For this red rose embed melt and pour soap, I made little clear red roses, green leaves and gold balls, then set them in crystal clear soap with a white back. Usually I make embeds from opaque base, so this was an experiment to see if clear embeds in clear soap get lost. They don’t! The gold really pops. I’d just change the background next time.
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Materials & Tools
Soap Base
- Low sweat crystal clear melt and pour soap base for the embeds and the front, about 2½ oz per bar plus a little for the embeds
- Shea butter melt and pour for the back layer
Color & Scent
- Red Strawberry, a green and King Midas Gold (or any gold) mica from a Stardust mica set or individually
- A citrus fragrance oil in the white back layer only (I used Yuzu Cybilla)
Tools
- Small rose / flower embed mold
- Leaf mold
- Ball embed mold
- 6 cavity soap mold
- A removable spatula and a silicone mat
- Skewer for scoring
- Spray bottle of 91% isopropyl alcohol
- Thermometer
- Pour cups
Fragrance Amount
Use up to 5 ml of fragrance oil per 16 oz (1 lb) of soap base. For a small back layer, that’s only about 1 ml. Keep fragrance out of the clear soap so it stays clear.
How to Make Rose Embed Soap
1. Make the Embeds
Melt a little clear base. Mix each mica with alcohol and stir it in. Pour gold into the ball mold, red into the rose mold, and green into the leaf mold. Scrape off extra with a spatula and save the scraps for later. Leave the embeds unscented.
2. Pour a Thin Clear Layer
Melt the clear base slowly so it doesn’t overheat and cloud. Pour a very thin layer into each cavity and spray with alcohol. This side becomes the front of the bar, so the closer the embeds are to it, the better you’ll see them. Don’t score this layer, or the marks will show.
3. Place the Embeds
At about 138°F, pour a tiny bit more clear soap. Spray the embeds with alcohol and set them in: gold balls first, then roses and leaves behind them. They’re slippery, so don’t fight them too much or you’ll cloud the soap.
4. Cover with Clear
Pour a little more clear soap to cover the roses and lock everything in. Spray with alcohol.
5. Add the White Back
Score only the areas that won’t show from the front. Melt shea butter base, add fragrance, and pour it at about 127°F to cover the back. If a leaf pokes through, you can plane it off later.
6. Unmold
Let them set for a couple of hours, then unmold. The gold balls really pop, and the clear roses and leaves still show nicely.
Tips & What I Learned
- Clear embeds don’t get lost in clear soap. They still show well.
- Gold pops the most. Put it toward the front.
- Don’t score the front layer. Only score behind the embeds.
- No fragrance in the clear. It makes clear soap cloudy.
- Try a colored background. I’d change the white back next time.
Troubleshooting
The clear soap went cloudy. It was overheated, scented, or the embeds were moved around too much.
Embeds tipped over. Pour a little soap first so they have something to stick to.
A leaf poked through the back. Plane or trim it off after unmolding.
FAQ
Should embeds be clear or opaque?
Both work. Opaque embeds look pastel, and clear embeds look like stained glass.
Why not leave the back clear too?
You’d see the back of the leaves and embeds. An opaque or colored back hides them.
More Embed Soap Ideas
- Rose Embed Melt and Pour Soap
- Mini Rose Embed Melt and Pour Soap
- Easter Egg Melt and Pour Soap
- Valentine Rose Melt and Pour Soap
- All my melt and pour soap tutorials on YouTube
If you make this, I’d love to see it! Tag me on Instagram or Pinterest, and subscribe on YouTube for new soap tutorials.
