My pictures probably don't show it very well, but I have big splotches and crazy patterns throughout. I love it! I'm sorry I don't have any good pics, computer change etc. It's a very green soapstone. I haven't oiled it since I've gotten it, but when it was freshly oiled it was much darker.

I really love the veins and variations in the stone...I'll try to get new pictures soon.

Oooooo I LOVE these photos! Beautiful! Thanks for posting them! Really helps me to visualize what mine may look like. Nice to see the green showing, too. One of the slabs I'm considering looks a lot like donka's, and there was another that looked more like plllog's except they it was from a Brazilian quarry.

I'm curious, plllog and donka -- where did you buy your slabs? Do you know what kind of soapstone it was sold as? (Beleeza, Minas, etc) Donka -- how long has your soapstone been in place?

Mine is Julia and it is quite green:
{{!gwi}}

What a gorgeous countertop, marita40! Loving that green!

I've noticed M. Teixeira is no longer showing Julia among their collections.
I've also been hard pressed to find it listed with other soapstone companies
lately. I wonder if the stone has been quarried out? Anybody know?

My soapstone, Green Mountain Original PA, primarily reads black. But, then there are the occasional outbursts of green-blue-caramel rivers of veining that change in intensity under various different light conditions. Even these photos don't tell the whole story:

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

I tried to get Julia a few months ago, and was told that it was no longer readily available from several places. *sigh* Marita-- yours is gorgeous! I still love my counters (Barroca) but wished they had a bit more green like Julia.

Well now I'm confused. The "Green soapstone" (apparently from Brazil) slab that I fell in love with at a local slab yard I'm told might not be true soapstone after all, although they look very much like the counter top in Donka's photo. The fabricator I'm going with (who specializes in soapstone) directed me to another slab yard today and they had two nice green stones with gorgeous veining. One was called "Sensa" and the other was "Original Classic", though I know these names often don't mean much. But while these two were green and gorgeous, they were also MUCH softer (very easily scratched and gouged with my fingernail, while the first slab was much harder and could not be scratched except with something metal) AND they were much much more translucent to the point of looking waxy (the first slab was not).

Are your soapstone counters translucent? Are they so soft that you can not only scratch them with your fingernail, but even remove something more like a deeper gouge?

My soapstone -- Beleza from Dorado Soapstone in Austin, Texas -- reads mostly black and is sort of blotchy, with some relatively minor veining. It does have a green undercast in some areas, which is more pronounced in certain lighting, like direct sunlight. It is quite hard. I definitely couldn't scratch it with a fingernail although it will scratch. And I wouldn't call it translucent. We've been using it for nearly two years and I've buffed any minor scratches out with a green scrubby pad.

Mine's definitely not translucent. The only translucent parts are the quartzy-white veins and this one big vein I have that looks like green and white beach glass. It's super hard. I've scratched the counter, but it took me dropping a chef's knife on it to do it. I couldn't scratch it by normal means.

If I were you, I'd probably go back to the first yard and spend some time stroking the 'maybe' soapstone. Even though mine is hard, it still has that silky, talc-y, tactilely wonderful feel to it that I didn't get when feeling anything else besides soapstone. That might be your answer right there.

K, just took some pics, don't mind the mess! Yesterday the island was a bakery, today it's a potting station :)

This is a pic of my vein that looks like beach glass (at the back - pic doesn't do it justice). I just noticed the whiter part of this vein is getting scratched, it must be softer than the rest.

Super close up of a black veiny part:

Corner that seemed to lose it's 'oiled-ness' faster than anywhere else (yes, I'm making up words :)

Island shot, again, please don't mind the mess! Making tortillas and planting seedlings has made for a busy couple days :)

Hope that helps!

This is so much fun for me to see the pictures of soapstone. It is the same with my own pictures I try to take for customers. If you compare the pictures they each look different. Some greener, some more grey, some black, it all depends on the lighting, the oiling process, how much patina is on the stone. . . . then again, if you have soapstone you wouldn't say it looks like anything a picture would capture. . . so much fun!

