Mountain Sunset Cold Process Soap

Welcome to Fairmount Soapery, and my first soap that has gone into our shop.  The inspiration for our Mountain Sunset soap was a particularly pretty and fiery sunset over the mountains as I drove home from work.  In the winter the mountains of east Tennessee tends to lend us some gorgeous sunrises and sunsets, and the way the sun plays with the clouds makes for a wonderful array of pinks, reds, and oranges over the beautiful green mountain.

First let me address the logo you see in the image above.  The first name I had for my soapy business was Signal Mountain Soap Company, but I decided to change that up before I got too far along in promotion.  The new name of my business is Fairmount Soapery which is named after the street my grandmother lived on.  When I was growing up I spend most of my days at her house where we would spend the days baking and cooking.  Obviously the name gives me fond memories, and I look forward to making more memories with the name.

*All Micas and Titanium Dioxide are from TKB Trading.  Activated Charcoal is from Bramble Berry

The colors I used for my base mountain layers were from TKB Trading and was a massive hodgepodge of shades which I will list below.  To create the soft rounded mountain look that look similar to the mountains in this area I took split the entire batch into two halves and set the portion I was using for the sky to the side.  I colored the entire second portion with the colors for the mountains and blended with the stick blended until it was around a medium trace before I poured it
into the mold.  While that was thickening in the mold I added titanium dioxide to lighten the layer.  Once the bottom layer was thick enough, I textured the top with a spoon and then poured the next layer which had thickened due to the titanium dioxide so I was able to texture it.  I moved all of this to the side and mixed up the sky colors.  I poured each of them together to create an in the pot swirl, and I poured it on top of those two base layers while it was at a thin trace which created a stunning swirl that is made up of a bunch of thin layers.

Finally the top.  The top was created using a mica drizzle with the remaining colorant that I had mixed up for the sky.  I swirled the top with the pipette that I was using to drop the color on the top of the loaf.   I finished everything off with a generous spray of rubbing alcohol and I put the loaf to set up for a few days.

At this moment I am not using water discounts, though I will likely play with one in my next batch.  With this particular loaf I didn't experience any soda ash; however, I have had some in other recent batches.

The fragrance oil I used for this loaf was April Showers from Crafter's Choice which can be found at Wholesale Supplies Plus.  This fragrance oil just smells so fresh and clean to me and it played so nicely in this process.  There was no acceleration nor did I experience any discoloration or ricing.  The scent works so fantastically and it is one of my favorite scents for a shower.

The recipe I used for this batch will be below the video; however, I have changed it a bit since creating this soap.  The bars are quite nourishing and I have found the best way to create the big bubbly lather with it is to use a washcloth or a loofa.





*If you have never made cold process soap or handled lye please refer to the link below for more information.
Free Beginner’s Guide to Soapmaking: Cold Process

If you are interested in a bar for yourself you can find them here.  Overall I love the way this turned out, and it was exactly what I was going for.  If I were to change anything about this soap I think I might make the base of the "sky" a lovely blue and have the fine swirls of the red, orange, and pink in a smaller quantity going through it.  What do you think?