Entry thread for SMF July 2023 Challenge – More Fun with Color: Pick a Side

[Mobjack Bay]

This is the entry thread for the July 2023 SMF Soap Challenge – More Fun with Color: Pick a Side. As a reminder, this entry thread is for challenge photos only.

Please post any and all comments to the general challenge thread, here.

As a reminder, the first photo in your Entry thread post will be used as the entry photo. The entry photo must show the full face of at least two of your cut bars. You are also required to include a description of the three or more colors (hues) you used in the soap. Please refer to the competition rules, here, if you have any questions in general about the challenge requirements or about how to provide the colorant information.

Your entry post may also include additional photos and information about your design, process, fragrance or inspiration. Special note: We love to see your soap photos, but please keep photo dimensions in mind when posting. Photos that appear full screen size on a laptop or desktop screen may exceed the dimensions of an iPad or tablet screen by 2x or more, which makes it harder for some of us to enjoy your entry soap photo the way you intended.

The entry thread will remain open until July 26th at 11:59 PM GMT. Soon thereafter, voting instructions will be sent to eligible registrants only, by private message via SMF conversations. Please check your SMF messages when the voting begins. Voting will remain open until July 29th at 11:59 PM GMT. The winners will be announced by July 31st by 11:59 PM GMT. There is no prize attached to this challenge.

Good luck to all!

P.S. Please remember that each participant will need to look up the correct time for the location where they live. Here is a link to one mechanism for determining the time in your time zone versus GMT: GMT to CST Converter - Savvy Time

 

[CLMP]

Well I'm completely excited about this entry it turned out even better then I could have imagine. Since BC in Canada has been on Fire around my little City and it's been like walking through thick fog. So I decided to make my own Flame Thrower soap. I don't have any tools that they use on YouTube to make fire soap so I decided to try a Mantra Swirl with a flat dry wall pencil and then went over it again with a marker. It gave wonderful results in stead of looking like a mantra swirl it looks so much like flames. So this is my Flaming soap I obviously chose the warm side lol. I chose to use a wonderful scent called Calypso Sun FO that smells and soaps so wonderful I was in heaven it came from Candora. For my hues I chose red Trial By Fire pigment Mica, yellow is just Yellow Mica and for orange I used Orange Oxide. These colors come from Suds n Scents. I also put Colloidal Oats in my soap and Poppy seeds in just the orange color to make it look like sparks or ash flying out of the flames which looks so cool but it's hard to see them in my photos. I also poured my soap free hand with no dividers. So here it is!

 

[basti]

Cool team reporting for duty

Earlier this year, I went to Iceland! It's a lifechanging place and completely indescribable. I can't think of a place more strange on this earth. It feels like you've stepped onto an alien planet. I loved it.

I've wanted to make an Aurora Borealis soap for awhile, even before I went to Iceland, and the color scheme restriction for this challenge was the perfect opportunity to go for it.

The mountain was inspired by Stapafell, a mountain on the Snaefellsnes Peninsula. It's said to be home to Huldufolk ("hidden people"). Folklore dictates that it's very rude to throw rocks because you might accidentally hit a hidden person with it. And the last thing you want to do is anger the supernatural. That rocky fellow in my above photo's name is Bardur Snaefellsas, a half-troll half-man who lives in the stratovolcano on Snaefellsnes Peninsula and keeps the surrounding villages safe. Snaefellsjokull hasn't erupted in nearly 2000 years, so he's clearly doing his job well

My Colors Used (Nurture Soap)

• Mountain: Activated Charcoal (black), Celestial Silver (light blue-grey)
• Sky: Klein Blue (blue) mixed with Activated Charcoal (black) and Mystic Blue (blue-toned enviroglitter)
• Aurora: Neon Green (green), Synergy (blue-green), Neon Purple (purple) mixed with a little Brilliant Blue (blue)

My fragrance of choice was Beneath the Stars by WSP. I waffled about what fragrance to use and the reviews mentioning acceleration and ricing worried me. But ultimately I decided this was the best choice "sniff-wise" for this design. I had very minor acceleration in the mountain but none noticeable in the sky. I think the acceleration in the mountain actually helped because I didn't put any fragrance in the black batter and I really think it added nice rocky detail.

