Turning my bucket list trip to Norway into a swirled cold process Northern Lights inspired soap

In early January 2023 I was lucky enough to complete a trip of a lifetime to Alta in Norway to complete a host of arctic adventures, including Northern Lights chasing.
On my third night into the trip, I was treated to the most spectacular display of the Aurora Borealis. The colours of the night sky were mind blowing and magical and when I came home I knew that I wanted to celebrate the moment in soap.
For today's design, I have worked from one of the photos that I took in Norway and tried to recreate the magic of the Northern Lights in cold process soap form. I have created my own scraper tool for this design and have used a combination of soap scraping and drop swirling to create today's design.
It is scented in "Christmas Tree" by Candleshack as this beautiful pine fragrance really evokes memories of the pine forests that I ventures through while away.
If you wish to recreate our soap, the following recipe is what we used and will fill a 5lb loaf mould (there will be some soap leftover, which can be decanted into another mould to avoid wastage).
Layer 1 (bottom layer with trees silhouette):
Sodium Hydroxide 109g
Water 160g (use more water for a soap that doesn't trace so quickly, up to 218g)
Olive Oil 340g
Castor Oil 57g
Sweet Almond Oil 99g
Coconut Oil 184g
Shea Butter 75g
Cocoa Butter 38g
Activated Charcoal Powder 8g
Fragrance Oil (Christmas Tree by Candleshack) 20g
Layer 2 (swirled top layer in 3 colours):
Sodium Hydroxide 163.5g
Water 240g (use more water for a soap that doesn't trace so quickly, up to 327g)
Olive Oil 510g
Castor Oil 85.5g
Sweet Almond Oil 148.5g
Coconut Oil 276g
Shea Butter 112.5g
Cocoa Butter 57g
Once you have the soap at a light trace, split into 3 portions, one containing 50% of the batter and two each containing 25% of the batter.
Then add:
To the 50% portion:
Starry Night Mica (Resin8) 6g
Purple Passion Mica (Soaposh) 2g
Activated Charcoal Powder 1g
Fragrance Oil (Christmas Tree by Candleshack) 15g
To the first 25% portion:
Pistachio Mica (Soaposh) 3g
Fragrance Oil (Christmas Tree by Candleshack) 7.5g
To the second 25% portion:
Lime Mica (Soaposh) 3g
Fragrance Oil (Christmas Tree by Candleshack) 7.5g
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[@luna18midnight]

Ohhh. To see the northern lights, is also on my bucket list. And the soap looks really beautiful. 💚 💙 🖤. Our goal is to travel more! At least weekend getaways once in a while.

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Thank you :-) Yes, I would love to travel more too, I have so many other places on my "to visit" list! Weekend getaways sound like a brilliant place to begin :-)

[@traceyjackson8552]

Oh I love these soaps, so personal to you, the Northern Lights are on my bucket list too! They are amazing, so pleased you had a great time and thanks for sharing x

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Thank you Tracey :-) Yes, they are one of the most personal soaps that I have created and I am so pleased with how they turned out. Good luck in getting to see the Northern Lights one day, they are amazing :-) x

[@pammathews7211]

I went to Alaska as one of my bucket list and saw the lights. You really captured the essence of the northern lights. Great job!

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Thank you Pam, that must have been absolutely magical! I would love to visit Alaska, but I am definitely too much of a scaredy cat to do a trip that far away by myself!

[@joannelishman204]

Looks fab! you've captured the colour and movement beautifully!

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Thank you Joanne, I was concerned before the cut as to whether it had been too thick to swirl properly, but I actually think it worked out quite well! :-)

[@HisLivingWater]

Lovely adventure for you and Great looking soap❤.

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Thank you, yes, it was truly amazing :-) Thank you for your kind comment on the soap :-)

[@triplegoddesssoapery]

That’s so gorgeous! I live on Vancouver Island, and occasionally they say we can see the lights here, but I never actually have!

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Thank you :-) Yes, they say you can sometimes see them from the UK too, though a lot more further North than where I am! I had relatives from Scotland who said they had seen them from there before.

[@NaturalMackie]

This is a pretty good representation of the Northern Lights. We also call it the Aurora Borealis in Canada and it’s a bucket list item for me too. You did a fantastic job! 🥰

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Thank you so much :-) I hope that you get to see the Aurora one day and check it off your own bucket list!

[@Hilary_ClarbySoaps]

How fabulous, great job 👏 😍

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Thank you Hilary :-)

[@boop7313]

That turned out pretty spot on! I was worried when it started to thicken up. I loved hearing about your trip too & how awesome you got to do that, well done!☺

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

I was worried too! Calm on the outside but panicking on the inside! It was the most amazing trip and I would do it all again in a heartbeat :-)

[@antoinetteeast1827]

Love your channel, looking forward to the upcoming natural soap videos. Cheers Antoinette from Darwin Australia

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Thank you, we thought we would go back to doing a few natural videos as we haven't focused on them for a while and we have missed doing them!

[@belindawakeling7946]

Very excited to see upcoming videos. I make goat milk soaps down in New Zealand

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

I find Goat's Milk soap making to be really rewarding and of all the soaps we make, the Goat's Milk ones are my favourites to actually use on myself!

[@debbyflowers1488]

Love the video! My bucket list trip is to England!

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Thank you Debby :-) England has some beautiful places to visit and lots of fascinating history. I may live here, but there are plenty of corners of this country that I haven't yet visited and would love to!

[@tassiegirl1991]

Full of envy pur boat had mechanical problem so never made it up to see the northern lights. Still on my bucket list but been to Norway twice so maybe I won’t get to fulfill that dream. Thanks for sharing photos. Liked the soap too.

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Never give up on that dream! It was my first time in Norway and I did go far North (inside the arctic circle) as that increases the chance of the lights making an appearance (so I am told). I was lucky to see them on my third night there. Such a shame about your boat but crossing my fingers that you have another chance to get there and see them :-)

[@lovelylandscape]

Link to soap cutter ?

[@eprohoda]

hey- The.nice chnnel, ciao.)

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Thank you :-)