January 2023 SMF Challenge – Pick a Color, Any Color

[dmcgee5034]

No apologies needed. This month’s rules not as concise as they could be.

Well, I’m back, @Mobjack Bay - two bars. Does that mean only 2, or at least 2? Aka, can my photo have 3?

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Well, I’m back, @Mobjack Bay - two bars. Does that mean only 2, or at least 2? Aka, can my photo have 3?

At least two bars will do it.

I edited the rules to clarify this point.

 

[basti]

Neither of these will be my final entry, but I wanted to share two of my test drives!

My purple terrazzo soap was my first exploration of the color requirements as a way to see the color blends first hand and do a design that could withstand a thicker batter so I could use up the last of my frozen beer. I'm happy with the colors of the embeds and continued to use those ratios for the other two soaps I did, but I second guessed myself on the shade ratio and by the time I realized it was a little too light, it was already in the mold.

I made the blue Taiwan swirl last night to see if it could dethrone my second batch (my future entrant as of right now) and it did not! I like the colors but they turned out quite unexpected! I expected them to be much bluer but they're almost teal/cyan-toned. I think it's a good reminder not to trust the colorblender too much

 

[VikingChick]

Neither of these will be my final entry, but I wanted to share two of my test drives!

And the stakes are raised!

I love the purple terrazzo one.

 

[dibbles]

I had my third try which, due to operator error, did not go as planned. I ended up having to do a hanger swirl which might mean it will be hard to pick out the colors. I'll see tomorrow when I cut it.

My first attempt was with Purple Vibrance from Nurture Soap. The colors were as expected, but I wasn't happy with the tone (with the gray added) so used this as an opportunity to adjust all the shades, tones and tints. I used it again in my attempt today. Mixed with the black made a beautiful shade. For my second attempt I used Emerald Green (also NS) and the colors were all a surprise. The shade and tone ended up being a forest/alpine green and the tints were more on the aqua (blueish) side. I like it, but not what I was expecting at all.

My teaspoon set includes a 1/8 tsp, so I used that, the 1/4 tsp and the 1/2 tsp for ease in figuring out the proportions. I don't have any other helpful hints for you all, but good luck everyone! I might have to do a fourth attempt...

 

[Mobjack Bay]

@dibbles I think we’re learning a few useful things about blues along the way. I could easily see the blue in the dry mica blends I made for the tone and shade in my blue soap, but ended up with grey and darker grey in the finished soap. Today when I used the last of the leftover Kashmir blends in a Ciaglia soap, the soap turned grey even though the dry blend of blends looked dusty blue. I had to scramble to mix up some ultramarine blue to add to part of the batter to pull it back towards blue. Kashmir is a purple-ish blue without a hint of green. I’m pretty sure that I used it to make navy blue in the past, but I must have added a lot less black. I have those notes somewhere…

 

[basti]

The tints were more on the aqua (blueish) side. I like it, but not what I was expecting at all.

I've found that Emerald Green is actually a teal in disguise

 

[dibbles]

I've found that Emerald Green is actually a teal in disguise

I do know that it is a 'bluer' green. The color when I added white was the color of the original Crest toothpaste, which is maybe still that color. I haven't used it in years so I'm not sure.

 

[CreativeWeirdo]

I've found that Emerald Green is actually a teal in disguise

LOL!!! I have an Emerald Green mica that turns gold/light brown in CP!

 

[McKherring Farm]

I am loving reading all these posts! I did a Mermaid Blue mica for my first attempt with interesting colors in the results but not exactly what I expected. Some were really dark - like deep in the ocean dark. My second attempt was with Red mica. It had some interesting variations, but I'm not sold on it. My daughter gives the appropriate "oohh...aahh...wow" responses so it's hard to really judge. I pay for her groceries so...

Today I will try my 3rd attempt with a much lighter base color - either Evergreen mica or something in the bright yellow family hopefully adjusting correctly so I don't have a dark, dark variation.

 

[CreativeWeirdo]

I just put my attempt to bed!

 

[melonpan]

I had my soaping session yesterday and my soap is now resting in the mold, I can't wait to unmold it to see how the different sections turned out.
My hue was a dark blue mica and judging from the batter the tone and shades might be grayer than I thought. I was also impressed by how much the cornstarch whitened the batter, until the very last minute I was torn about adding a bit more than the proportions I had originally thought, but I stuck to the plan and I'm happy I did. Thank you again @Mobjack Bay for the tip!

With people mentioning Emerald Green I'd now love to have another try with that hue, but I'm not sure I will have the time to soap again before the end of the month. So the blue one will most likely be my entry, fingers crossed all went well!

Just out of curiosity, for the hue what's everyone preferred proportion in percentage or number of tsp?

