September Soap Challenge

Citrus Sunrise & Sunset Dreams 

This month I am participating in another soap challenge hosted by Amy Warden of Great Cake Soapworks. This month the challenge presented was to create a soap using a gradient technique using three colors next to each other in the color wheel.

Citrus Sunrise

Citrus Sunrise was created with the use of neon pigments (pink, orange, and yellow) and I used too much pink and not enough orange to get the effect I was needing in the end result.   The colors didn't have a very defined gradient look in the end result, but it was fun working with the technique and basically tabled the challenge for this month because of time.  Between the extras with school starting up, I am pretty well spent the first couple weeks until all of the extra catering jobs and Open House is wrapped up.

This past weekend, however, I had a renewed and refreshed outlook and decided Citrus Sunrise really needed a companion and I created a custom scent blend that would suit a soap called Sunset Dreams.

Sunset Dreams

Sunset Dreams was created with the use of many different micas (blue, pink, orange).  I was so disappointed when the pink portion morphed into a darker shade of orange.  My daughter heard every minute of my frustration.  Even worse, when I mixed the larger portion of pink into the blue, it turned a horrible shade of blue (it wasn't even remotely pretty...I think my exact wording was...looks like ugly blue poop :/ ).  Plodding on, I continued the process and tucked the soap into bed for the night.

Tonight when I got home from work I was delighted to see the pink was no longer orange, and most of the blue wasn't as bad.  The horrible shade of blue is still just as ugly as it looked yesterday, but it is masked by the beauty of the other colors so my eyes aren't focusing solely on the appearance of that one layer of blue.

I had so much fun creating these soaps and learned a lot.  Thankfully neither batter accelerated on me, and if nothing else, I accomplished what I started out to do and I didn't give up after the first try.

Practicing for a Challenge

I decided since I was on vacation that I would have a bit of fun by participating in a soap challenge (more about that in another post to follow).  It was great fun practicing the technique for this challenge and I wanted to share the ones that didn't make the final cut as being "the one" I would enter in the challenge.  :)

#1 ~ Eucalyptus & Mint ~ This soap was the second attempt for the challenge.  My daughter says the top looks like ribbon candy.  Smells heavenly, but the pink and white swirls kind of just "disappear" and no clear contrast of colors. 


 

Eucalyptus & Mint Soap

#2 ~ Lavender Pine ~ This soap was the third attempt and this time I wanted the lavender and white swirl to be wispy and achieved that, but the contrast against the green while very pretty, didn't give enough contrast of colors to be "the entry" for the challenge. 

Lavender Pine Soap

#3 ~ Ok this doesn't really count as an attempt for this challenge.  However, it must be shared that when I made this Candy Cane soap I made a similar swirl of red and white for one of the layers.  Although this soap wasn't made for this challenge, and the swirl wasn't dropped into the lower portion of the soap, the end result turned out really cool.

Candy Cane Soap

So what about the soap I selected to use for the entry in the challenge?  Well, I happen to love the first attempt.  And, you'll just have to wait until tomorrow to hear all about the challenge and see the soap I chose to enter.