Spellbound - The Clyde Slide Challenge

Deciding to enter the September Soap Challenge was a no-brainer!  I love learning new techniques and as soon as I saw we would be attempting the "Clyde Slide", I had an idea of what I wanted to do.

Fall is my absolute favorite season, and I've had this amazing fragrance blend that I knew would be perfect to use right around Halloween. It's a delicious blend of blackberry and cedarwood, with just a hint of patchouli. The earthy, woodsy notes are complemented beautifully by the juicy and sweet blackberry and I know this scent is going to be a huge hit.  

To go with this beautiful fragrance, I decided on some "witchy" colors - purple, green, and black. For all you soapmakers out there, the colors I used were Cosmo Martini (The Conservatorie), Chromium Green Oxide (TKB Trading), and New Moon Black (The Conservatorie).

This soap recipe includes nourishing avocado and hazelnut oils which are both high in oleic acid, so they are readily absorbed and help moisturize and renew the skin. These bars are going to feel great!

After I blended the sodium hydroxide and oils together, I divided the soap into four parts and colored each with it's own color. Then, I began pouring each color into my larger bucket using the "faux funnel" technique.

The fragrance moved much faster than I expected and so I barely got any pictures during the process, but here's the soap right before I poured it into the mold.  

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I had been warned that for best results, the soap needed to be very fluid when pouring into the mold, so I was very worried about how mine would turn out since it had gotten so thick. 

Here's the soap in the mold:

I wanted to add a little bit of magic to the top of the soap, so I added a touch of 24 Karat Gold Mica and did some fun swirls on the top.  

I was in love with how this turned out on top, but I was so excited and nervous to cut into the bars.  Luckily, it turned out just perfect!  My thicker soap didn't seem to be an issue at all and I got some very cool patterns.

I really could not be happier with how these turned out!  I love the smoky-feathery look and the colors turned out just as I hoped.  But, honestly, nothing compares to how good they smell!  I'm going to have to hoard some of the bars for myself...

A big thanks to Amy at Great Cakes Soapworks and Clyde Yoshida at Vibrant Soap for this challenge and technique!

http://soapchallengeclub.com

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UPDATE! 10/5/15 - You can now shop for Spellbound here:  http://thebathbird.com/collections/soap-1/products/spellbound-handmade-soap