Coolah Creations

Soap Show Off – Peacock

On Mar 29, 2013 0 No Comments

Another, ‘oh yay I made that soap!’ soap today!! Thank you to Susan on the Facebook page for helping me name it – Peacock! As soon as I read her comments, I was like, “Oh YES! That’s a perfect name!” (Free bar for you when it’s ready, don’t let me forget!)

The scent is a blend of two fragrance oils that include: Pomegranate, a hint of citrus and fruity florals, yummy sweet vanilla bean and just a sprinkling of woodsy patchouli. Smells YUM! Definitely a female scent.

I’m loving the colours! The purple stuck (huzzah!) while the green lightened to a fantastic almost aqua colour. Works perfectly!

Just Poured:

I had to try and be really careful not to over play the top portion as I wanted a more destinct pattern in the colours instead of a mixed blend of dull. Happy with the results, especially as it was a tug of war between getting it into the freezer straight away, and waiting for the batter to set up enough to form peaks.

Out of the freezer!

And… just cut!

Swirling is like a box of chocolates… you never know what you’re going to get! These are the ‘full on’ bars… lots of colour, lots of swirls.

The ying to the above’s yang is the ‘less is more’ approach… amazing that these came from the same batch of soap!

Finding a happy medium, the one on the right reminds me of deep sea creatures just swimming about. Very cool and random.

These are the ‘abstract art’ pieces. Only a couple came out so individual as these. I love them! The one on the left reminds me of a painting you would see in a modern, yet cool house.

And of course no swirling batch is complete without the animal pieces!! The right ‘I’m an owl in your soap’ is as clear as day. The left, I immediately saw a swan. Then my daughter came up and gasped, ‘Oh no mum!! The snake is about to eat the swan, why did you do that?!” As we were exploring the picture within, we also spotted a lizard approaching from above to see what was going on.

I let my mind wander to the thought of opening a soap art gallery. How cool would it be to frame these soaps, hang them on a wall and show off all the different pictures that created themselves…

Am very interested in hearing feedback on the scent combination with these bars as I’m considering making them part of the permanent line…

ShareAnother, ‘oh yay I made that soap!’ soap today!! Thank you to Susan on the Facebook page for helping me name it – Peacock! As soon as I read her comments, I was like, “Oh YES! That’s a perfect name!” (Free bar for you when it’s ready, don’t let me forget!) The scent is a…

Soap Show Off: No idea what to call it!

On Mar 13, 2013 4 4 Comments

Share

Not long after dinner Saturday night I received a rather unpleasant email from my ex. And that’s not only putting it nicely, it’s applying 15 layers of chocolate, sugar and candy to sugar coat it. Let’s just say I am very happy I managed to restrain putting my fist through a wall. There is something really, really messed up with his wiring. *makes koo koo motion*

After pacing back and forth a bit, the snarling was becoming annoying so I did what any mad soaper does – I soaped. Only, I wasn’t in the mood for all the warm and wintery smells sitting there waiting for me. All browns, all the same (to my nose). Nope, I wanted something that would light a spark! The worst time for my fragrance cupboard to be running low!!

In the end, I used up the last of two bottles and popped in a favourite ‘fun’ scent to blend them all together.

Scent Description #1: Our rendition of a famous scent. A complex arrangement of citrus top notes, combined with fruity florals, while sitting on sweet vanilla bean and a faint woodsy patchouli base. This fragrance does not smell like oatmeal or porridge, and is not a bakery type fragrance. We would consider this a complex fruity floral arrangement.

Eeer, ok, that’s helpful… NOT!

Scent Description #2: A leader among the favourites… in fact you could say it’s a FART above the rest!! This unique fragrance begins with top notes of fresh bananas and juicy grapefruit, middle notes of kiwi, juicy bubblegum, and strawberries; and a hint of vanilla as a base note.

Scent Description #3: Opening with sparkling notes of bergamot, sweet orange, and crisp apple; followed by rich, golden honey nectar, toffee bits, and soft white musk mingling together to create a sweet treat as natural as sunshine.

And together in a secret combination amount, it smells damn good!