 

[melonpan]

Sign up list:
1. dmcgee5034 - I am HUE-gly excited to try this challenge
2. McKherring Farm - sounds fun!
3. CreativeWeirdo - So many choices! Don't know how I'm going to decide.
4. Phoenix - Sounds simple enough
5. basti - time to stare at my mica collection until I get dizzy
6. dibbles - I smell math
7. Mx5inpenn - No shade, I *will* complete this challenge
8. VikingChick - This should be fun!!!
9. Vicki C- I love this…
10. CLMP - Looks and sounds fun!
11. Nicolesica- oh man, I hope I don’t embarrass myself
12. Anstarx - time to try my new mold
13. melonpan - all set so I should really join before I forget!

 

[CLMP]

Well my first attempt is a failure!!! My new recipe I tried became so thick I barely saved my soap shoveling it in to the mold. Plus I'm not use to putting my fragrance in first maybe I over blended. I think I like my other recipe Im use to and now I have to wait for my order to continue. I will try again.

 

[Nicolesica]

@Mobjack Bay -I have no idea what the name of the color is here (inherited it without a label). It looks like a bluish gray to me— would that be acceptable to use as my gray?

 

[Mobjack Bay]

@Nicolesica It’s hard to make a judgement based on what I can see on a computer monitor. If you can tell that it has a bluish hue IRL then using it may not be consistent with the rules. However, if it looks grey when you hold it up to something blue, then I’d go with it.

 

[Nicolesica]

@Nicolesica It’s hard to make a judgement based on what I can see on a computer monitor. If you can tell that it has a bluish hue IRL then using it may not be consistent with the rules. However, if it looks grey when you hold it up to something blue, then I’d go with it.

That makes sense! And yes! It definitely looks gray when held up to a blue. Thank you!

Ok y’all — today is the day I do my LAST ATTEMPT at this challenge. I wasn’t happy with the two I tried previously, but I just have to post one of them here.

So, I have been wanting to try something new anyway, aka Wood Grain Soap. My idea was that the four colors would make a really cool soap, right?

Well, maybe, EXCEPT I tried a color called shapeshifter which I have never used. Lol… it definitely shifted and not in a good way. The color in the bag is a really cool, iridescent brown like the color of a beetle. However, I can confirm that iridescents do NOT react well to TD, AC, or even gray. It turned red. So… my “wood grain” soap became a “meat soap”. Lol… they look like little slabs of raw bacon. Lesson Learned
The first two pics are what Shapeshifter looked like before soap was added. The last one is my Bacon Soaps

Neither of these will be my final entry, but I wanted to share two of my test drives!

View attachment 70402

My purple terrazzo soap was my first exploration of the color requirements as a way to see the color blends first hand and do a design that could withstand a thicker batter so I could use up the last of my frozen beer. I'm happy with the colors of the embeds and continued to use those ratios for the other two soaps I did, but I second guessed myself on the shade ratio and by the time I realized it was a little too light, it was already in the mold.

I made the blue Taiwan swirl last night to see if it could dethrone my second batch (my future entrant as of right now) and it did not! I like the colors but they turned out quite unexpected! I expected them to be much bluer but they're almost teal/cyan-toned. I think it's a good reminder not to trust the colorblender too much

View attachment 70403

Ok. I lost.

Beautiful work there!

 

[Zing]

Neither of these will be my final entry, but I wanted to share two of my test drives!

View attachment 70402

My purple terrazzo soap was my first exploration of the color requirements as a way to see the color blends first hand and do a design that could withstand a thicker batter so I could use up the last of my frozen beer. I'm happy with the colors of the embeds and continued to use those ratios for the other two soaps I did, but I second guessed myself on the shade ratio and by the time I realized it was a little too light, it was already in the mold.

I made the blue Taiwan swirl last night to see if it could dethrone my second batch (my future entrant as of right now) and it did not! I like the colors but they turned out quite unexpected! I expected them to be much bluer but they're almost teal/cyan-toned. I think it's a good reminder not to trust the colorblender too much

View attachment 70403

Way to psych out the competition, Dude! Sheesh!
JK. Great work there. I know you wanted blue instead of teal but those taiwans are perfection!

 

[CreativeWeirdo]

I can confirm that iridescents do NOT react well to TD, AC, or even gray. It turned red. So… my “wood grain” soap became a “meat soap”. Lol… they look like little slabs of raw bacon. Lesson Learned
The first two pics are what Shapeshifter looked like before soap was added. The last one is my Bacon Soaps

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! You made a Kevin soap!

 

[Nicolesica]

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! You made a Kevin soap!

View attachment 70453

Haha! I love it! Henceforth my meat soap shall be called Kevin.