The soap challenge this month involved learning a fun new technique called the Tall & Skinny Shimmy. In my first attempt at this technique, the soap got a bit too thick on me. And thick soap just doesn’t shimmy. In my second attempt, I used natural colorants and essential oils that were more conducive to a slow trace along with a really slow tracing recipe. :)
Recipe
Olive Oil – 42%
Sunflower Oil – 10%
Coconut Oil – 25%
Organic Sustainable Palm Oil – 15%
Avocado Oil – 5%
Castor Oil – 3%
Colors
I used varying amounts of Indigo Root powder mixed with Indigo infused Olive Oil to achieve various shades of blue. I also added a bit of Activated Charcoal to one of the blues to get a darker navy blue. The first part of my video (below) shows how I mixed the colors.
Video
I made a video of my entire process, from mixing the colors to cutting the soap. Instead of pouring solid colors all at once, I decided to attempt a layered color shimmy using different shades of blue.
Here’s a photo of my first failed attempt at the Tall & Skinny Shimmy using Moringa powder, Indigo root powder, and activated charcoal.
Thank you for reading my post!
Wow, Holly. If we weren’t doing a shimmy design, your first soap would have been pretty amazing as well! Love your choice of colors and the layered shimmy design ended up absolutely amazing!!
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Thank you so much, Amy!
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This looks perfect! Love your use of natural colorants, congratulations!
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Thank you, Natalia!
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LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this – not only is your soap GORGEOUS but, hey sister – I have been struggling with natural blues.
I, too, tried a version of this challenge using only natural blues (woad and indigo) and got…gray (though to be fair, the pattern was interesting).
You’re use of color and design is INSPIRED!
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Thank you so much, Lisa! I’ve never used Woad powder before but really want to try it. Thank you again for your sweet comments!
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Beautiful Holly! Love the natural colours too. Great shimmy💕
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Thank you!!
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Absolutely beautiful! I love your entry.
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Thank you so much!
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Love it!!!!
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Thank you, Jolene!
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The layers and the shades of blue are just magical :)
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Thank you so much!
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Holly:
Beautiful soap! Nice shimmy & great color combo!
I love that you have the 3 thinner lines, followed by a thicker layer…now I want to try that!
Sly
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Thank you! :)
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Nice job! This color layering reminds me almost of Natural Agate swirls. I also like your first attempt – it is very pretty too. : )
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Thank you, Eva!
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Stunning, Holly! I really like using indigo, and the layers of colour you’ve used in this design really shows it off at its best. Love it!
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Thank you so much, Debbie!
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Hi Holly! You made very nice choices of colors. So glad it finally worked. they look beautiful.
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Thank you so much!! :)
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Love this Holly, great job
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Thank you, Sherri!
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Very beautiful shades of blue! Natural colours are so elegant. Great soap!
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Thank you!
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Wow! I love your use of natural colors to achieve such levels of loveliness! Perfect shimmy.
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Thank you so much, Teressa!
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I love your design and choice of colors- you get such fantastic results with natural colorants! Beautifully done!
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Thank you, Beverly!
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Such an elegant soap! And it was a joy to watch the video. You did a fantastic job!
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Thank you!! :)
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My goodness, Holly! Even your failed attempts are stunning! Now I have no doubt whatsoever that you never do make an ugly soap!
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Oh Debi, thank you! You’re so sweet to say that. I have definitely made my share of ugly soaps. :)
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Oh wow. The layering is amazing!
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Thank you!
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Very cool colors, a neutral palate – love it!! Your shimmy is magnificent! job well done!
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Thank you so much!
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Lovely colours and a great shimmy – beautiful!
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Thank you, Vicki!
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i like this indigo shimmy soap. i wanna know why you mix those natural powder with botanical oils.
is that a better way to darken those powder ?
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Thanks, Mandy! Yes, I was trying to get a darker color without adding a lot more of the oil to the soap. Thanks for asking! –Holly
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why didn’t you just add those powders into the liquid? that’s also could dye it.
does it a good way to have some bright colours to mix powders with some oils than just purely add some powders into soap liquid?
i also want to do the handmade soap but i didn’t know we also could mix powders with oils to get a better colours.
i’m come from eastern country and i’m stunned the way you did it cause i bought a lot of handmade soap failed to discover those amazing transformation swirl soap tips just as you did it. even though there’s some swirl soap videos from Taiwan in youtube, it’s just not as good as yours.
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