Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Pumpkin Gingersnap Soap


It is officially autumn now! Which means that we survived summer. I wasn't sure if I was going to make it this year. But then, I think that every summer. And every year, summer comes and goes and I am still alive. So far, anyway.

When autumn rolls around, I start thinking about cooler weather and how maybe soon I will actually want to go outside again. And I think about the upcoming holidays, and how I need to make some soaps for gifts. But what kind of soaps? What scents? What colors? Which techniques have I been wanting to try out?

Last year, I made a Pumpkin soap and a Gingersnap soap. This year I thought, "Why not combine the two and make a Pumpkin Gingersnap soap?"

And I have been wanting to try the Celine Swirl for a while and decided to give it a go. The Celine Swirl is named for its inventor - the talented and inspiring Celine Blacow of i am handmade, a Dublin-based artisan bath and body product company.

To do the Celine Swirl, you basically layer two or more colors in the mold and then use a spoon to scoop the soap from the bottom to the top, twisting your wrist as you go.

To make my 3-pound batch, I brought the soap to trace and then portioned off about 12 ounces of soap. For the colors, I chose Cappuccino Mica and Gold Sparkle Mica, both mixed with a bit of liquid glycerin to work out any clumps.  I added the gold mica to the 12-ounce portion of soap, and the cappuccino mica to the remaining soap.

Because both the Sweet Pumpkin and the Gingersnap fragrance oils discolor soap brown, I left the12-ounce gold portion unscented. I added the fragrance oils only to the cappuccino-colored soap.

Once the soap was at a medium thick trace, I poured about half of the brown soap into the mold. Then I spooned most of the gold soap on top of it, being careful not to break through the layer below. I layered the rest of the brown soap over the gold and banged the mold on the counter a few times to release any air bubbles.

Then I grabbed a spoon, pushed it into the bottom of the mold, and scooped the soap up toward the surface, twisting my wrist as I scooped. I did this along both sides of the mold and once down the center. Be careful not to swirl too much!

I had reserved a bit of gold soap and drizzled it over the surface once I was done swirling. After the soap set up some, I used my spoon to push the soap around on top, giving it some texture.

Here is a video of the process:


The Celine Swirl turned out pretty cool! And it definitely smells like the holidays! Gingersnap and pumpkin scents are always a hit at Christmastime, and this soap combines both beautifully. Just need to make sure that no one tries to eat it!

What scents are you all using in your holiday soaps this year? What are some of your favorite autumn and winter fragrances?

36 comments:

  1. I dig the swirl - very cool. I want to try this with a couple of colorants that I got as samples - some vibrant blues and yellows and stuff. Thank you for the video - I always want to watch more videos of people actually doing soaping things, but every time I think to go on YouTube it's, like, 11:30 at night and Mama's gotta sleep sometime.
    I was fortunate to have a break between clients and I spent it the best way I know how - watching soap videos!

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    1. Thanks, Lindsey! The Celine Swirl is a fun technique. Blue and yellow are so pretty together - can't wait to see your soap! And thanks for the kind words about the video. I'm glad that you enjoyed it! It is always helpful to actually watch someone do something. It's easy to spend a lot of time on YouTube watching soaping videos!

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  2. Love those autumn soaps -- both the colors and the scents!

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    1. Thanks, Mom! I think you'll particularly like this soap - it combines two of your favorites!

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  3. Your soap looks and sounds really good! And don't you just love the Celine swirl? :-)
    I've never used mica, but I am currently looking at the huge selection offered by the Conservatorie. Would you have any tips on coloring with mica? Does your gold mica produce a sparkly gold effect? (Can't tell from the photos).
    One of my favorite holiday scents is a combination of peppermint and vanilla. I have yet to use my pumpkin spice fragrance, but honestly, I am still traumatized by the cranberry marmalade I soaped with when I was not well. It is actually a very nice scent but it became offensive to my sick nose. Thank God I am fine now. :-)

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    1. Thanks for your comments, Silvia! The Celine Swirl is fun. I find that I have to use a lot of the gold mica to get it to turn out a sparkly gold in the finished soap. Otherwise, it gives the soap a nice pale gold or creamy yellow color. Some micas are good in CP soap, others not so much. Micas can sometimes morph in CP, so it's good to experiment and find out from the vendor what to expect. I'm glad that you are feeling better now. I know what you mean about some scents being hard to take when you're sick. Peppermint and vanilla sound very nice together, and Pumpkin Spice is always a crowd-pleaser!

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  4. Jenny those 2 scents together sound amazing! Thanks so much for the video....the Celine Swirl has been on my todo list for awhile!

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    1. Thanks, Gloria! Pumpkin and Gingersnap are so nice together! I'm glad that you enjoyed the video. I can't wait to see your Celine Swirl!

