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My Gem Soaps have been on TV home shopping networks
and major retailers like Free People and Urban Outfitters
as well as dozens of small shops world wide.
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My Gem Soaps have been on TV home shopping networks
and major retailers like Free People and Urban Outfitters
as well as dozens of small shops world wide.
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE
Hello friends,
I often do demonstrations at soap making conferences. One of the most popular classes is for making my gemstone soap rocks. Today's blog post is drawn from the handout notes that I offer to soap makers who attend my presentations. Through the years, I have emailed these notes over 1700 times to soapers who have requested them and my blog post tutorial has been viewed over 100,000 times. Today I share them with you.
Tiger Eye
Amethyst Geode Raw Crystal
Lapis
AquamarineFollow standard procedures for working with melt & pour soap (MP).
You will need:
· Transparent Glycerin Soap Base
· White Glycerin Soap Base – if desired
· Colorants – micas, oxides or liquid colorants
· Essential or fragrance oils of your choice
· Rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle
· Melting vessels (microwaveable plastic or Pyrex pitchers)
· Variety of "molds" – margarine, cool whip, gladware/ziplock bowls
· Toothpicks, silicone or rubber spatula, knives, peelers, scrapers etc.
Melt & Pour Glycerin Soap
You can use any brand of melt & pour soap, whichever is your favorite. I use the clear for most of the gemstones. The opaque stones, like the turquoise and jade, are made with white base.
I don't add anything to the base except for color, fragrance and occasionally exfoliants. Make sure you are using a good quality base. Adding oils, butters, glycerin etc will not improve the soap, harden the base or increase lather. The soap is called melt & pour, it is ready to use as is. Adding oils and butters to a saponified base (MP) will result in those additions being "free" oils in the bar. If you feel the need to enhance the base to make it better, you need to find a new base. If you want to create something more luxuriant with fine butters and oils you should be formulating cold process soaps where you will get the benefits of the saponified fatty acids.
Colorants
I prefer to use micas in the gemstone soaps. They offer a wide spectrum of hues and provide a variety of gem like effects including pearlized, solid, metallic and glittering. I have over 50 micas that I use for stones. Occasionally, I use oxides (lapis is ultramarine blue) but they don't blend as well as the micas. Always use skin safe colorants.
Liquid colorants and dyes are used on a limited basis because of the migrating or bleeding. There are times that you may want the migrating colors. Take note of the black veining on the lapis picture(below). This effect is created with liquid colorants. I make watermelon tourmaline by making the layers dark green, clear and dark fuchsia. I know the colors will migrate blurring the "line" of the layers. If you see real watermelon tourmaline it has that gradient look so liquids work well for that stone. I also use liquids if I want a clear stone like emerald or ruby. I use the rock base, with pearlized matching mica and top off with the clear that is colored with the liquid. The liquid color will migrate but it is not as noticeable as the other layers are dark or similarly colored.
Liquid colorant is also used in the turquoise and jade soap as I use white base and micas don't work as well with the white base. They need the transparency to really sparkle and you cannot get a vibrant deep gem quality color with the white base and micas.
Liquid colorant is also used in the turquoise and jade soap as I use white base and micas don't work as well with the white base. They need the transparency to really sparkle and you cannot get a vibrant deep gem quality color with the white base and micas.
Any skin safe essential or fragrance oils can be used. Be sure you follow the manufacturer's directions for safe usage percentages. You will want to be wary of any fragrances that will morph your colorants. The most common offenders are fragrances with vanilla. A good fragrance supplier will tell you in the product description if the color will cause browning. There are vanilla color stabilizers on the market that work most of the time.
Step 1: Components
To make shades of colors for your stones, just color the MP with the lightest shade you want, pour 1/3 of it into a mold, add some more colorant to deepen it, pour ½ of that into another mold then darken it further to get your third shade. You can also do a solid, a pearl or glittery in the same color family.
I use lots of browns, bronzes, blacks, etc for the base rocks and the contrast that surrounds the gemstone. Since I use that for just about every stone, I make up several molds of those colors as well.
When the soap has cooled, remove it from the mold. I use a variety of tools like knives, ice cream scooper, melon baller, dough scraper, large forks, etc. to get chunks of MP ready for the rocks. Small pieces, especially those used for the rock base, can be made in the food processor (I recommend a separate processor for soap). I like my dough scraper best, just slice it up and chop to the desired texture. Cut large chunks with a dough scraper then carve the individual pieces with a vegetable peeler to get a natural rounded look to each piece. In nature, you find very few straight edges. Keep the scraps from carving; you will melt them to use when assembling your stones.
