Sunday, January 11, 2009

Rock Crystal Soaps

Through the melt and pour process of making soap, there are many unique techniques. One that I found to be quite interesting is making your soaps look like Rock Crystals. These soaps are simply marbled bars of soap that been cut into crystal-shaped pieces. You can make your soap look like a milky quartz, opal agate, malachite, jade, amethyst or rose quartz.

The basic techniques for Rock Crystal Soaps are

Molds: Use any molds that can be be poured to a depth of approximately 2". A food container is a good shape to use.

For marbled soap: Melt clear glycerin soap base and white glycerin soap base in different containers. These bases can be colored or left in their original statee. Pour melted soaps into an appropiate mold at the same time. When using this technique your soap will look like malachite.

For a chunk style soap in a marbled base: Mold scented and color soap. Cut into crystal-shaped pieces 1/2" to 1". Place in mold before pouring in the two melted soap bases to marbleize. If you do this techinque your soap will look like milky quartz.

To create metallic veins through your soap: Brush a little metallic mica powder on the pieces before the second pouring to get the look of Opal Agate. Or brush some powered spices for a natural looking vein that may appear in Jade soap.

For layered looking gems: Pour melted clear glycerin soap base and melted white coconut oil bases over the cut crystal-shaped pices in order to get a amethyst look.

Cutting soaps: The most important step is cutting the soaps after they are molded so they look like gems. Cut the soap into 2" to 3" pieces and trim them by cutting random sharp, straight angles. This imitates the facets and clean cleavages of crystals.

Scenting: Use your favorite scents. The best choices inclue ylang-ylang, amber frankincense, cinnamon, and vanilla.

If you are looking for other recipes, check out some of the links in the side bar or check in my archive. There are alot of recipes in both places. I am always looking for new recipes to post on my blog, so please return in the future.



Source: Melt and Pour Soapmaking by Marie Browning, Sterling Publishing Company, New York, 2001. Page 64.

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