Shot Glass Swirls

I read about creating swirls by pouring over an object inside a mold so I thought why not try it with two shot glasses?  First, I forgot about the suction once the loaf pan was filled and had to use my bartender spoon to scoop out the glasses. Below are the first couple of layers.  I added one tablespoon of alkanet root powder (mixed with castor oil) to two cups of the mixture; and 2 tablespoons of lavender essential oil to the entire batch (smells lovely but too strong - hopefully the scent will soften during the curing process).

29 hours later I unwrapped the loaf of soap and eagerly sliced a piece.  I used a vegetable slicer to clean up the top as there was a thin layer of ash as I didn't cover it completely.  Ash isn't a big deal as once you use the soap in water, it washes off.  I really like the layers of gray-purple lines.  You can see the round spot on the side where I scooped the shot glass.

Here's a picture taken outside in daylight for better view of the colors. 

If you look closely at this piece, you can see specks of the alkanet powder.  I personally like it but next time I'll strain it to see just how much smoother I can get the color.

The layers remind me of seashells - here's a picture I found online for a comparison - so pretty! 

Here are the bars of soap all lined up.  Again, you can see the places where the soap got sucked into the shot glasses as I removed them from the mold.

One note I made during this process is to let the soap trace a little thicker so it pours slower to prevent blending.  I had a lot of fun with this experiment and can't wait to make another batch with three layers : plain, alkanet and madder root.  Don't know what scent I'll use - maybe a combination of lavender and geranium rose.