This month's Amy Warden's soap challenge was about the teardrop technique. This technique was first introduced by an incredibly talented Taiwan soaper known in Facebook as 'sweetly sweetly sweetly' and made more widely known by my fellow country man and equally talented, Sergio Masala. His videos are a pleasure to watch, always perfectly matching his creations to a piece of music that has either inspired them, or has come to his mind upon seeing the result of his art.
I really should call this entry "Tears of Joy and Despair", and here is why.
I usually leave the challenge to the last minute. I just can't help it, I'm made like that. This means I normally don't have more than one go at it due to lack of time, and this month was no different. This is my one and only try before the deadline. I wasn't able to participate the last couple of months and I really, really wanted to do it this time, so I had to concentrate and try to get it right.
My recipe has a high amount of trace speeding hard oils, so I decided to hand stir this batch and use a non speeding essential oil blend of lavender, rosemary and several citrus oils for scent. This was one of those rare times when I felt I was quite in control of the process. I could almost hear Amy whispering in my ear the whole time "...pour slowly..., pour slowly..." ;-)
After I finished I felt I would get a more or less satisfying result, especially considering it was my first go at this technique. Mostly, I was proud of myself for having been patient enough during stirring and pouring. Those would be my tears of joy.
But,........ that's when I ran out of the very little patience I have :-(
It was only Thursday morning Australia time, so I could have waited a bit longer before unmoulding, right? Well, no. I just couldn't keep my hands to myself, could I? So this is what happened:
Both ends of the log!!! And these, as you will all understand, are my tears of despair.
I will certainly play with this technique again and try to get the tear drop more "suspended" by pouring more base soap at the bottom and/or let it set up for longer before pouring the teardrop part.
Still, I managed to save six decent bars out of the lot, and the four sadly torn remaining ones will be put to good use in the family shower in a few weeks from today.
Good luck everyone!
