Experiment with transparency

I have been experimenting with making "home made" transparent soap for the past 2 months. My first attempt didn't really work, the soap is nice to use, but looks really milky. The second attempt was more successful, with the help of the Miller Soap page I figured out how to modify a recipe so I could use 151 Proof Alcohol instead of the required 190 Proof, since it is now illegal to sell 190 Proof in Florida. On the third attempt, I made my own formula, using Shea Butter and Apricot Kernel oil and it worked! (amazing!)

With this batch, I wanted to see if I could pull some of the soap mix out of the pot and layer the different stages through which the soap has to go in order to become transparent. I did have a little difficulty figuring out a recipe, the most complicated part was figuring out how much solvents needed to be used, once some of the soap stock was out of the pot. I was not sure it would be successful, I didn't care really, I just wanted to try it. This page is the result of my first try, as you can see, it was a success, although I would like the layers to be a bit neater... but it worked, and that's what counts! This is the most complicated soap I have made so far, it took me the whole evening, about 6 hours total, but I am happy, I pushed my limits as a soaper, and I was successful :)

This is the soap after it was cut, but not trimmed yet, the first layer is CP and looks pale green, the second layer is HP dissolved in Alcohol, without the sugar syrup (darker green) and the last layer (red) is the transparent soap. I scented everything with AWB Cucumber/melon FO, that was the inspiration for the color choices. I added Jojoba oil and Sweet Almond oil to the CP layer in order to superfat it, since the formula for transparent soap does not allow for a lye discount. It may not be the prettiest soap I have ever made, but it sure is the one I am the most proud of!.