Wow -- the famous florida josh! :) (I've read so much about you and your soapstone mojo -- be watching for a "help me with my soapstone" message from me someday!) Donka -- great pictures. What's that reddish color on the island shot? One of the slabs I looked at had some rust red in it (though only scattered speckles) and I've been tempted by the uniqueness of it. Your soapstone looks a lot like the beautiful green slabs I've got on hold.

Spent all day conducting tests on my three samples -- the one I like best (that I was warned might not be soapstone, but the guy who said that hasn't seen the slab yet), and two more samples I picked up today of the for-sure real soapstone. I've been scratching them, sanding them, leaving wine and blueberry juice and vinegar to dry on them, and then oiling them and removing the oil from them (with rubbing alcohol -- seemed to work) and then oiling them again. As far as I can tell, they're all stain-resistant, scratchable/sandable (to varying degrees), don't etch from the vinegar, and all make a very talc-y powder when I sand the heck out of them. If my favorite of the bunch isn't true soapstone, then it sure seems to have the properties of it.

I took a photo earlier of the three samples (shown below). Is it any wonder I love the emerald green one and not the two waxy-looking ones?

My Finland Green is from Marble Unlimited in ... Van Nuys? Los Angeles area, anyway. It's very hard for soapstone. It doesn't ordinarily scratch, though you probably could if you tried really hard. When I was getting samples, the guy banging off the corners was able to mar it with his hammer, but just a bit. There's no oiling, and it has a leather finish (that's what they had and I like it). Not translucent. Looks more like your bottom piece.

plllog -- I also noticed that when I sanded the darker emerald green sample the dust was green, too, like with your beautiful Finland stone. With the other two stones the dust was more white.

Im new here so first off I want to say hi to everyone!!

I have Green Minas soapstone for my island and I absolutely love it!! It hasnt lost any of its green, and although it is not blotchy it DOES have beautiful white veins running through it that seems to make the green pop even more.

I noticed some of you talking about how hard Julia has been to find and I was a bit surprised as the soapstone company that I got mine through still has it, which had been my second choice! The owner there called me recently to make sure everything is good and see if he could get pictures for his website. If any of you are near the Sac area the company is called Teresina Soapstone and its in Rocklin, Ca, I dont know if they would ship it out to you but they were super easy to work with. Hope any of this helps :)

Ill try to post pics of my island later, the pics arent saved to my work computer heheh (yes I should be working)

tatter-funny you should mention the green fading. It seems like mine used to be slightly more green, however my soapstone has never read green. I wonder if it has to do with the particular slab itself. When we were picking out soapstone I had a sample of Original Green from Pental and it was very much green. Well, that is the soapstone we went with and it is not nearly as green as the sample-it reads dark gray/charcoal with the slightest green undertone. I love it. It seems very hard though I do have scratches that seem to blend with the veining. At night when the halogen recessed lights are on it has a bit more of a green hue. Sorry these are not pics of blotchy green soapstone, which are obviously beautiful, but they may help with your decision!

Not sure if there is a pental in your area but I've provided the link below that shows their different soapstones. I'm not sure if they have them in stock or if they can order any one of them.
oiled

Here is a link that might be useful: Pental's Soapstones

janetlovescooking -- I just checked out the Teresina site and I love that green minas stone! I'm having my fabricator contact them to see about purchasing some. A few questions for you -- the person I talked to at Teresina said the green minas stone wasn't the hardest soapstone out there. What is your experience of your stone? Can you scratch it easily with a fingernail or do you really have to dig hard to make a mark? Also, I was just reading about some soapstone varieties having issues with water rings. Can you tell me more about your green minas? I'm thinking I might go for that stone, as well. How long have you had it installed? And who would you recommend working with at Teresina? Oh, and one last question (if you don't mind all these questions!), I'm in Seattle so would have to have the stone shipped. Do they have a lot of it in stock? Are the slabs all very different (some with lots of veining and some not)? I'm wondering if I should use some frequent flyer miles to go down to pick them out in person.

megpie77 -- Thanks for the Pental link! I visited their warehouse in Seattle and while they had the biggest soapstone selection in Seattle all of their stones were gray/black. One was SORT OF green, but only very minimally. I really really want that deep emerald green you see sometimes in soapstones.

