The Beauty of Imperfection: Part 1
Why the “oops” moments matter
Soapmaking, like life, rarely goes exactly as planned. One of the things I love most about this craft is how even the mistakes can teach me something — and sometimes even lead to unexpectedly beautiful results.
I haven’t had too many true disasters, but I’ve definitely had my fair share of humbling moments. There was the time I completely forgot to add the olive oil — and ended up with a loaf of soap that was lye-heavy and unusable. Another batch never hardened at all because I miscalculated the lye. Those are the kinds of mistakes you’ll never see on my curing racks — because they never made it that far.
But most of the imperfections I deal with aren’t total failures — they’re surprises. Swirls that didn’t swirl, colors that morphed, or designs that didn’t match the idea I had in my head. And honestly? Some of those “off-script” batches have turned into soaps I’ve come to love.
Take Gaelic Waters, for example.
I had originally planned a soft, swirling pattern meant to evoke an Irish meadow — something gentle, grassy, maybe a little floral, similar to the picture on the right.
But the colors had a mind of their own.
What I ended up with looked more like a stormy sea than a green meadow. So I embraced it, renamed it, and Gaelic Waters was born.
This past week, I’ve been working on something completely new: shave soap. Let’s just say the learning curve has been... real.
The first batch seized up the moment I added the lye — rock hard, stuck to the bowl, and glued onto my poor immersion blender. (It took ages to clean that mess!) The second batch held together better but was so thick I had to spoon it into the mold like mashed potatoes. The third batch finally had the consistency I wanted — but just as I was moving the mold to cure, the bottom fell out, and soap went everywhere.
But here’s the good part: Batch four worked. And batch five worked too. I think I’ve finally found my rhythm — and I can’t wait to share these new shave soaps when they come off the curing rack.
Batch 5
Curing. Still not perfect, but I think they are beautiful.
You should have seen batch 1!
If there's one thing I’ve learned, it’s that perfection is overrated. Sometimes, the best things come out of the unexpected — if you're willing to stick with it and let the process teach you. That’s the real beauty of imperfection.
