Tag Archives: soap swirling

The Peacock or Bouquet Swirl

Posted on by
22

I first saw the peacock or bouquet swirl as a paper design at Paper Mojo and decided to try making a soap in this design. See original post here.

The Peacock (also called Bouquet) swirl was created around the end of the 18th century as a paper marbling technique. The pattern resembles the plumage of a male peacock or a bouquet of flowers.

I’ve since gotten a little better at the technique and have gotten several inquiries as to how to do it. I taught this technique at the Alabama Soap Conference and the Texas Conference. Holly Port from Lotion Bar Cafe and I did a quick video during one night of practice in our hotel room down in Austin, TX. It’s not professional by any means…but if you want to see how to do it…here it is!!

We hope you enjoy!

EDITED TO ADD:

Its really easy to make your own raking combs for the swirl.  The one is the video was made using hair roller pix pushed through cardboard.  You can find roller pix at beauty supply stores or online.

Color Soap Naturally – Calendula and Paprika, Layers and Swirls

Posted on by

This is an advanced soap design using natural colorants.  It includes calendula and paprika for color and texture and swirling and layering techniques.  I’ll also show you how to do the thin cocoa line you can see between layers.

Bring your soap to a stable emulsion.  You don’t want to see trace or you won’t have enough time to separate out your colors and swirl. 

Divide your soap into three containers.  The amounts are up to you but I did about 2/3 for the bottom base, 1/6 for each top swirl color.  Add a pinch of calendula petals to the base container and stick blend to a thicker trace.  Stick blending with the calendula helps break the petals up a bit so they aren’t so big in your soap.  Pour the base mixture into your mold and spread evenly.  Drop your mold down onto a counter or the floor to help the soap flatten out. 

Add 1/8 teaspoon of paprika to one of the swirl containers.  Do not stick blend these as we want them nice and fluid so we can do a swirl.   

Next we’ll do a cocoa line.  I like to use a tea strainer to help sprinkle on the cocoa.  Cover the bottom layer of soap with a thin line of cocoa.  Don’t completely cover the surface or you might have soap with layers that separate.  You can see plenty of the bottom soap surface peaking through.  It will still look like a solid layer when you cut.

Now we’ll do our swirl on top of this layer.  Since we brought it to a thick trace before we poured it into the mold we shouldn’t have any problems with it supporting the top layer.  But just to test, gently spoon some soap onto it.  See if it stays on top or if it breaks the surface.  If it breaks the surface let it sit for a bit longer. 

Spoon enough soap to completely cover the surface.  Then simply rotate pouring the two different swirling colors until your fill your mold.  I poured in lines all going the same direction. 

You can leave it as it is or you can take a skewer and swirl the top.  We don’t want the skewer to break the cocoa line and mess it up so make sure you don’t insert the skewer that deeply.

And there you have it!  A beautiful soap design using natural colorants.  I love the way the calendula doesn’t just provide color but also provides texture. 

When you cut this soap be sure to lay it on it’s side and cut in that position.  That way you won’t drag the cocoa line.

Happy Soaping!

Amanda