Dinos in Transparent Soap - Soap Challenge Club

This month I couldn't help but join the Soap Challenge Club because they were teaching techniques to do transparent soap base from SCRATCH. You read that right, that means you can make your own melt & pour style soap at home. Wild, right?!

Soap Challenge Entry Photo

As, I'm due any time now with our second baby I knew I wanted to get the materials and get the base done but wasn't sure I'd be able to get the colored and designed soap entry in. But as long as I finish this blog in time (and before I go into labor) I'll have done it!

Here are most of the ingredients used in this soap base. (We also used granulated sugar (which I keep in a giant vat at my house), and lye.

The process was relatively simple, I managed to get it all done in the microwave! But I think a double boiler would have been just as easy, really.

After I made it I knew the base was a little too yellow from the sugar syrup melting, but I could have corrected with some purple water based colorant (I did so when I re-melted portions for my design). Another way to help keep it more clear would have probably been using a finer grind of white refined sugar, closer to caster - but I would have just blitzed it in my high speed blender to refine.

I decided to do dino themed embeds with some shimmer mica dry brushed on to help them stand out inside their transparent and colored landscape. I added a larger glitter in the clear parts to up the sparkle. I think these soaps will go over really well with my 3 year old! (Although he'll be sad I didn't make gummy (bear) dinos with them like I have in the past!)

I believe I would have liked to tweak my process and layers in any future attempts (using more clear before the embeds, not adding color so soon, maybe using more clear in general). I loved using the Instant Pot on "warm" around 145 degrees Fahrenheit to keep my melted soap in the right range to use with the pipettes. I used 99% isopropyl alcohol to help with the melting process. I used liquid water based colors, and my glitter and shine comes from the sugar art.

Here is a sped up video to show how the layering process went (I got a phone call at the end but I mostly just finished the bars off with a clear semi glittered layer).

If you're interested in making transparent soap from this recipe, check out the Soap Challenge Club and choose the membership that allows you to access previous month's tutorials!

The design like this is built up in reverse so you can’t see what the front looks like until you unmold.

My son is so sad that these are soap and not "jellies!"