Soap Challenge 2013 - Week 4

We've made it to the final week of the Great Cakes Soapworks 2013 Soap Challenges and this week's featured technique is Leopard Spots.

I thought it would be fun to change things up and reverse the color scheme, so rather than the traditional leopard look, I'm going for lighter spots on a darker background.  Activated charcoal was used for the base soap, while the spots consisted of uncolored soap and soap colored with turmeric powder.  The soap is scented with essential oils of tea tree and chamomile.

Piping the spots...

This was my first experience with any soap piping, so that was a bit of a crazy adventure!   Of course by the time I felt like I had a decent grasp of it, I had used up all the soap in my freezer bags. :)

Here are a few of the different bars, post-cutting...

I was at a friend's milestone birthday party/cookout last night.  Maybe grilling is still on my mind, but I think the big upper LH spot on this soap below looks a lot like a hot dog + bun...  not exactly what we're going for, but pretty funny.

I have mixed feelings about how this one turned out - I generally tend to prefer more of a modest/simple/clean look.  However, it will still be (in 4 weeks) a wonderful, fully-functioning artisan soap chock full of coconut oil, olive oil, avocado oil, and shea butter!