My love affair with the tilted tiger stripe all began with Diva Soap‘s Savanna. Ironically, Maja was avoiding a tilted tiger, so with her usual panache, she came up with something all her own – a cross between a modified tiger and a zebra swirl.
I had never tried the modified tiger stripe before, but the tilting action Maja described in her comments section intrigued me. After my first try, I was hooked! October’s Soap Challenge Club, featuring a similar technique – the Dandelion Zebra Swirl – provided a temporary interruption and a good comparison. I felt that the results of both techniques were very close (click here to see if you can tell the difference). I seem to have better luck with the tilted tiger and I find that it is less messy to work with.
I used Black Raspberry and Vanilla for my first tilted tiger stripe. It was also my first time to use BRV. I lucked out because it was so well-behaved. It smells like grape and cassis, but I can’t pick up the vanilla, so I’m renaming it Black Currant.
I love the way the stripes and the purple came out! It was my first successful purple after many failed attempts. I would probably still be stuck in my color rut (here and here) if it weren’t for Amy Warden’s post, Coloring Your Cold Process Soap.
Still scented with BRV, here is a variation I made by swirling the stripes with a chopstick:
And another BRV, with tilted pink stripes and normal purple tiger stripes:
Giving BRV a rest, I made a tiger-looking soap scented with Orange Chili Pepper:
Next, I wanted to try out Cucumber Wasabi. Just like BRV and Orange Chili Pepper, it behaved perfectly. I love green scents but this one smells too much like a vegetable. It makes me a bit sad that this beauty smells weird – not bad, just weird – and has pimples! I think though that it would work well in a blend.
I went ahead and blended Cucumber Wasabi with some Orange Chili Pepper. It smells better, but I should cut down further on the Cucumber Wasabi. I tried to do what Maja did – tilt, pour some of the base soap followed by alternating half of the colored batter, turn around the mold, tilt again, then finish pouring alternately the rest of the soap batter.
I have moved on from my tilted tiger stripe addiction but I know I will be back for more. Is there a technique you are addicted to? 🙂