Happy New Year, everyone! Can you believe we are already 2 weeks into 2014?

As soon as registration for Amy’s Soap Challenge Club opened, I immediately signed up. I felt it was a good way to start blogging again for the New Year. Just like most people, December all the way to early January is always a busy time for me, but I didn’t expect nearly a month would pass in between my blog posts. Aside from the holiday gatherings split between Cebu and Manila, my husband and I also attended a wedding and a funeral.

I was really excited to find out that January’s featured technique was the Taiwan Swirl. I have never even tried doing the simpler Mantra Swirl but I’ve always wanted to learn it.

I’m so glad I chose to use the wooden slab mold over my usual log mold. I didn’t want to have to split my soap horizontally and risk having no design for the bottom half.

I think I am in love with the Taiwan Swirl. I find it so pretty and I can just stare at it for a long time. I will be honest though and say that it was not love at first sight. The first one I made had a yellow base, and pink and orange stripes. The pink and orange didn’t have enough contrast and ended up blending with one another, looking like it had no pattern. I know I should take photos of it, but with the weather wet and dreary, the more I am in no mood to do so. 23˚C (73˚F) is about as cold as it gets here and I am totally relishing every minute of it.

So this is what love at second sight looks like:

I am in love with the scent too- a combination of neroli and grapefruit F.O.s. I made soap with the same fragrance last July and it still smells dynamite! I am calling it Puppy Love because it smells fresh and innocent, and reminds me of children’s cologne.