My First Soap Contest!

I just entered my first soap challenge through the Great Cakes Soapworks. This month’s Soap Challenge Club was a little different, in that it did not involve a specific design, but the use of colors. There were two choices, a Natural Color Selection and a Synthetic Color Selection. Of course, I chose the Natural Color Selection for my first soap challenge. I actually had been planning to make a soap using all Natural Colorants. I purchased the sample pack of Brazilian Clays from Brambleberry, and also the Indian Sandalwood fragrance oil. The sample pack contained a Natural, Purple, Yellow, Pink, and Dark Red. I used the Natural, Yellow, and Dark Red to match the color palette for this challenge. I also used Annatto Seed that I had infused in oil and White Kaolin Clay. I used Paprika and Turmeric to make the orange color, and activated Charcoal for the black/gray color. I used 6 colors in all. The challenge required that you use between 3-6 colors to match the palette. As I said earlier, I had purchased the Indian Sandalwood Fragrance Oil from Brambleberry. I did a little research on the website to see how this fragrance behaved in cold process soap. It was perfect, no acceleration, and no discoloration. That was exactly what I was looking for. I needed the colors to be true in this soap challenge, and it was very important for me to not choose a fragrance oil that would discolor my color palette in any way. Here is a picture of the Natural Color Palette. I was so excited to see this challenge because this is what I had been visualizing in my mind, to create my soap using the Sandalwood fragrance oil, and my Brazilian Clay Sampler.



So how did I actually create each color that I used in my soap?

• Color #1: I used Paprika and Turmeric and added a little of the Red Clay.
• Color #2: I used the Dark Red Brazilian clay.
• Color #3: I used activated Charcoal.
• Color #4: I used a combination of Annatto Seed and Yellow Brazilian Clay.
• Color #5: I used a combination of the Natural Brazilian Clay and White Kaolin Clay.
• Color #6: I used my soap base as its own color.

For my Soap recipe I used Amy Warden’s Super White Base Recipe. This recipe consisted of:

• Coconut Oil 45%
• Refined Shea Butter 20%
• Lard 15%
• Avocado Oil 15%
• Castor Oil 5%.

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Here are some pictures of the results from my first soap challenge. I really enjoyed participating and learned a lot from this challenge. I don’t think I had ever made soap with 6 colors in it before. I chose to do a drop swirl for my design. I needed to watch my recipe and soap at cool enough temperatures as to not accelerate trace, but not too cool so that my soap would not gel. Gelling actually brings out the colors in your soap. It also speeds up the time that your soap needs to cure. I believe I soaped at approximately 100 degrees. I insulated my soap, and placed it on a heating pad as to force gel.

I think the soap turned out pretty good. My red color could have been a little deeper but this was the only Red Brazilian clay I had to work with. I was able to manipulate the other colors to get a truer color to the palette. I wish you all could smell how soft and peaceful this Indian Sandalwood smells. I love it. I have had this soap curing on my kitchen counter for the last few days and I absolutely love the fragrance oil, and I have enjoyed looking at all the colors and varied patterns that the drop swirl gave me.

Thanks Amy for this challenge!