The problem was, the fragrance names were giving me no ideas, and the descriptions weren’t helping either. What colours do I do? What do I call it? What kind of pattern? Arg the torture!

In the end I settled for your basic colours – red, blue, yellow and uncoloured. No green as nothing jumped out ‘green’ in any of the smells. That was colour sorted. What but about design? Aaah screw it, I just want my brain to shut off from the email, don’t care about the swirl, just chuck it all in!

In the end, it was just the distraction I needed, and it smelled great. The real treat was going to be on the Monday when I cut it up! Very rarely do I go, “Oh wow!!” when I cut one of my own bars, but I was completely blown away by what I unwrapped with each bar cut…

From the outside, this was the most ‘wow’ portion. I though, oh cool, orangey and blue layers. Don’t know where the orange appeared from as I didn’t use any, but I didn’t question an anger induced soap.

Sharing this PURELY because I’ve been playing with a new lens on my camera and just love this shot…

Ok, so let’s get cutting… are you ready? Brace yourself!

BOOYAH!!! It aint orange… it’s awesome! And not what I was expecting at all…

I love how in this one, the blue almost looks like feathers hanging down. Like a feather boa. NO idea how I accomplished that lol! The fluke queen remember!

For me, cutting up a loaf of swirled soap, especially a completely random just pour it all in kind, is like playing “ink blots for the soapingly insane”. I’d love to do an ink blot test! I’d just sit there and repeat “blank ink on white card” each time… ok no, no I wouldn’t. Man could you imagine what my warped mind would see?! The guy asking the questions would be asking for a straight jacket so he doesn’t rip his own ears off!

Aaaaaanyway, a little sidetracked there. So, the above soap… what do you see? I see a witch with a long nose cackling.

A wolf howling…

A REALLY fat surfer wiping out! And he has a stupid hat on!

The Cheshire Cat face!! That one kind of freaks me out too…

A headless ghost with his arms and hands out. I can even see the fingers! And yet oddly, that doesn’t scare me as much as the Cheshire cat!

I don’t really see anything in this one. I just think it’s cool. Same for the one below. They just came out SO different to all the other bars!!!

Actually, ok I see a mouse head in this one. He looks… shocked!

All in all, was fun blending, making and especially cutting this batch up!! Now… what the hell am I going to call it?! I was actually thinking of titling it ‘Ink Blots’, but now I have a desire to make a licorice flavoured black and white soap and call that ink blots!!!

Hit me with a name people!!

ShareNot long after dinner Saturday night I received a rather unpleasant email from my ex. And that’s not only putting it nicely, it’s applying 15 layers of chocolate, sugar and candy to sugar coat it. Let’s just say I am very happy I managed to restrain putting my fist through a wall. There is something…

Soap Show Off: Spiced Mahogany

On Mar 13, 2013 0 No Comments

Share

My love for Spiced Mahogany began with a simple sample size sniff. (Say that five times fast!) It was included in the “men’s most popular” sample pack I purchased and the one that really stood out above all the rest. A natural choice when it came time to selecting a manly scent to offer up during my last fragrance mini-order.

Originally I was going to colour the soap read – as that is the colour I used with the sample. But then I started thinking. Mahogany… wood… wood grain… browns and black…. lines… how to swirl that… hrm. Then I stopped thinking and remembered that I am awesome when it comes to fluking a creation! I can usually never repeat them as I had no idea how I did it, but that first time… oh it’s epic. I’m the queen of “how on earth did I manage that?!” soaps…

So, in I jumped. Mix, colour, do what ever it was that I did, pour. Result?

Booyah! Fluked it again! Wait, I mean, oh look, it totally worked exactly how I planned and poured it to look. Yeah, that’s it.

My biggest fear was the batch overheating. Despite being popped in the freezer right after the pour for a couple of hours, it managed to heat itself back up while I was busy working on the next soap. Suffering through a heat wave with super muggy/humid weather, the best I could get the house was 25 degrees, but that was still in the “feels like an oven with a fan” range. After watching a crack appear and a little tumor build (what it looks like, to me, when a soap bubble pops out the crack), it was back into the freezer.