When you are ready for the more advanced gems that are set in quartz, you can make the chards as well as the crystals. The clear shards quartz-like supporting the crystals are the same for all projects so I make a lot of that. I usually melt clear MP, add a tiny amount of snowflake, or silver, or pearl mp and let it harden. Then using the dough scraper I cut in into fine shards. The crystals are cut individually.
I store all the cut up components in zip lock bags. This step is the most time consuming. Once you have these pieces ready, you can make many dozens of gemstones in a couple of hours.
Step 2 Creating the "master" block
I suggest starting with a basic gemstone rather than the more elaborate crystal museum type of stones.
You can use just about anything for a mold as long as it is flexible enough to remove the finished soap. I have custom-made silicone molds that I use, but I started with cool whip, margarine, zip lock/gladware type containers. You will have a little more waste with these types of containers as you will have to cut away the edges to get rid of the shape of the bowl. With the smaller square zip/glad containers you will get 3 to 4 small stones.
You really can't go wrong with these so use you creative side to make each stone unique. The following directions are just a guideline. Feel free to experiment.
Basic soap rocks:
I start by placing enough black/brown base rock in the bottom of the mold to make a layer, as thick or thin, as you like. I generally prefer a thin layer. Melt some clear MP, you can add a little sparkle if you like, it is best to use a mica that is more individual sparkles than a pearl or solid one. Spritz the soap chunks with alcohol, and pour the very hot MP over the rock base. I like to have just enough melted soap to hold the chunks in place without covering them completely so you don't have a flat layer/line.
Allow soap to cool until quite hard, but not necessarily fully hardened. I think you get better adhesion between layers if you don't completely cool it. I use hot MP, you may have a little melting of the previous addition but that give it a more natural flowing appearance and less chance of separating layers. Always spray components and layers with alcohol.
I like a few large chunks of dark stone to serve as an "imperfection" in the rock. I place these in the mold on top of the rock base. Melt some dark MP, spritz the chunks with alcohol and pour some hot MP into the mold, just enough to cover half of the black/brown chunks. While it is still hot start adding your larger pieces of the color gemstone pieces that you carved earlier. I use variety of sizes and shades. Fill the container about 1/3 or the way full and press down firmly. Some of the dark liquid MP will surround the colored. Continuously move the mold around until the soap thickens to a gel, allowing the soap to form an undulating layer of molten color on top of the bumpy layer.
This give you the look of uneven layers like you find in real gemstones. Allow to cool. One nice effect is to pour a contrasting color onto the previous layer, again moving the bowl around to create another uneven layer.
If desired, you can: add pockets of shards, clear or base rock strategically placed throughout the stone; use a paintbrush to dust metallic mica between layers; or sprinkle a few grains of poppy seed, cornmeal, jojoba beads into the clear layer to replicate imperfections in the stone. Using very hot MP will melt some of the adjoining soap to create a marbling effect. Another interesting effect is to roll some of your "component" chunks of soap in metallic mica before putting it in the mold.
You can add some veining with pieces of a sheet of black, gold, silver, copper or white MP over or in between the pieces. Nature is random. Don't strive for perfection! Now put in some more pieces of gemstone. Repeat the process until your mold is full.
Step 3: Carving
Once your master block is completely cooled, you can unmold it. Decide how many stones you can get from this block and make your first cuts with a large knife. I usually cut on an angle to create more visual interest.
The next step is to use a paring knife to carve away the basic shape. You don't want to have any signs of the original container. First, decide if you want a crystal like cut or something rougher. For the rough cut just cut away the container shape at random angles. Carve away until you are satisfied with the shape.
For the crystal cuts, I start by making angled cuts on the edges to get beveled edges. Cut and bevel all the sides. You can be as elaborate or simple as you like with the facets. Fine-tuning can be done with a peeler.
The carved soap may be a little dull from handling, if so, spritz it with alcohol to bring back the sheen.
If you have any tiny holes in the stone, highlight them by brushing metallic mica into the crevice. You can create crevices with the point of the knife, peeler or chopstick. Use a good paintbrush with a chisel point to "paint" the crevice with mica. If the mica doesn't want to stick to the soap, spray the brush with alcohol before dipping it into the mica. One tip for getting a clean edge on your metallic mica fissure is to paint in the color, then using the peeler or knife slice away a very thin layer of soap. You will end up with a striking sharp edge with the gold/copper sparkling inside.