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  5. Oh my, Jenny, I can't even imagine how good that must smell! And it came out beautifully--love the swirls! (I think I made it through summer still alive, too!) ;)

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    1. Thanks, Amy! The soap does smell fantastic. I love how it turned out, too. The Celine Swirl is a keeper! Glad that you also made it through the summer! :)

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  6. The soap turned out so grate, I whish I could smell it!

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    1. Thank you, Gordana! The fragrance combination is wonderful!

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  7. I wish I could smell it too! I like the Celine swirl because it makes a beautiful soap so easily. And your turned out super beautiful!

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    1. Thank you, Marika! I'm very happy with how this soap turned out, too. The Celine Swirl is a fun and easy way to make a beautiful batch of soap!

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  8. Yeah,Celine has a few simple techniques to make her soaps looking wonderful. I've tried this one quite long back and it's always good choice to make when things turn unexpectidly ,lol!
    Your soap looks so cake-y, I believe it smells so, as if it could warm you up in a cold winter day!

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    1. Thanks, Maja! The scent combo is very nice, and it definitely makes me think of autumn and winter! The Celine Swirl is a great technique, and it would be especially handy for times when things don't go according to plan. You can still make beautiful swirls even if your soap accelerates!

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  9. I think it's a blast combining FOs....really turns it in to something uniquely yours. Your swirl turned out fantastic. Love that technique...so easy to do and works so well with thicker traced soaps. I love your posts...so detailed!

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    1. Thanks, Cindy! I'm glad that you enjoy the posts! I like playing around with fragrances, too, and coming up with fun combinations. I'll definitely have to play with the Celine Swirl some more, and I'll have to keep it in mind for the times when my soap gets a bit too thick for ITP swirls. It's nice to know that you can still make swirls even if your soap batter traces quickly!

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  10. Your soap looks good enough to eat. I bet it smells like it too. I have the mica colors and will have to try this easy looking technique. Thanks for another enjoyable video.

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    1. Thank you, kaytique! I'm glad that you enjoyed the video. The soap does look and smell good enough to eat! The Celine Swirl is a fun and easy technique. Have fun!

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  11. Gorgeous as always Jenny, and your soaps looking good as well. :D The Celine swirl is beautiful and your videos are always so clear at explaining how to do things. Gingersnap and pumpkin, sounds super yummy. It's going to have people thinking about fall comfort foods, that's for sure.

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    1. Thanks for the compliments, Monica! I'm glad that you enjoyed the video. Pumpkin and Gingersnap are wonderful together - it definitely smells like a holiday dessert!

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  12. Thanks for introducing me to another technique! I am trying this one very soon. I totally wish I could smell that soap!!

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    1. Thanks, Sue! I really like this scent combo. Have fun with the Celine Swirl - I can't wait to see your soap!

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  13. It looks so delicious, so chocolate ;)
    A nice idea to combine pumpkin and gingersnap in the same soap.
    And love the video, I admire you for the lovely way you present your videos!

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    1. Thanks, Natalia! The scent combo is wonderful. And thank you for the compliments on the video - I'm glad that you enjoyed it!

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  14. Oh I bet that smells heavenly! I love the celine swirl - not difficult to do but looks really effective. I've just made up an EO blend that smells pretty 'holiday season' - Orange, aniseed and clove. Hoping to make some kind of Christmas Cake soap with it tomorrow - just trying to work it out in my head!

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    1. Thank you, Vicki! Your scent combination sounds amazing! Orange with clove always makes me think of the holidays, and I'll bet the aniseed compliments the blend wonderfully. I can't wait to see your Christmas cake soap - that sounds like a neat project!

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  15. Great idea Jenny i love the mica soap lines in the swirl ... I did last year a pumpkin soap too, with little pumpkin faces, the soap smells like cinnamon, ginger and of course pumkin ;)

    My favorite winter fragrances are parfum with fir, mistletoe, chocolate, orange, peppermint, honey, snow (fresh dupes) and so on...

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    1. Thanks, Krissi! Your pumpkin soap sounds cute, and I'll bet it smelled delicious. Those winter fragrances are all wonderful. I especially love peppermint, and I usually make a soap with a snow-type fragrance for the winter. I like Christmas tree-type fragrances, too, for the holidays.

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    1. Thank you, Anne-Marie! The pumpkin and gingersnap smell awesome together!

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  17. Ohhh, pumpkin and gingerbread would be AWESOME! Two of my favorite fragrances together :D Great soap Jenny, you did a beautiful job on the Celine swirl!

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    1. Thank you, Cee! Pumpkin and gingerbread are great autumn scents on their own, and they are wonderful together. I really like the Celine Swirl, too!

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  18. Jenny, it looks beautiful. I bet it smells GREAT!!! xoxox Adina

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