Welcome to the November 2024 SMF Soap Challenge: Hello Yellow!
I think yellow is often under used in soap design, and maybe for good reason. Yellow can morph and fade, leading to disappointing results. This month we are going to show yellow some love! You will be making soaps that feature yellow in the design.
SMF Challenge General Rules
To enter, you must have been an active SMF member for at least one month and have a minimum of 50 posts at the time the Challenge is posted. “Fluff” posts written with the sole intention of boosting post numbers do not apply. The only exception to this rule, is that the time and post requirements are removed for (do not apply to) Supporting Members. All eligible members may sign up and submit an entry at any time after the entry thread opens and before it closes.
Your soap must be made after the monthly challenge has been announced. Your entry must consist of bars made from a single batch of soap poured into one mold*. In other words, your entry cannot include bars from different batches. *See challenge specific rules below – individual cavity molds may be used for this challenge.
The sign-up list will be posted in this thread. Please add your name to the sign-up list if you’d like to participate. You don’t have to enter a soap if you don’t feel happy with what you have made, and you will still be able to vote. Still, we hope you will post about your experiences here in the main Challenge thread, along with non-entry photos (be prepared to be encouraged to keep trying).
In the spirit of advancing our soap making skills, all members who sign-up for the SMF Challenge do so with the intent that they will make every attempt to submit an entry. We do understand that life happens, and that you may end up without an entry. However, signing up with no intent to participate and only to vote goes against the spirit of the challenge and is not allowed.
Throughout the month, we encourage you to use this general Challenge thread (not the Entry thread) to ask for advice, discuss techniques with other members, upload pictures of your non-entry challenge attempts, and provide helpful hints you learned along the way. Constructive criticism is welcomed, but please keep your comments polite.
A separate Entry thread will be created towards the end of the month. Please do not post photos anywhere of your entry until the Entry thread is opened. Breaking this rule will disqualify that soap from this Challenge. The Entry thread is for challenge entries only; please don't post any comments there.
Your entry photos must include at least two bars of soap from a single batch. Detailed photo requirements are given below. We encourage (but do not require) you to include in your entry post a description and additional photos demonstrating how you made your soap: the process, the technique, the fragrance, any special meaning behind your selected colors or design, etc. This gives voters a better understanding of, and appreciation for, what went into creating your soap. Please post the photo you would like used for the voting survey first.
Entries must be posted to the Entry thread (not to this general Challenge thread) before the closing time on the closing date. Late entries will not be accepted. If you miss the Challenge deadline, please upload pictures of your soap to the general Challenge thread instead. While it won’t be included in the voting, we always love to see anything you have created!
There is no prize attached to this Challenge. However, this is still a competition.
If your entry is deemed non-compliant, you will be given the opportunity to amend your entry if there is time to do so before the Entry thread closes. Otherwise, your entry will be excluded from voting. The challenge mods have the final say as to whether any given soap, photo, or registrant is eligible for entry and voting.
All eligible registrants who have signed up before the Entry thread closes will be eligible to vote, even if they do not submit an entry. A password-protected voting link and password will be sent to eligible registrants only, by private message via SMF conversations. Please check your SMF messages/conversations when the voting begins.
Note: all times listed below are Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). It is your responsibility to convert times to your own time zone. You can use World Time Buddy or a similar converter to assist you with that.
* The entry thread will open on November 18th by 11:59 PM GMT.
* The entry thread will close on November 24th at 11:59 PM GMT.
* Voting information will be emailed to all eligible participants shortly thereafter.
* The voting survey will remain open until November 29th at 11:59 PM GMT, or until all votes are in, whichever is sooner.
* The winner will be announced by November 30th by 11:59 PM GMT.
***************************************************************************
Specific Rules for this Challenge:
*Create soaps that have the batter colored at least 50% yellow. Any colorant is allowed: micas, oxides, clays, red palm, sea buckthorn oil, or an oil infusion. Annatto seeds, dandelion, and calendula infused in oil will all produce yellow. You can also achieve a very pastel yellow tint by including egg yolk in your recipe. Below is a link to @DeeAnna’s article on how to incorporate egg into your batch, and a photo of a soap I made with egg. The darker yellow in this soap was made with a colorant, the lighter portion is uncolored, and the brighter white in the chicken was made using soap dough (made with a white colorant). If you have additional ideas for creating yellow in soap, please share in this thread.
https://classicbells.com/soap/eggSoap.asp
*The design/technique and mold you use is up to you. Individual cavity molds are allowed for this challenge.
*Your soaps must be made from a single batch, but previously made embeds are allowed for this challenge.
*Since many techniques end up not accurately showing true proportions of the colors used, as in the Nautilus Swirl example below, please include a photo of your split and colored batter. Exceptions for the photo of the batter requirement:
- single color (solid yellow or differing shades of yellow)
- straight or sculpted layers soap that clearly shows at least 50% of the batter is yellow
- a swirled design that leaves no doubt that 50% of your batter is yellow. If you are planning a swirled design, however, I would take a picture of the split batter to be safe – you can’t know with certainty what a swirl will end up showing.
*Show the cut face of at least two bars in your entry photo. If you are posting more than one photo of your soaps, please post the photo you would like used for the voting survey first.
Calendula Petal soap by Lovely Greens:
Making oil infusions by Holly’s Soapmaking:
This soap was made with an annatto seed oil infusion. The oil was over a year old and I wanted to use it up, so I used 100% of the infused oil for the olive oil in my recipe (20% of the total oil weight for the batch).
Examples of techniques that don't show true proportions of color in the finished soap:
Nautilus Swirl
Ombre transitioning from yellow to pink (75% of the batter for this soap is yellow)
Sign up list below – I’m looking forward to seeing what you will make!