Advanced techniques - Museum pieces
Crystal formation soaps that replicate museum quality gemstones can be made using the same techniques as the basic soap rocks. These are not really user friendly as soap goes but they are fun for the "Wow" factor.
To make the aquamarine stone, I made sheets and "sticks" of MP by pouring a layer about 1/8 inch. I colored it with mica and used an eyedropper to drop in tiny amounts of darker colors to get the shading. I unmolded it and cut it into strips then filled a cup with the sheets and sticks. I then filled the cup with melted MP (slightly cooled so it didn't melt the sticks) unmolded and carved out the shape I wanted. Then you just place the finished crystal into a bed of "quartz" MP. The quartz is just clear MP colored with snowflake or pearl mica, shredded in the food processor and cut in to shards with a dough scraper. I used a small round mold, poured in hot MP to act like glue to hold the pieces together while letting the sharp soap shards to stick up out of the melted MP. After cooling, remove and roughly carve so it does not have the "bowl" shape.
The amethyst and emerald and ruby formations are done the same way. Carve the crystal elements separately and hold together with shards and hot mp. The Tiger Eye & Malachite are done one layer at a time. Malachite is dipped in layers. The veined lapis rock was made by using a large fork to chop up the component chunks creating the craggy edges. Another layer of "dirty" soap made with cornmeal, seeds, etc can be added to the outside to add another dimension by melting MP with the additives and dipping the piece into the slurry until the desired effect is reached.
The geode is a great way to use up all the scraps you will have after the hand carving. The center is the same shreds used for the "quartz" held together with melted MP, like making a snowball. I melt the other scraps to get the colors for the layers. It is messy but I use my hands to dip the center in the melted MP, smoothing and dipping over and over again until you get the desired effect. It takes a while but uses up everything so there is no waste. I finish by dusting metallic mica on the outside and when cooled completely, cut in half or quarters. I use a fork or chopstick to roughen up the quartz center to give a more crystal like appearance.
Molded raw crystal soaps:
Have fun, email me some pics of your finished gemstone soaps!
7 chakra crystal soaps
Thanks for visiting,
Bonnie
Gemstone Soaps Rocks available for purchase www.alleghenyhearth.com
Reader's Comments
By Guest on 03/24/2015 @ 03:41amHello! -- I just found your site and read over your wonderful tutorial. Thanks so much for sharing! I was considering making my own soaps and this has been truly inspiring. PS -- I read through all the comments, particularly the one years back regarding your mom, and while late, I just wanted to send a special heartfelt thought your way.
By Guest on 02/09/2015 @ 03:57amThank you SO MUCH for posting this. Your work is gorgeous. I've wanted to try this technique, but have been unable to really find one posted, until I found this! I'm very excited to try!
By Soapsmith on 04/02/2014 @ 12:06pmHi Whitney, thanks for your generous remarks! My amethyst gemstone soaps are hand carved individually and others are cast in molds. The amethyst with the tall crystals is a mold, the other amethyst piece that is a cluster of crystals is all hand carved. I make some of my own molds with silicone from actual mineral specimens so they are realistic looking. I have also purchased molds over the years, some I have had for decades. The ones that are individually hand carved are not offered for sale. They are just too time consuming to be profitable. I have done them for demonstrations and presentations for soap making conventions - just to show what can be done.
By Guest on 04/02/2014 @ 05:59amThis is so great! You are so talented and seem like you have the biggest heart - it's really wonderful to browse your site :) I'm just wondering on your Amethyst Mineral type soaps, how do you get the bottom layer to look so realistic (rough,jagged and 'rock' like)? Is this with a cutting tool or is some type of hold? Thanks again! Whitney
By Guest on 02/13/2014 @ 08:32amI swear I had watched you do a tutorial on how to make these lovely gemstones. I don't mean this written tutorial but one you appeared in person talking us through a demonstration. I was so glad, unfortunately I was in a hurry and forgot to save it. Now I have spent many hours searching to find it again. can you point me in the right direction? Yours are by far the most beautiful and your video was excellent---smiles jboracle350@msn.com
By Guest on 11/12/2013 @ 05:09amWhat an awesome tutorial - thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and great info!!
