Crafty inspiration can come from anywhere. For the past few weeks, we have been sharing projects inspired by lots of shimmer and shine, including the Romantic Rose Gold Melt & Pour Bars and Sparkling Champagne Cold Process Cupcakes on Soap Queen TV. When brainstorming sparkly cold process designs, I began to think about how “sparkle” is made in nature. This led me to thinking about mining for gold…and voilà! The design for this project came together. See? Inspiration can really come from anywhere. =)
For this Gold Mine Cold Process soap, layers of mica and melt and pour embeds create the look of gold specks within a mine. The top is embellished with King’s Gold Mica painting and more embeds. If you’d like to learn more about how to mica paint, check out this blog post. Love the gold shimmer against the stormy gray base? The Black, White and Gold All Over Cold Process Soap features a slightly different take on the mica painting technique. Scented with a combination of Pure Honey and Sensuous Sandalwood Fragrance Oils, this soap smells warm, sweet and alluring.
What You’ll Need:
10″ Silicone Loaf Mold
3.8 oz. Canola Oil
.8 oz. Castor Oil
1.9 oz. Cocoa Butter Pastilles
9.5 oz. Coconut Oil
1.9 oz. Mango Butter
8.7 oz. Olive Oil
11.4 oz. Palm Oil
5.3 oz. Sodium Hydroxide Lye
11. 5 oz. Distilled Water
King’s Gold Mica
Activated Charcoal
1 oz. Pure Honey Fragrance Oil
1.5 oz. Sensuous Sandalwood Fragrance Oil
Optional: Powder Duster
Embeds:
10 oz. LCP Clear Melt and Pour Soap
King’s Gold Mica
Gold Sparkle Mica
Optional: 99% Isopropyl Alcohol
Click here to add everything you need for this project to your Bramble Berry shopping cart!
MAKE EMBEDS: Chop and melt the 10 oz. of LCP Clear Melt and Pour in the microwave using 20 second bursts. Once completely melted, add 1 tsp. of Gold Sparkle Mica and stir until the mica is completely mixed into the soap. Spray with rubbing alcohol to help break up any clumps of mica. Pour into a mold and allow to fully harden. We used the 12 Bar Square Silicone Mold, but just about any mold will work because the soap will be cut into pieces once hardened. Remove from the mold and cut into small triangle shaped pieces. Cover about 1/3 of the melt and pour pieces in a light coating of King’s Gold Mica and set aside.
If you’ve never made Cold Process soap before, stop here! I highly recommend checking out our FREE four part SoapQueen.tv series on Cold Process Soapmaking, especially the episode on lye safety. And if you’d rather do some reading, Bramble Berry carries a wide range of books on the topic, including my newest book, Soap Crafting. You can also checkout the digital downloads for that instant gratification factor.
SAFETY FIRST: Suit up for safe handling practices! That means goggles, gloves and long sleeves. Make sure kids, pets, and other distractions and tripping hazards are out of the house or don’t have access to your soaping space. Always soap in a well-ventilated area.
FRAGRANCE PREP: Add 1 oz. Pure Honey Fragrance Oil and 1.5 oz. Sensuous Sandalwood Fragrance in a fragrance safe, glass container. Stir gently and set aside until ready to use.
COLOR PREP: Disperse 2 teaspoons of activated charcoal into 2 tablespoons of lightweight liquid oil like sweet almond or sunflower oil. Then in a separate container, disperse 1 teaspoon of King’s Gold Mica into 1 tablespoon lightweight liquid oil. Use a mini mixer to disperse any clumps.
ONE: Slowly and carefully add the lye to the water and gently stir until the lye has fully dissolved and the liquid is clear. Set aside to cool.
TWO: Melt and combine the coconut oil, olive oil, canola oil, castor oil, cocoa butter, mango butter, palm oils (remember to fully melt then mix your entire container of palm oil before portioning). Once the lye water and the oils have cooled to 130 degrees or below (and are ideally within 10 degrees of each other), add the lye water to the oils and stick blend until thin trace. If you’d like a harder bar of soap that releases faster from the mold, you can add sodium lactate to the cooled lye water. Use 1 teaspoon of sodium lactate per pound of oils in the recipe. For this recipe, you’d add about 2.5 sodium lactate.