I think yellow is often under used in soap design, and maybe for good reason. Yellow can morph and fade, leading to disappointing results. This month we are going to show yellow some love! You will be making soaps that feature yellow in the design.
SMF Challenge General Rules
To enter, you must have been an active SMF member for at least one month and have a minimum of 50 posts at the time the Challenge is posted. “Fluff” posts written with the sole intention of boosting post numbers do not apply. The only exception to this rule, is that the time and post requirements are removed for (do not apply to) Supporting Members. All eligible members may sign up and submit an entry at any time after the entry thread opens and before it closes.
Your soap must be made after the monthly challenge has been announced. Your entry must consist of bars made from a single batch of soap poured into one mold*. In other words, your entry cannot include bars from different batches. *See challenge specific rules below – individual cavity molds may be used for this challenge.
The sign-up list will be posted in this thread. Please add your name to the sign-up list if you’d like to participate. You don’t have to enter a soap if you don’t feel happy with what you have made, and you will still be able to vote. Still, we hope you will post about your experiences here in the main Challenge thread, along with non-entry photos (be prepared to be encouraged to keep trying).
In the spirit of advancing our soap making skills, all members who sign-up for the SMF Challenge do so with the intent that they will make every attempt to submit an entry. We do understand that life happens, and that you may end up without an entry. However, signing up with no intent to participate and only to vote goes against the spirit of the challenge and is not allowed.
Throughout the month, we encourage you to use this general Challenge thread (not the Entry thread) to ask for advice, discuss techniques with other members, upload pictures of your non-entry challenge attempts, and provide helpful hints you learned along the way. Constructive criticism is welcomed, but please keep your comments polite.
A separate Entry thread will be created towards the end of the month. Please do not post photos anywhere of your entry until the Entry thread is opened. Breaking this rule will disqualify that soap from this Challenge. The Entry thread is for challenge entries only; please don't post any comments there.
Your entry photos must include at least two bars of soap from a single batch. Detailed photo requirements are given below. We encourage (but do not require) you to include in your entry post a description and additional photos demonstrating how you made your soap: the process, the technique, the fragrance, any special meaning behind your selected colors or design, etc. This gives voters a better understanding of, and appreciation for, what went into creating your soap. Please post the photo you would like used for the voting survey first.
Entries must be posted to the Entry thread (not to this general Challenge thread) before the closing time on the closing date. Late entries will not be accepted. If you miss the Challenge deadline, please upload pictures of your soap to the general Challenge thread instead. While it won’t be included in the voting, we always love to see anything you have created!
There is no prize attached to this Challenge. However, this is still a competition.
If your entry is deemed non-compliant, you will be given the opportunity to amend your entry if there is time to do so before the Entry thread closes. Otherwise, your entry will be excluded from voting. The challenge mods have the final say as to whether any given soap, photo, or registrant is eligible for entry and voting.
All eligible registrants who have signed up before the Entry thread closes will be eligible to vote, even if they do not submit an entry. A password-protected voting link and password will be sent to eligible registrants only, by private message via SMF conversations. Please check your SMF messages/conversations when the voting begins.
Note: all times listed below are Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). It is your responsibility to convert times to your own time zone. You can use World Time Buddy or a similar converter to assist you with that.
* The entry thread will open on November 18th by 11:59 PM GMT.
* The entry thread will close on November 24th at 11:59 PM GMT.
* Voting information will be emailed to all eligible participants shortly thereafter.
* The voting survey will remain open until November 29th at 11:59 PM GMT, or until all votes are in, whichever is sooner.
* The winner will be announced by November 30th by 11:59 PM GMT.
***************************************************************************
Specific Rules for this Challenge:
*Create soaps that have the batter colored at least 50% yellow. Any colorant is allowed: micas, oxides, clays, red palm, sea buckthorn oil, or an oil infusion. Annatto seeds, dandelion, and calendula infused in oil will all produce yellow. You can also achieve a very pastel yellow tint by including egg yolk in your recipe. Below is a link to @DeeAnna’s article on how to incorporate egg into your batch, and a photo of a soap I made with egg. The darker yellow in this soap was made with a colorant, the lighter portion is uncolored, and the brighter white in the chicken was made using soap dough (made with a white colorant). If you have additional ideas for creating yellow in soap, please share in this thread.
https://classicbells.com/soap/eggSoap.asp
*The design/technique and mold you use is up to you. Individual cavity molds are allowed for this challenge.
*Your soaps must be made from a single batch, but previously made embeds are allowed for this challenge.
*Since many techniques end up not accurately showing true proportions of the colors used, as in the Nautilus Swirl example below, please include a photo of your split and colored batter. Exceptions for the photo of the batter requirement:
- single color (solid yellow or differing shades of yellow)
- straight or sculpted layers soap that clearly shows at least 50% of the batter is yellow
- a swirled design that leaves no doubt that 50% of your batter is yellow. If you are planning a swirled design, however, I would take a picture of the split batter to be safe – you can’t know with certainty what a swirl will end up showing.
*Show the cut face of at least two bars in your entry photo. If you are posting more than one photo of your soaps, please post the photo you would like used for the voting survey first.
Calendula Petal soap by Lovely Greens:
Making oil infusions by Holly’s Soapmaking:
This soap was made with an annatto seed oil infusion. The oil was over a year old and I wanted to use it up, so I used 100% of the infused oil for the olive oil in my recipe (20% of the total oil weight for the batch).
Examples of techniques that don't show true proportions of color in the finished soap:
Nautilus Swirl
Ombre transitioning from yellow to pink (75% of the batter for this soap is yellow)
Sign up list below – I’m looking forward to seeing what you will make!
Last edited:
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