I have "Green Soapstone" that is actually granite. It was labeled such at the Granite Gallery. It is honed granite that looks very soapstone-like with green blotches and white veins. If I knew how to post a picture I would.

Tatter- I dont mind the questions at all :)

Ive had my soapstone for about 7 months now and I remember them telling me it wasnt the hardest stone out there either, in comparison to the Julia and Beleza I think which both looked a little to dark for my taste, but personally Ive only had a few run ins with scratches, nothing majorly noticeable and although I dont do it very often they are easy to get out with sandpaper and a coat of mineral oil. You definitly dont have to worry about finger nails scratching it. I was worried about this to and they gave me samples to take home and beat up to see for myself. I would call them and maybe they can send you some????

Its a small company I think there is only 3 or 4 people that work there but I worked with Ben and Carrie who were both super friendly and helpful.. and believe me I asked a ton of questions during the decision making process. As far as what they have in stock you would have to talk to one of them :)

Its up to you on flying down there to look at them but I always think seeing it in person makes me feel more confident in my choice... Id be worrying like crazy till they were installed if I didnt see them. :) :) Hope this helps Tatter!!

Tatter - what did you decide? I am also in Seattle and am just starting to look for soapstones. Who is doing your fabrication? Shoot me a private email! Thanks! Diane

Hi Dianelouise

I sent you a looooonnnnnngggg email :) And I just now updated my Gardenweb profile to include the "email me" option.

Janetlovescooking-I hope you can post some pics of your green minas counters. I have a sample that was just whacked off of a slab and I think it is gorgeous but it has so many cracks and different minerals running through it. I'm wondering if your counters are very busy-lots of movement? I like that about it but wonder how easily it would crack or chip. Perhaps it is just the piece I have but I wasn't sure. I have been trying to talk myself into something more like Beleza. Thanks

I'm in San Diego and trying to make a similar decision, only my husband isn't as crazay about the green hue and wants something more black and white. Any recommendations?

rebeccagardener -- Have you checked out Soapstone Werks in Escondido? Isn't that near San Diego? I know they have a couple of black variety stones there.

We also put in green soapstone from Finland. It is a bit harder than most and is a dark slate green. It looks very similar to plllog's pieces. It has mossy like veins. I love it, no staining and leather look and feel. We wanted slabs with no seams as the island and window wall pieces are both straight runs. The island is about 115 inches long and we could not get black venata, original choice, in long enough piece w/o a seam. See link for pics (in progress). Thanks for sharing.

Here is a link that might be useful:

UPDATE -- I've finally chosen my slabs. I'm getting the Green Porto soapstone from Soapstone Werks in Escondido, CA. One of the slabs is pictured below (the color is a bit washed out due to the direct sunlight). It's shipping next week. It's truly a beautiful stone, and I have nothing but the highest of praise for Wendy and Greg of Soapstone Werks. They were so helpful through the whole process of choosing a stone. Can't wait to see this gorgeous slab on my counter tops! I'll be sure to post more pics when it's in.

That's a beautiful piece of soapstone. Love the veins. Can't wait to see it installed.

Wow...that is some HOT looking soapstone! LOVE your slab!

Oh I love these pictures of soapstone! I love the one with the red/rust in it, never saw that before. Tonight I will dream of that counter as it would be perfect for my kitchen. Would anyone know the names of the stones with that color? Do the stones with red/rust only come in green stones? In all my reading I have never come across that coloration...I'm getting that warm fuzzy feeling and think thats the one.

There were a couple threads above where people were asking about Julia soapstone. I to was very interested in the Julia soapstone (went with something else) and when i went to Dorado they showed me a piece that was very similar. It was called Ipannema... it beautiful but we decided to go with the traditional black soapstone. Jterrilynn - As far as the red soapstone i saw Copper and Gold flecks in a couple slabs at the Dorado Soapstone in Austin. If you have not already choosen you slabs you might want to give them a call. I have been to their Texas and Colorado locations and impressed by both locations.