Pina Colada Twist

Remember those little pineapple ice-cube molds that I found last weekend? 

I finally got a chance to put them to the test this weekend:   

They worked like a charm, but then I was stumped as to what kind of soap to make for these pineapple embeds. I knew I wanted to use aloe vera juice, and then I remembered that I had bookmarked Kendra’s (Amathia Soapworks) ‘Defying The Rules Of Soapmaking’ post several weeks ago. She breaks 3 rules of soapmaking with this 100% coconut oil recipe (and who doesn't love breaking rules?!), and she uses aloe juice for the liquid...perfect!

I was a little concerned about trying to swirl a soap that was made with only a hard oil, but it turns out my fears were completely unfounded. This soap stayed fluid longer than any others I’ve tried; plenty of time for coloring and swirling:

Normally anything over 30 or 40% coconut oil would be drying for the skin, but because this is superfatted at 20%, Kendra explains that it results in a hard bar with lots of lather that doesn't dry out the skin. This method would be very similar to the ones I've seen for salt bars - a high % of coconut oil with a high superfat. 

I didn’t have enough of any 1 fragrance to use for this size of batch, so I blended 4 fruity fragrance oils and ended up with a delicious blend of pineapple, banana, mango, grapefruit, kiwi, strawberry and persimmon - a twisted Pina Colada (thanks Marika for the name help!):

This soap sets up quick, so needs to be removed and cut within 6 to 12 hours. I used a divider mold and had no problems removing the soap.

And while I was snapping pics yesterday, Roxie was posing so nice in the sunshine that I couldn't resist sharing:

Happy Father's Day and hope you all have had a great weekend!