Tuesday, May 11, 2010

There's no accounting for taste


I have thought a lot about the look of my soaps.  When I started out I had no special molds, so I used what I could find: milk cartons, ice cream containers, empty shampoo bottles, bits of pipe cut in two and my cute little pastry molds.  Soon I ordered a log mold and have used that a lot since then.  It's easy to use and I like the chunky look with some light swirl decoration on top.

I have also experimented with whipped soap in muffin forms and soap on a rope (that was all the rage in the 70's for those who remember back that far :) as well as piping soap from a piping bag used for icing cakes and using a round cake tin to make cake slices.  All of these look good in their own way and I guess I'm still looking for a look that is mine, so to speak.

I look at the soap of others and I see that swirling is very popular and I truly like the look of some of those.  Some soapmakers just make works of art.  I'm in awe of some of them and I'm definitely going to try some of that.  The only trouble is that
somehow I think that swirling looks better with the clear crisp colours that I am a bit reluctant to use.  But maybe it'll look exactly the way I like it, we'll see.

But to get back to the heading of this post, I thought it was a bit amusing when my husband walked past the rebatch leftovers that I had hurriedly made into balls and went:  Oh wow, those look really good, did you just make those?  I really like those!

Huh, there really is no accounting for taste.





The photos: Soap balls.  Very easy to make, but they look nice in this French iron soapdish from Comptoir de famille.  I have been crocheting a border for bedlinen like I remember from my childhood. The other photo: This soapcake is very basic and perhaps not the prettiest, but it was fun to make. I am collecting cake dishes for the wedding. this one I bought new and it is a bit small.

4 comments:

  1. Hello! Isn't it funny when others like a soap that you are not keen on? I guess we all struggle with what look we like... I too struggled with moulds for a while, then found these great cheap log moulds at ikea (I may do a post with them). Now I love them. Swirls, I have tried a few times and just haven't really got it right yet.... As for the two photos you posted, I really like the one in the middle - the blue layer soap! What is that one? How did you get that colour? It looks like it should be flavoured with black liquorice/ anis? xoxo Jen

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  2. Jen, that is actually a black soap, it just looks a little blue in the photo. I used charcoal in it AND yes, anis for the scent. I infused star anis in oil and used that. It gave a lovely gentle smell. The black soap has been very popular with the people who succumbed to the black/white minimal style bathroom decoration.

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  3. Haha, I loved your post :)
    I for sure understand your frustrations with soap and making it your own. It's like as if you find yourself in a sort of identity crisis (again..)
    I honestly think that you are (if not already there) pretty near to finding it. And I LOVE your pictures. You take awesome pics!

    xxxx

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  4. Soaps and Bubbles, thank you, it's very sweet of you to say that.

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