Soap batch #3: Unmolding time!!!

The past two days have gone by rather slowly, as I have been eagerly awaiting the time this batch with lavender essential oil and lavender buds would be coming out of the mold! Since I used a smaller recipe, this soap didn't completely fill up my 4 pound mold, so this batch is a wee little short one. ;) Each piece is 2.5 inches tall or slightly less...

Below is after I had popped it out of the mold. My excitement was building! I couldn't wait to cut these babies! Oh, did I mention this soap smells WONDERFUL?!? It's like visiting the botanical gardens!

Since this batch was shorter, I cut each bar slightly wider than usual. Each bar was a little over an inch and I cut 13 total this time (I usually get 16 bars).

Below is what the bars look like after they had been cut. To be honest, I was rather disappointed with each cut because the lavender buds in between each bar ended up sliding out of the soap and left these weird lines. :*( Any fellow soapers out there have any tips on how to NOT get these lines? I'm going to ask my trusty source, Bramble Berry. Anne-Marie is always so kind and helpful. :)

Here's another shot below with the lines... If you are wondering why there are little yellow spots, that's where the lavender buds were before coming out with my knife. Since the buds are organic material, they will always discolor the soap right around them.

Here's a shot of the bars on my drying rack! I know what you're thinking... I need another drying rack because I now have TWO batches squished in tight quarters to one another! I know people talk about scent swapping, which is a real thing (I have some going on right now in my bathroom cabinet!). This is when the soaps take on one another's scents at some point because they are too close. My guess is that the brown tropical vacation scented soaps on the right will take on the lavender scent because it's stronger... I decided to re-arrange my soaps after these next two pictures. ;)

front view of my little soldiers lined up and ready for battle!

Here's after I re-arranged the soaps. I feel much better having them like this on my drying rack. :)

I honestly want to make another batch tomorrow, but I have nowhere to put them! It may be time to drive on over to Goodwill and try to find some cheap racks and other supplies!

I was also rather excited today when I found out (10 months late!) that one of my plaid soaps was featured in a blog post on the Soap Queen website! Here's the link.

Enjoy, and have a great weekend! :-D