Click here to learn how to make your own Crescent Moon, Starry Nights soap.

These examples were made by brand new melt and pour soapers. If they can do it, so can you!

Click here for Day One

Step Seven: By this point the white soap you injected into in the mold is likely to be ready (touch with your finger to make sure it’s hard). Then hold the entire mold up to the light and you should be able to some faint impression of the mold design. Knowing that the moon is on the left, begin to scrape (with your white scraping tool) very thin layers of soap from right to left, hold up to the light, scrape more, hold up to the light, scrape more.

Step Seven, still: By the 3^rd scraping or so you can actually start to feel the bottom of the mold and that’s ok. What you want to achieve is to scrape most of the soap from the bottom, while leaving the stars and moon intact.At some point you can only guess what the finished product will look like (but generally speaking — if you leave too much soap at the bottom you may end up with really heavy clouds, if you scrape off too much you may actually scrape your stars off and end up with just a moon so aim for something between the extremes).

Step Eight: Now it’s time to revisit the navy blue Lily scented soap. Uncover and stir if it has begun to cool down to the point where there are thick spots just zap it for 20 seconds and stir. The Navy soap is ready to pour over the white soap in the mold when it is completely blended yet still warm enough to hold your pinkie finger tip in without any pain at all. The idea being, you want it liquid, but cool enough so it won’t melt your thinnest star detail in your mold.

Spritz the white layer!

Step Eight: When the navy soap is at the right temperature cover it back up with the plastic wrap, spray a single cavity with alcohol 5 sprays (to cover the entire bottom of the mold) peel back the plastic wrap and fill the cavity in one fast pour and spray the filled cavity with one spray of alcohol to remove any bubbles. Spray the 2^nd cavity, and fill with one fast pour, continue ‘til you’re done. Spritz the white layer!

Spritz the back of the soap to remove any excess bubbles from pouring.

Let the mold set overnight if possible (or at least 4 hours). FYI, The clear shaving soap takes much longer to harden than the white shea butter soap. After the soaps have cooled (for at least 4 hours), for best results, cover the cooled soaps still in the mold with plastic wrap and turn detail side up in your freezer under the blower for 3 minutes then pull out and give one quick firm push to each cavity.

Look for the final reveal of this fun and easy (really, it is easy! Just try it, you’ll see) soap tomorrow.

PJ generously shared her technique for making realistic Starry Night soaps at the Soap Intensive Weekend held at Otion this summer. Now, she’s sharing the love with all of you. Thanks PJ!

The following recipe makes 4 Bars of Crescent Moon Soap (pssst – don’t want to make your own? Buy one for $7 here):

You will need:

Pre-heat 4 quart pan of water on simmer (for rinsing your tools)
1 dropper full of Gardenia Fragrance Oil
6 droppers full of Lily, Lilac or Stargazer Lily Fragrance Oil
4 oz white shea butter soap
20 oz clear shaving soap
Ultramarine Blue Oxide
Black Oxide
2 microwavable containers one large 20 oz and one smaller 8 oz
1 four cavity Crescent Moon Mold
1 PJScraper tool
1 PJInjector tool
1 Misting sprayer filled with rubbing alcohol
Paper Towels (white)
Plastic wrap
1 small sized foil ball (loosely crumpled sheet)

Or just buy the entire kit here.

Step One: Heat your water to a low simmer. Place the ball of foil under the right side of the crescent moon mold (so soap will slightly pool into the moon on the left). We used a paper plate since we didn’t have the foil close at hand.

Step Two: Cut your shea butter soap into Ice cube sized chunks and place in the small microwavable container, cover with plastic wrap and zap for 30 seconds, stir; if it’s not quite melted give it another 12 seconds or ‘til just melted (do not overheat).Add one dropper of gardenia and blend in. Spray the mold.

Step Three: Stick the tip of the dropper into the melted/scented white shea butter soap and draw the plunger back ‘til the injector is full.

Step Four: Mist one moon cavity with alcohol (3 sprays) and immediately inject the white soap from the right/higher side of the mold so soap fills in the stars and completely fills in the moon on the left.

Repeat 3 more times.

Step Five: If the soap in the injector cools off before you’ve finished you can always squirt it back in its container [immediately clear the injector by drawing up hot water and squirting it back into your pan] and zap for another 6-12 seconds or whatever time is needed to reheat – then re-mist and inject any empty cavity that is still in need of the first white layer.

Let the white soap totally harden 10 min or so.

Step Six: While the first layer is hardening , cut up your clear soap into ice cube sized bits, cover with plastic wrap and microwave in the larger microwavable container for 55 seconds. Stir, cover and zap for another 30 seconds or until the clear soap is completely melted making sure to stir each time you check to avoid creating hot spots (again, you do not want to overheat your soap).

When your clear soap is melted you are going to add 3 squirts of Ultramarine blue and stir in completely. Then add 1-3 drops of black oxide to your liking. The resulting color should be a deep navy blue soap. At this point stick your pinkie finger into the soap and if it’s not hot enough to burn your finger go ahead and add your Lily Fragrance Oil and stir in completely. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside.

Check back tomorrow for the rest of the instructions for making Starry Night, Crescent Moon Soaps.