THREE: Once the batter has reached a light trace, add 2.5 tablespoons of dispersed activated charcoal. Use a whisk to mix in the colorant.
FOUR: Add the entire fragrance blend and use the stick blender to achieve a medium/thick trace.
FIVE: Pour about 1/3 of the batter into the mold and tap the mold on the counter to help get rid of any bubbles. Use a spoon to spread the batter evenly and create soft texture.
SIX: Add a small amount of the King’s Gold Mica to the powder duster, and lightly cover the soap with a layer of the mica. Close your eyes and blow gently on the color to help disperse it evenly on top of the layer. Watch out, this part can get a bit messy!
SEVEN: Split the remaining batter in half. Add the melt and pour embed chunks that are not covered in mica into the halved batter and mix. Then, spoon this soap into the mold, being careful not to break into the layer below. If some pieces break through that’s fine…but you just don’t want the entire layer dropping to the bottom!
EIGHT: Use a spoon to gently spread this soap throughout the mold and create a soft textured top.
NINE: Place a small amount of King’s Gold Mica into the powder duster and sprinkle a thin layer of mica on top of the soap. Gently blow the excess mica off…be careful, this can get messy! Tap the mold on the counter to help get rid of any bubbles.
TEN: Spoon the remaining soap batter into the mold and use a spoon to spread the soap throughout the mold evenly. Then use the spoon to create soft texture and waves. There is no right or wrong way to make a textured soap top! Just have fun with it. =)
ELEVEN: Using a dropper, add drops of the dispersed King’s Gold Mica onto the top of the soap. Don’t worry too much about where each drop lands, just make sure they are somewhat evenly dispersed throughout the loaf.
TWELVE: Insert a chopstick or dowel into the drops of dispersed mica and swirl them in various directions to create swirls throughout the bar. Do not insert the chopstick too far, you just want it to swirl the very top of the soap.
THIRTEEN: Once you’re happy with the swirls, place the melt and pour embed chunks that are covered with King’s Gold Mica onto the center of the loaf. Press the embeds very gently into the soap to make sure they stick. Continue to place them into the soap until you’re happy with the look.
FOURTEEN: Lightly spritz the top of the soap with 99% isopropyl alcohol to prevent soda ash. Don’t spray too much, as this can cause the mica painting to disperse. Because the melt and pour pieces may melt if the soap gets too hot, do not insulate the soap. Allow to harden in the mold for 3-5 days. Once hard, remove from the mold and allow to cure for 4-6 weeks.
The LCP melt and pour soap does prevent glycerin dew, but may still develop a small amount while the cold process soap cures. We found it easy to wipe away the dew if it did form. =) Interestingly, the melt and pour embed pieces got a little hot, causing a slight gel phase around the pieces. You can see that the soap is a little darker around the melt and pour embeds. If you’d like to avoid this, you could place the soap into the fridge or freezer for several hours after pouring into the mold. Doing so increases the chance of glycerin dew.
Where does your soapy inspiration come from? Last week, I actually came up with a soap design in a dream! =)
Gold Mine Cold Process Soap
Ingredients
- 10 ″ Silicone Loaf Mold
- 3.8 oz. Canola Oil
- .8 oz. Castor Oil
- 1.9 oz. Cocoa Butter Pastilles
- 9.5 oz. Coconut Oil
- 1.9 oz. Mango Butter
- 8.7 oz. Olive Oil
- 11.4 oz. Palm Oil
- 5.3 oz. Sodium Hydroxide Lye
- 11. 5 oz. Distilled Water
- King’s Gold Mica
- Activated Charcoal
- 1 oz. Pure Honey Fragrance Oil
- 1.5 oz. Sensuous Sandalwood Fragrance Oil
Embeds
- 10 oz. LCP Clear Melt and Pour Soap
- King’s Gold Mica
- Gold Sparkle Mica
- Optional: 99% Isopropyl Alcohol
Instructions
MAKE EMBEDS: Chop and melt the 10 oz. of LCP Clear Melt and Pour in the microwave using 20 second bursts. Once completely melted, add 1 tsp. of Gold Sparkle Mica and stir until the mica is completely mixed into the soap. Spray with rubbing alcohol to help break up any clumps of mica. Pour into a mold and allow to fully harden. We used the 12 Bar Square Silicone Mold, but just about any mold will work because the soap will be cut into pieces once hardened. Remove from the mold and cut into small triangle shaped pieces. Cover about 1/3 of the melt and pour pieces in a light coating of King’s Gold Mica and set aside.
