Monday, January 27, 2014

Feather Swirl Finally!

Very rarely can I perform a whispery feather swirl as delicate as this one!

My recipes trace at average speed, perfect for someone impatient like me.  To make feathering swirl requires very thin and slow trace soap recipe.  Rule of thumb  is to use high contain of olive oil in the recipe, but I dislike the slimy feel and the long cure time.  I like hard bars of soap, decreasing saturated fat is not an option for me either.  The only way I can achieve this is by using beef tallow in the recipe.  I know quit a lot of people find soap made with animal fat to be considered not environmentally friendly.  On the contrary, as a meat eater, I feel it is actually greener to use animal fat for soap.  If you would like to know more about using beef tallow for soap, here's my old blog post: myth about Beef Tallow Soap
This is Ume Blossom Soap, Ume means plum in Japanese, it's the first bloom of the spring followed by Cherry blossom.

 
I used a small cookie cutter to make these tiny flower using melt and pour soap base ahead of time then "glued" some sugar pearls with cold process soap in the center of each blossom.  It is time consuming and detail oriented but it's worth the effort, don't you think?

19 comments:

  1. As a fellow soaper I love seeing your soaps. They are truly beautiful. I love the feather swirl. I haven't gotten around to trying it yet, but it is on my list of techniques to try.

    cabinofbows.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very beautiful! I like these soaps very much!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh my! You have done a fantastic feather swirl...actually everything about this batch is exquisite with all the little details you included. Love it!

    (And yay for another tallow user! I couldn't agree more!)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love the flowers on the top.... it just completes that soap! So it is well worth the time and effort you had to put into it. Fantastic job. And I agree with using animal fats... if it is going to be ate lets use all of the animal. I have never tried beef tallow but do use lard. I have never tried rendering tallow myself. Susie

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is just drop-dead gorgeous Emily! I'm dumbfounded!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Definitely worth the extra effort, just stunning!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wonderful soap! And I especially like the Japanese theme!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I think this soap is fantastic. I'm trying to say something else, but I think your soap stole my words from the tips of my fingers!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I just ordered a lot of your soap so you should know that I think you do beautiful work. However, I wish you would not use palm oil (even though it is amazing) because of the environmental damage it is doing to Malaysia and any country that grows those trees. Not to mention the loss of habitat for those funny, cute orangutangs. Please keep making your wonderful soap, but please find a substitute for the palm oil.

    ReplyDelete
  10. That swirling is incredible. You really make beautiful soaps!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love the swirl design. These are absolutely adorable !

    ReplyDelete
  12. Just LOVE the look of this soap! Perfect as gifts too! Have any for sale yet? Thanks!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cyndi, I can take pre-order, just email me at shiehdesignstudio@gmail.com

      Delete

ShareThis