Talented soapmaker Marina Baranov of Creamy Obsession in Kentucky is familiar with competing in the challenges, but this month she became our guest teacher for the first time. She shared how to do a variation on an ombre that creates a beautiful watercolor design in the final soap. If you are interested in learning this technique, the tutorial is now available in the Tutorial Shop!

Over thirty years of candlemaking led our sponsor, Little Bee Scents, to supply the best of the best fragrances for chandlers and soapers alike!  They pride themselves on scents that smell authentic and perform. The ones I’ve tried smell amazing and strong in the final soap! Marina has tested all of their fragrances in cold process soap and created a resource with all of the results. Little Bee Scents is providing a $100 gift certificates for the grand prize winners, plus the Sponsor’s Choice prize in the bonus category.  Additionally, they are giving away 20% coupon codes to second and third place winners.  

The goal of the challenge was to create seamless ombres with gradual transitions from one color to the next.  At least half of the batter had to be white or uncolored.  Additional embeds made of cold process soap were optional for the regular and advanced categories and required for the winners category.

Winners Category

Third Place

Name Lisa Cunningham

Location England

Link Instagram

Prize 20% off coupon code – LBS

Let’s Paint

Recognition Awards

Best Use of Color

Criteria Well-mixed, beautiful color palette (no TD specks!)

Name Allison Cabay

Location Iowa

Link Instagram

Tide Pool

Advanced Category

Third Place

Name Jessica Neubauer

Location Germany

Link Instagram

Prize 20% off coupon code – LBS

Winter Sky

Recognition Awards

Best Use of Color

Criteria Well-mixed, beautiful color palette (no TD specks!)

Name Christina Minak-Tobin

Location Canada

Link Instagram

Spring Feeling

Regular Category

Third Place

Name Rachel Beattie

Location Canada

Link Instagram

Prize 20% off coupon code – LBS

We All Scream for Ice Cream

Recognition Awards

Best Use of Color

Criteria Well-mixed, beautiful color palette (no TD specks!)

Name Sally Bechtel

Location Michigan

Link none

Cotton Candy

Bonus Category

Great job to all our winners, as well as everyone else who participated in the challenge this month!  If you would like to see the rest of the entries this month, check out these links:

Registration for the February through April challenge opens Monday, January 29!  Guest teacher Tatiana Serko is sharing her tips and tricks for creating beautiful dipped soaps.  Here’s is the soap she made for the video tutorial. This will be a completely blind challenge – no names attached to the entries and no sharing about your soaps until the winners are announced!

Check out the Upcoming Challenges page for more information about this challenge and the March & April techniques!  You can sign up to be notified as soon as registration opens.