SAFETY FIRST: Suit up for safe handling practices! That means goggles, gloves and long sleeves. Make sure kids, pets, and other distractions and tripping hazards are out of the house or don’t have access to your soaping space. Always soap in a well-ventilated area.
COLOR PREP: Disperse 2 teaspoons of activated charcoal into 2 tablespoons of lightweight liquid oil like sweet almond or sunflower oil. Then in a separate container, disperse 1 teaspoon of King’s Gold Mica into 1 tablespoon lightweight liquid oil. Use a mini mixer to disperse any clumps.
FRAGRANCE PREP: Add 1 oz. Pure Honey Fragrance Oil and 1.5 oz. Sensuous Sandalwood Fragrance in a fragrance safe, glass container. Stir gently and set aside until ready to use.
- Slowly and carefully add the lye to the water and gently stir until the lye has fully dissolved and the liquid is clear. Set aside to cool.
- Melt and combine the coconut oil, olive oil, canola oil, castor oil, cocoa butter, mango butter, palm oils (remember to fully melt then mix your entire container of palm oil before portioning). Once the lye water and the oils have cooled to 130 degrees or below (and are ideally within 10 degrees of each other), add the lye water to the oils and stick blend until thin trace. If you’d like a harder bar of soap that releases faster from the mold, you can add sodium lactate to the cooled lye water. Use 1 teaspoon of sodium lactate per pound of oils in the recipe. For this recipe, you’d add about 2.5 sodium lactate.
- Once the batter has reached a light trace, add 2.5 tablespoons of dispersed activated charcoal. Use a whisk to mix in the colorant.
- Add the entire fragrance blend and use the stick blender to achieve a medium/thick trace.
- Pour about 1/3 of the batter into the mold and tap the mold on the counter to help get rid of any bubbles. Use a spoon to spread the batter evenly and create soft texture.
- Add a small amount of the King’s Gold Mica to the powder duster, and lightly cover the soap with a layer of the mica. Close your eyes and blow gently on the color to help disperse it evenly on top of the layer. Watch out, this part can get a bit messy!
- Split the remaining batter in half. Add the melt and pour embed chunks that are not covered in mica into the halved batter and mix. Then, spoon this soap into the mold, being careful not to break into the layer below. If some pieces break through that’s fine…but you just don’t want the entire layer dropping to the bottom!
- Use a spoon to gently spread this soap throughout the mold and create a soft textured top.
- Place a small amount of King’s Gold Mica into the powder duster and sprinkle a thin layer on mica on top of the soap. Gently blow the excess mica off…be careful, this can get messy! Tap the mold on the counter to help get rid of any bubbles.
- Spoon the remaining soap batter into the mold and use a spoon to spread the soap throughout the mold evenly. Then use the spoon to create soft texture and waves. There is no right or wrong way to make a textured soap top! Just have fun with it. =)
- Using a dropper, add drops of the dispersed King’s Gold Mica onto the top of the soap. Don’t worry too much about where each drop lands, just make sure they are somewhat evenly dispersed throughout the loaf.
- Insert a chopstick or dowel into the drops of dispersed mica and swirl them in various directions to create swirls throughout the bar. Do not insert the chopstick too far, you just want it to swirl the very top of the soap.
- Once you’re happy with the swirls, place the melt and pour embed chunks that are covered with King’s Gold Mica onto the center of the loaf. Press the embeds very gently into the soap to make sure the embeds stick. Continue to place them into the soap until you’re happy with the look.
- Lightly spritz the top of the soap with 99% isopropyl alcohol to prevent soda ash. Don’t spray too much, as this can cause the mica painting to disperse. Because the melt and pour pieces may melt if the soap gets too hot, do not insulate the soap. Allow to harden in the mold for 3-5 days. I found this soap took a little bit longer to harden. Once hard, remove from the mold and allow to cure for 4-6 weeks. The LCP melt and pour soap does prevent glycerin dew, but may still develop a small amount while the cold process soap cures. We found it easy to wipe away the dew if it did form. =)