Bonus soap tops

 

[Georgeandstella]

Me again, I wanted to get my entry in before I got too intimidated by the other entries (but I’m 2 too late )

I chose the cool side and made a line pour, using a light green, blue and purple. There is a little white in there also.

Still working on technique but it was a lot of fun and I learned a lot.

Colors (NS micas-Hello Spring (mixed with a little blue and TD), blue vibrance, purple vibrance and TD.)

 

[McKherring Farm]

Well...here we go. I noticed I tend to hang on the cool side of things when making my soap - or painting my walls - or the clothes I choose...so, I decided to challenge myself and go for the warm side of things. It took me four tries - two ok, one absolutely ugly, and this one. As I mentioned on another thread, I have had some new cracking issues I've never dealt with before. Luckily, I was able to fill in the cracks with some of the scrapings from the edges and it really isn't noticeable.
I used magenta mica, merlot mica, queen's purple mica (all from Brambleberry), pink magenta mica (created by adding sparkling snowflake mica to magenta), and sparkling snowflake mica. The soap is a cold processed goat milk soap with an essential oil blend of grapefruit, rosemary, and lemongrass.

The inspiration comes from an incredible sunrise that I witnessed while driving in October of 2022 north of Rawlins, Wyoming. We were on the road well before dawn on a very isolated and empty road when I looked in my mirror and saw the most incredible colors in the sky behind me. Of course, we stopped and I grabbed a picture. Those colors were there for just a few minutes and then gone as the sun rose. It was something to see!

 

[2lilboots]

This was a cool experiment. I used OO, CO, PO, and Castor Oil. No butters. Total oils 21 ozs. I used NG Coconut Lime Verbena fo. I used green, teal, dark green, blue, sky blue, sea blue, blue violet, and purple mica. I was trying to do a kaleidoscope swirl, but wasn't successful. The green mica seems rather yellowish. Some of the other colors just disappeared. I did add a small amount of sugar and sodium lactate to my lye water solution.

 

[Georgeandstella]

Me again, I wanted to get my entry in before I got too intimidated by the other entries (but I’m 2 too late )

View attachment 73739View attachment 73740View attachment 73741I chose the cool side and made a line pour, using a light green, blue and purple. There is a little white in there also.

Still working on technique but it was a lot of fun and I learned a lot.

Colors (NS micas-Hello Spring (mixed with a little blue and TD), blue vibrance, purple vibrance and TD.)

It was suggested that I post more pictures with better lighting, sorry I couldn’t edit my post so here they are:

 

[Momma Hoot]

When my niece asked me if I had any soap that she could have, I mentioned to her that I could make her her own as she loves exfoliating bars, and fruity fragrances. Most of the soap I make for myself does not have much of either, ie) natural fragrance vs fragrance oils, and smooth and creamy. So when I looked up this months challenge I saw a way to join in some fun, and play with colors that I normally would not have used. I trend towards cool colors, and as I wanted to use Manchurian dragon for this challenge I thought the warm colors would work nicely. So I designed this soap with the sunset/sunrise in mind. I'd seen a few videos where colors were transitioned slowly back and forth and thought I'd give it a go. And this is what came out. I used some charcoal and pumice so there is some graininess, but that's what she likes. And I used a basic yellow, orange, red and black mica (w/charcoal) for the warm colors.

 

[Tammyfarms]

I decided on warm colors and flower blossoms as the flowers in my yard aren’t very impressive this year. Colors used were Jazzberry Red, Electric Orange and Lemon Yellow with a neutral base. As the batter was coming together I had a few minutes of concern as the yellow briefly turned green. I continued on and thankfully the yellow turned back to yellow.

 

[dmcgee5034]

Welcome to the Cool Side of the color wheel…… the Green - Blue/Green - Blue shades.
This is a Double ITPS inspired by Modern Soapmaking Double ITPS tutorial. I divided my normal loaf mold in half by covering a reuse/recycle piece of a thin old sign in freezer paper. This is a GMS, and it is scented with 8th and Ocean by NS.