When it was cold enough to demold, I did. The 4 loaves in one mold was not helping it cool down, so I removed them and separated with some air flow between each to try and help them cool. I was worried looking at a couple of spots that it had overheated and the entire batch would have to be chucked. That was just over 6kgs of soap there!! Not to mention how awesome it smelled.

Praise the soap gods, all bars are safe. Completely gelled and darker than I had hoped, but no overheating cracks or weeping. Huzzah.

The bars are still quite dark, and really, all kinda look the same. This is probably the most stand out bar as it wasn’t just up and down lines of wood grain. Will be curious to see how they look after the cure…

ShareMy love for Spiced Mahogany began with a simple sample size sniff. (Say that five times fast!) It was included in the “men’s most popular” sample pack I purchased and the one that really stood out above all the rest. A natural choice when it came time to selecting a manly scent to offer up…

Soap Show Off – Monkey Farts

On Mar 2, 2013 1 1 Comment

Share

I feel like I start all posts with, “So I’m not dead…” recently. Such uncharacteristically big gaps between posts. Unfortunately, no grand special reason as to why… just “life” with a little bit of “lazy” thrown in for good measure. With school now in full swing, poor Master 2 is a bit lost during the days and doesn’t let me get much done. Sit down and right a full blog? HA! I laugh at that thought now!! Then it gets to night time and the “meh… can’t be stuffed” sloth like personality takes over. So yes, not much getting done on my little corner of the internet.

Thankfully I HAVE been able to get back into the kitchen and make some soaps recently – woo hoo! And quite a momentous occasion, I needed to make my first restock batch! Not surprisingly, it was Monkey Farts!

This is the last batch, bleaugh!

Not necessarily bad, just not the usual look I have with this scent. These bars were the ‘oh crud I have too much soap better left over, what can I make’ rush job. Functional, and still contains the same smell, but not as ‘pretty’ as I like my farts to be.

Enter, the restock bars!!

Ooooh…

Aaaah…

Monkey Farts!

Much happier with these bars! Especially considering that the fragrance can move a little quicker than I would like for a four colour swirl. But we got there in the end and they came out much better than I thought they would.

ShareI feel like I start all posts with, “So I’m not dead…” recently. Such uncharacteristically big gaps between posts. Unfortunately, no grand special reason as to why… just “life” with a little bit of “lazy” thrown in for good measure. With school now in full swing, poor Master 2 is a bit lost during the…

Just Cut Soap Show Off – Relaxation

On Jan 13, 2013 0 No Comments

Share

I can’t pin point what exactly I love about this fragrance, but I find myself constantly taking big sniffs in when ever I pass it. It’s a blend of the standard ‘relaxing’ essential oils, but it has a small dash of some musk and a couple other fragrances that really round it out to such a beautiful smell.

I decided to go with a water/ocean colour idea with this one as, for me, it’s very calming sitting on a beach watching the waves. Even in Winter. This idea gave me a chance to play around with colour blending to come up with a not quite blue, not quite green water colour. Aqua? Teal? Not sure, but the result was such a pleasant surprise!! I didn’t think it was going to work at all as the wet batter looked much, much darker.

Due to the warped base of my ‘big mold’, I am back with the silicone loaf molds which I found I actually missed a bit once I got to the unmolding stage. I don’t like that I have to pour four, five, or six different loaves, but unmolding is a dream due to the flexible nature of the silicone.

The good thing about pouring the same batch multiple times, is you really can end up with such variations in the finished bars.

ShareI can’t pin point what exactly I love about this fragrance, but I find myself constantly taking big sniffs in when ever I pass it. It’s a blend of the standard ‘relaxing’ essential oils, but it has a small dash of some musk and a couple other fragrances that really round it out to such…

Soap Show Off – Nameless Man’s Soap

On Nov 28, 2012 1 1 Comment

Share

I need your help!! I need to think of a good name for this men’s soap because all I could come up with was sex on the beach! Why? Blue Water, yellowy/white sand and the smell of someone I would pounce on if they looked my direction more than once!!!

But, there’s already a fragrance called sex on the beach, and I need something *puffs chest out* MANLY sounding. Something that will get their attention. I figured ‘slutty half naked blond waiting for sex on the beach’ might be a tad too long, ya think?

