First Attempt at a Peacock Swirl

I've seen the peacock swirl around in the soaping world, and while it is gorgeous and produces amazing looking bars of soap, I've always been a bit hesitant to start such a complicated-looking technique. I love beautiful, bold swirls on the tops of soap (so much that I bought a mold just so I could do them!), so yesterday, I decided to bite the bullet and try a peacock swirl.

First, I watched this video by LovinSoap about 10 times in a row.

Then, I attempted the swirl using my 9 bar mold from Brambleberry.com and Blackberry Sage Fragrance Oil  from AromaHaven.com. I chose this mold because it gives me lots of room to swirl on the top of my soap, and I chose this scent because it does not accelerate, giving me plenty of time to work.

And here are my results:

I like the swirl and it is very pretty, but it is not in the classic peacock, or bouquet.

I think I have identified two problems with my first attempt:

1. My lines of soap in the beginning were more thick than I have seen others do. I think I need to thin out my lines, which will give me more room to have more lines and more swirl.

2. I drew my S-curve very wide. Next time, I am going to tighten up that curve, hopefully giving myself more swirl per inch.

All in all, I am pretty happy with the soap, I love the colors and the scent, and the swirl isnt terrible for a first timer. The soap gelled overnight, so the green and purple really pop next to the white and black. I have some new fall and winter scents coming in next week, so I'm looking forward to practicing this advanced swirl a few more times! Plus, I am going to get some help from a friend of mine who is an expert at swirling and marbling paper! Go check out her Etsy shop here: DynamiteFibers