in some of them. Crazy isn’t it? 😀

100% Olive Oil Soaps

I will reveal more details in a future blog post. Stay tuned!