Base color for both sides is TD. I used all BB micas for colors. Kermit Green for green; Mermaid Blue with some additional Kermit Green for a Blue/Green Teal; and Caribbean Blue for blue.
For Side A, I did 3 pours of green and 1 pour of teal into the pot. For Side B, I did 1 pour of teal and 3 pours of blue into the pot. I then did 2 swirls in the pot for each, and poured each pitcher into its side of the mold. I lifted the divider straight out and then designed the top. The intent was that you would see the progression around this section of the wheel - green to teal to blue or vice versa - as you look across the face of the bar.

I really liked this color challenge, and will likely try this Double ITPS echnique with the cool side of the wheel in the future. Happy soaping!

 

[ScentimentallyYours]

Growing up in Colorado, I always had an affinity for the mountains. In Montana, Nevada, Pennsylvania and New England, the mountains continued to hold the same magic. I’ve always been fascinated by the color changes of mountain ridges as they recede into the distance. For the Pick-a-Side Challenge, I found a watercolor image online to replicate in soap.

​

Because this image required a white base, I created a new recipe in the soap calculator so the colors would be unaffected by yellow or green oils. Some of this soap will be for my sister, who is vegetarian, so no animal products allowed. This soap is unscented.
40% safflower oil, high oleic
20% coconut oil
18% shea butter
15% soy wax
7% castor oil

Colors
The mountains have five layers, all colored with mica from Nurture Soap. Each mountain layer was textured with ITP swirls and accented with mica lines:
1. (Foreground) Savage Garden with swirls of Klein Blue and Alpine Green. Mica line of Savage Garden shaded with Dark Navy Blue.
2. Alpine Green swirled with Green Vibrance. Mica line of Alpine green shaded with Dark Navy Blue.
3. Klein Blue swirled with uncolored soap. I split this layer to create mica line to shape a ridge in front of the others, which are darker blue like the watercolor. Mica line of Klein Blue shaded with Dark Navy Blue.
4. Blue Vibrance swirled with uncolored soap. Mica line of Blue Vibrance shaded with Dark Navy Blue.
5. (Sky) Uncolored soap swirled with Blue Vibrance.

This challenge inspired me to learn how to create soaps I’ve wanted to do for several years: mountain themes!!! I worked out the math for multiple layers of oils and lye, sifted my first mica lines, and learned the difference between a color and a hue. Best of all, I now have a vision for a whole series of Mountain soaps!

(Apologies for the italics. Can’t figure out how to switch them back to normal.)

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Tomorrow is the big day - Entries are due by 11:59 GMT on July 26th

 

[Ford]

My dog ate my homework.....
Hi gang, sorry not going to make cut off. Got really busy all of a sudden. I will have to save oils and lye for next month.
August sign up:
1. Ford

 

[klaw2]

This is my first soapmaking forum challenge entry and I almost missed it but I’m glad I got to it in time. I found a new fragrance oil called Lakeside Morning and it’s fresh and unisex but strong after the first week so I’m hoping it will stay through the cure. I have only been soaping for about 12 months but over an 18 month period as I became very ill and required surgery but I was so thrilled to get back to soaping. I think about it almost every day and it is therapy for me for sure. This fragrance takes me to a lakeside and it Is a brand new fragrance for the company I purchased from in Canada. I was a little nervous bc there weren’t any reviews but I took the chance and attempted a Luna swirl. The colours I used are on the cool side and I used Ultramarine blue +twilight from Mad Micas, Bold Iridescent Blue from Fizz Fairy, Teal We Meet Again from Yellowbee + Fresh Green from WindyPoint and TD. I have seen some entries and they look amazing. Thank you for allowing me the chance to enter! Sorry it ran down to the wire and I didn’t have time to crop photo.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Oops, I was side-tracked by a neighbor who needed to borrow something out of the garage.

The Entry Thread is now closed.

Congratulations to all of the participants for making wonderful soaps this month. I hope to be able to send the password for voting during my morning tomorrow..

 

[klaw2]

I did crop but no time to edit. Next time I won’t be last minute lady lol.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I did crop but no time to edit. Next time I won’t be last minute lady lol.

Per the guidelines at the beginning of this thread, all comments should be posted in the challenge general thread.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Congratulations to the winners of this month’s challenge!

1st - Scentimentally Yours
2nd - CLMP
3rd - McKherring Farm

Everyone who entered did a wonderful job with the three color warm or cool palette! Thank you all for making beautiful soaps.