By Soapsmith on 08/17/2013 @ 12:13amI get my mica on line from many different suppliers. Many times I mix them together to get the shade I want. The companies I use the most for mica are: Supplies by Star, Nuture Soap Supplies, TKB trading and the conservatorie. I also get some from brambleberry, wholesale supplies plus, the chemistry store. Just make sure you purchase from a supplier for skin products, not paint or ceramic companies. Sometimes, I adjust the colors by adding the mica then a drop or two of liquid colorant to get the right shades. The best metallics for me come from Supplies by Star - copper penney, golden sunshine, bronze goddess, sterling silver for example. I would guess that I have about 50 different micas and colorants.
By Guest on 08/11/2013 @ 04:43pmi tryed it nice
By Guest on 08/03/2013 @ 11:10pmI want to make these badly, but for some reason I'm having difficulty deciding on which micas to purchase. In your picture above, rotating around the black and starting at the 6 o'clock position with the mint blue, then the deep blue, then the red, and then the bronze. I like all those colors, but am having a hard time finding them on your website. Where would you suggest I look for these, and do you know the name of them?
By Guest on 07/27/2013 @ 10:38pmAnyone can get the recipe, but only the right ones will be able to perform it correctly. You are gifted !
By Soapsmith on 03/04/2013 @ 01:30pmYes, you can click on the "home" tab near the the top of the page on the left or you can click on some of the photos or several links on the page. All of them will take you to my Artfire.com studio where they are for sale. www.soapsmith.artfire.com Thanks
By Guest on 03/04/2013 @ 12:10pmJust came across your blog Do you sell these?
By Soapsmith on 02/28/2013 @ 03:16amThanks for your generous remarks. I don't use shrink wrap, I prefer AEP stretch wrap because I have control of the stretch. For the highly detailed soap, the shrink wrap doesn't work well because it shrinks unevenly. You can see how I wrap in my other blog post tutorial = How to wrap handmade soap. If shrink wrap works well for you that is what counts, what ever gives the best results. For me, it is the AEP wrap.
By Guest on 02/28/2013 @ 02:46amYour work is amazing. I tried to make them and I was pleased with my outcome. I had a great time. Thanks for your tutorial. I wanted to ask you what you thought about shrink wrapping the gemstones. I use shrink wrap for all my melt and pour soaps. Thanks again.
By Guest on 02/26/2013 @ 11:17amThis is just what I have been looking for after extensive combing the web. You are very generous to give these step by step complete with photos. You make beautiful soaps. Maybe you might consider making a video and selling the video. I would by it for sure.--smiles Jboracle
By Soapsmith on 02/19/2013 @ 11:45pmThanks for your kind remarks. You made me smile! I don't have any classes scheduled at this time. My insurance carrier requires that I only teach in an approved lab environment with proper safety equipment so I am limited to offering classes for groups large enough to justify the rental costs for an approved classroom. Right now, there isn't enough interest for a full class. Just this past week, I had to move my semi invalid Mom into my home as she needs round the clock care now. Things are quite hectic as I work full time, plus my soap business and now I am providing all the care until we can get in some part time help to handle some of her care. Many days I am functioning on less than 4 hours of sleep a night-overwhelming! I will keep your contact info should I have a class available anytime soon. I often do presentations on the soap rocks at soap making conferences but until things get set with my Mom, those are on hold as well. Sorry, I can't be of help at the present time. Bonnie
By Guest on 02/19/2013 @ 11:32pmI would love love love to take a class from you. Have always wanted to make this kind of soap. Please let me know when and where you teach. Suzannerosenbaum@rocketmail.com
By Guest on 10/19/2012 @ 12:32amThank you so much - so generous of you to give a tutorial and cover the details that make the difference between blah and amazing. Great tutorial.
By Seabreezejewels on 09/07/2012 @ 05:46pmAmazing, I am going to have to try to do this! Thank you for sharing your information.
By Soapsmith on 08/21/2012 @ 02:06amThanks for the compliments. To make a sliced agate, I would do a transparent block in your center color or clear. Carve the basic shape that you want for the center. Then work dipping it in various colors to create the effect of an agate. It takes some time to build up the layers but it would work. Once you get the whole thing layered, you would slice it to the thickness. This type of gemstone takes the longest time because the layers build slowly, but it can be done. You can scroll up to see my Malachite rock or my geode soap with the red center, the process would be the same. I cut them in half but you could just slice it when you are finished. Hope that helps.
Information you sharing in this blog is very valuable. Thank you for sharing information. I am working professional in a company of gemstone dealer in India.
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