Saturday, May 25, 2013

Mantra Swirl

I have been looking forward to trying this swirl technique.  The "Mantra Swirl".  If you are not familiar with this technique here is a good tutorial from Soap Queen that you can try Three Color Mantra Swirl

I picked my three colors.  I wanted a really nice bright color scheme and here is what I came up with.  The lighting isn't all that great since I was soaping at night.


I was doing really good I tell you.  I was going on my merry little way.  Added the cardboard dividers to my mold and carefully poured my soap.  It was right as I was doing my swirl that I noticed something was VERY WRONG.


I am not sure if you can see, but there is NO LINER.  I forgot to wrap the mold with a liner!!!  So there I was, admiring my beautiful Mantra Swirl and debating whether I should pour the soap out of the mold and just mix all the colors together or take a chance and figure out how to take the soap out of the mold later.  I decided to wait.  I wrapped up my soap and put it to bed.

I debated on how to take it out.  I even Google it to see if there was anyone else that had done this before as well.  Apparently I'm the the first to do this dumb mistake, and why I'm I not surprised!!!

So I decided to take a thin carving knife and carefully separate it from the sides.  It worked!  Well, not as clean as one would expect but at least I was able to take most of the soap out of the mold.  I did end up with a lot of scraps, which I will use to decorate future soaps.


In the mean time I can't help but admire my first Mantra Swirl.  The colors came out very nice.  I used a dupe fragrance scent "Chance". It's one of my favorite perfume's and I was happy to find that Natures Garden carried it.  Here are the final bars.  Not bad :)


I really like this technique and will definitely try it again...but next time WITH A LINER! :o)

Thanks for checking out my blog!



HAPPY SOAPING!!!
Roxana


15 comments:

  1. Oh no! I would have cried :/ But you got a beautiful soap. I tried to do my first (modified) Mantra swirl last week and I had manjor troulble with that one.

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    1. Thank you Kirppu. I was so excited I was doing so well that I forgot to line the mold :) he he...

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  2. Nice save, Roxana! I'm glad that you were able to pry the soap away with a knife without badly damaging the soap (or the mold). The mantra swirl looks great! I still haven't tried that technique. It's on my list, though!

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  3. Oh, that's awful. You aren't the only one to make the mistake, believe me. I have had to hack out soap from a mold twice and both times just made me sick. I too ended up with heaps of soap scraps. Lucky you that the soaps are still presentable after removal. The first time, I just got out the ice cream scoop, dipped me some soap, and that was the end of that. ;-)

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    1. Thanks Katie! I really contemplated just dumping it all out and decided to take a chance instead :)

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  4. Aww Roxana, I hate to say but I laughed. It's pretty humorous, and totally sounds like something I would do! I am always forgetting to line my mold before I start and end up lining in a quick panic after I have everything all mixed together. They still turned out lovely, and the colors are so pretty together!

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    1. LOL! Thanks Laura. No worries. I am still laughing about it and will continue to laugh for some time. I'll tell you that I won't be forgetting to line my mold in the future :)

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  5. Aw, your post made me chuckle Roxana, but the end result is simply stunning....bravo!!!

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    1. Thanks Cee! I got to tell you I am really wanting to purchase a mold now from Soap Hutch. Not having to worry about lining my mold anymore certainly sounds pretty good by now :)

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    2. Yes, I can see why you would be tempted! I am paranoid about leaving my f.o.'s out now after I did a beautiful swirl and forgot the f.o. :( I suppose there is always something else to worry about!

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  6. I'm sure other people have made the same mistake, they just don't admit to it publicly. ;) But the end result is absolutely gorgeous!

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  7. It's a beautiful soap,Roxana! Sometimes I think we're so alike,though I haven't had this 'lining situation',I've had others, similar, 'forgot-to-do' issues. The best part is you saved it and that is only what really matters!

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    1. Thanks Maja! wow! what a compliment you just paid me :) I think you are awesome! You certainly make some awesome soaps and body products :)

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  8. Oh dear! But you managed to save some good pieces and the swirl looks awesome! I often forget to add fragrance lol.... I have hubby making me a timber mould and I am sure I will do something like forget to line it.

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