I can’t describe the scent too well, and of course I mixed it up but didn’t write it down. Bugger! It was the end of a bottle of something, some sandalwood and some cool water dupe. If you imagine when walking past a model-hot guy dressed in pristine and crisp clothes you get a faint whiff of his cologne. THAT is what this smells like.

ShareI need your help!! I need to think of a good name for this men’s soap because all I could come up with was sex on the beach! Why? Blue Water, yellowy/white sand and the smell of someone I would pounce on if they looked my direction more than once!!! But, there’s already a fragrance called…

Soap Show Off – Nebula

On Nov 15, 2012 0 No Comments

Share

This soap was a blend of everything – fragrances, swirl techniques, loaf molds and shaped ones. Unfortunately the vanillin content of a couple of the fragrances darkened the over all look, and the recently terminated stick blender got one final blast of air bubbles in out of revenge, but… still very cool!

The original ‘just cut’ shots here.

Coolah Creations CP Goat's Milk Soap - Nebula

ShareThis soap was a blend of everything – fragrances, swirl techniques, loaf molds and shaped ones. Unfortunately the vanillin content of a couple of the fragrances darkened the over all look, and the recently terminated stick blender got one final blast of air bubbles in out of revenge, but… still very cool! The original ‘just…

The Lovely Smelling ‘Bleugh’ cut photos…

On Oct 27, 2012 4 4 Comments

Share

I love it when something turns out better than you expected!! While still not how I imagined it, my first ‘big batch’ has cut up ok!!

Apart from the severe amount of air bubbles courtesy of my stick blender breaking thirty seconds into the mix, and the purple morphing to green and other colours failing, it’s still… ok. Cool in it’s own uniquely fugly way.

The fragrance blend is Cherry Bomb, Strawberries and Blackberries with a grounding mix of Vanilla and Coconut. The colours were meant to be Red, Purple, White and a small swirl of black. I’m not sure if it was on of the fragrances (although I’ve worked all individually before with no problems), or the temperature (doubtful), or just gremlins at play (my suspicion), but the colours did not work AT ALL.

That said, there’s something very unique about it, and despite it not working, I’m finding it hard to say I hate it…

This is a one off fragrance blend (mostly because it was the final in each of the scents bottles!!), and I keep seeing ‘space’, as in the final frontier, not the kind you’re always running out of. Thinking of naming it something ‘spacey’, but I can’t think want…

ShareI love it when something turns out better than you expected!! While still not how I imagined it, my first ‘big batch’ has cut up ok!! Apart from the severe amount of air bubbles courtesy of my stick blender breaking thirty seconds into the mix, and the purple morphing to green and other colours failing, it’s…

No Mojo!

On Jul 27, 2012 5 5 Comments

Share

I’m one week from a Market and have zero mojo. Not good! I know a month on and off sickness didn’t help. A toothache is current distracting me. And lack of sleep due to a very clingy toddler certainly can’t be doing me good either. And of course the more I think about how much I’ve NOT done for the market, the more I stress and sit here doing nothing. Vicious cycle!

I thought I would jump on my local soaping forums this morning but that only made my frustrations worse. A newbie soaper posting how they only started six weeks ago yet have “sold so many soaps” already and are getting prepared for their first market kicked off my now irritated state. Six weeks. *shakes head*

And don’t even get me started on the high school like “cliques” that occur via private PM and are obvious via public replies to other’s. God forbid I post something without it covered in chocolate sauce, sprinkles and a cherry on top. I’m all for a happy posting environment, but that shouldn’t mean everyone can do what ever they want with their soaps and receive a pat on the back. Sometimes things are what they are, and cheaper usually means inferior regardless of what type they are. Reality doesn’t give cuddles.

*shakes it all off*

I’m a sleepy bear with a toothache. I think I should shut off my internet and just be content with my cave today.

Now that my blog is also working again (the past week I had the ‘log in redirection’ issue) I can now update some cut pics of the soaps I did a week…. no, TWO weeks ago now!!

Blackberry Sage. Smells divine, as always. I let the lye/milk mixture get almost completely cold with this one and ended up with a ‘skin’ on the top. Mixing it back in left little speckles of milk which appeared in the soap. Not happy about that ><

Black Raspberry and Vanilla. VERY happy with the colours of this batch!

