Thank you, Possum and Soapbuddy. Possum, I let my lye water cool to a temp of 107 and my oils were 103. I wanted to try the new neroli and Shea blossom I had just gotten but split it with Cedarwood atlas as it was a non accelerating woodsy smell(and I really really dislike the first said frag. but ordered like 4 oz of it before I knew) and I didn't have enough middle or base notes that 1. I wanted to try with first said fragrance and 2. I needed to have something that didn't excellerate because I want to try the Taiwan swirl. I had plenty of time to work and could have taken another 5 min or so to work with the soap. I want my first trial and error cp soaps to benefit me with a wealth of info and not just the fragrance this time, the color next time, the technique the other time.
so I get called the mad chemist when my hubby walks in if I'm soaping as my chemical gloves, goggles, respiratory mask, make me look like I'm not the farmers wife, lol
but I'm having fun, taking notes, learning, and enjoying myself. I love your in the pot swirl in your first pic. Can't wait to try that technique but not ready to move on from what I'm working on at the moment. For your second one, would it have helped if the temp of your lye water and oils were cooler before you mixed them? I don't know enough to hand out suggestions though.