Blue Musk (Mens) Soap. Not happy with how this turned out. Happy with the layers, but wish I had left them alone and not tried to further swirl them as the end result just shows where I stuck the swirl stick in and no actual swirls. Bugger. LOVE the colours however!!

My first EO blend of Lavender (Bottom) and Peppermint and Spearmint (top) soap. Non-therapuetic grade oils due to being a wash off product, but still good. I’m absolutely loving everything I’m learning at school and even more so now I can start putting it to use!

And Miss 4′s soap!! Remembering the scent is Choc-Mint, the colours don’t match at all. But she loves them and I love how well they turned out. Not bad for a first soap for a four year old!!

Since this is a show off post, these are the Licorice All-Soaps I’ve made for the market.

Scented with a very realistic black licorice FO, I really don’t enjoy making these lol. But they sell, and they get attention, which is why they are included.

And lastly, my current project that I should be working on. My Batman soaps. I’ve had these before (done differently) and they got attention, so I’m hoping with the latest movie out, they will sell well. If not, Miss 4 is currently way into the Batman cartoons and upon spotting these, squealed with delight.

ShareI’m one week from a Market and have zero mojo. Not good! I know a month on and off sickness didn’t help. A toothache is current distracting me. And lack of sleep due to a very clingy toddler certainly can’t be doing me good either. And of course the more I think about how much…

C’mon Weekend! Hurry Up!!

On Mar 29, 2012 6 6 Comments

Share

It’s only Thursday. Urg. I keep thinking tomorrow is the weekend. Could be because it’s a ‘daddy weekend’ so no kids. And no house inspection next week so no urgent need to clean. Wait, so that means… omg… two days, kid free, nothing needing to be done. SOOOOAAAAAAPPPPPP!!

I’m itching for the weekend! Haven’t felt this way since I was working a nine to five job. I have BIG plans for this weekend!

My first go at hot process soap making! I want to make a Honey and Oats batch again, but this time via hot process as I only have a small amount of the fragrance I want to use, and I want to see if this way stops cooking my oats as bad lol.
My first real go at cold process cupcake soaps. Bit excited about that, although expecting many a floppy failure.
My first go at a new swirl technique. Sort of. Not sure if it’s so much a ‘technique’ as it will be a “I wonder if it’s done this way, let’s give it a go” attempt lol.

And not forgetting the cutting up of the batches I’ve made this week as well. Oh and more bath bomb attempts if I get time. I was also going to try some more wax melts, but I’d really like to wait until I can get in some proper candle colours I think…

Oh yeah, and I want to sit down and make a list of all the current fragrances I have as I have some bubble bath ready to go. I could just say ‘let me know what scent’ without letting them know what’s available, but I’m not that cruel. I only have about 50 options at the moment lol.

What a weekend I have waiting for me though!! Is it here yet? Is it here yet..? Is it here yet…? Is it here yet?? *fades out*

ShareIt’s only Thursday. Urg. I keep thinking tomorrow is the weekend. Could be because it’s a ‘daddy weekend’ so no kids. And no house inspection next week so no urgent need to clean. Wait, so that means… omg… two days, kid free, nothing needing to be done. SOOOOAAAAAAPPPPPP!! I’m itching for the weekend! Haven’t felt…

Posts Tagged ‘Swirl’

Soap Show Off – Peacock

Just Poured:

Out of the freezer!

And… just cut!

Soap Show Off: No idea what to call it!

Soap Show Off: Spiced Mahogany

Soap Show Off – Monkey Farts

Just Cut Soap Show Off – Relaxation

Soap Show Off – Nameless Man’s Soap

Soap Show Off – Nebula

The Lovely Smelling ‘Bleugh’ cut photos…

No Mojo!

C’mon Weekend! Hurry Up!!

My Soaps

Post Categories

Latest Posts

Reader Comments

Post Archives

Post Tags

Posts Tagged ‘Swirl’

Just Poured:

Out of the freezer!

And… just cut!

My Soaps

Post Categories

Latest Posts

Reader Comments

Post Archives

Post Tags

Modal header