Collaborator Challenge Winners
February 2021
The soap challenge for February was a bit different from our usual challenges. Instead of making their entries for themselves, members had to teach a friend or family member who had never made cold process soap before to make their entry for them! They could choose between a drop swirl or a triple mica line. It was definitely a test of teaching and relationship skills, but I think everyone had a fun time sharing their craft.
I wanted to make sure that the soapmaker and the collaborator were both able to win something for their efforts, so I asked Formulator Sample Shop to provide prizes for the soapmakers, and the Challenge Club is providing Amazon gift cards for their collaborators. Formulator Sample Shop is a supplier of specialty ingredients for the cosmetic and personal care industries with NO minimum order requirements! They also offer formulations and formulation advice. How cool is that?
Ok, let’s see who the winners are….
Grand Prize for the Triple Pencil Line category goes to Marina Baranov in Kentucky and her husband Sergey for his amazing Island Paradise soap! He worked the shimmery mica lines into the foaming beach waves to create quite the scene:
The soap dough decorations on top are what really pull this design together! It’s an impressive feat for a first time soapmaker, that’s for sure! I’ve also given this entry the Best Presentation award as it shows off the soaps beautifully with excellent perspective, focus and lighting. Congratulations to Marina for winning a $50 gift certificate from Formulator Sample Shop and her husband who wins a $50 Amazon gift card! The photo is linked to Marina’s Instagram post with more information about the soap.
Second place in the Triple Pencil Line category goes to Eva Gomez in Germany and her friend Stefania for their highly innovative Watermelon soap! The triangular shape of the bars create the perfect watermelon wedges:
Excellent colors and textures, don’t you think? Eva wins a $35 gift certificate from Formulator Sample Shop, and Stefania’s prize is an equal Amazon gift card. Be sure to click on the photo to read more about their process on Eva’s blog post!
In third place by just one vote we have a pair of soap newbies: Ami Lundberg in California and her S.O. Greg!! Ami just started making soap a month and a half ago and coached Greg to create this excellent pencil line soap:
The colors are awesome, and the lines are quite precise! Congratulations to Ami for winning a $25 gift certificate to Formulator Sample Shop and Greg for his $25 Amazon gift card! Click on the photo for more info about this soap on Ami’s Instagram post.
The Sponsor’s Choice award for the Triple Pencil Line category goes to Marcela St. Onge in Tennessee and her mother-in-law Candy for their bright and cheery Sunflower Inspiration soap:
Such bold and distinct lines! Great job, Marcela – your prize is a $20 gift certificate from Formulator Sample Shop, and Candy wins a $20 Amazon gift card. Check out Marcela’s Facebook post about this soap by clicking on the photo!
I have two more recognition awards for this category. First up is Best Technique. Since this was a pencil line challenge, I wanted to choose an entry that had really excellent lines – they stand out from the rest of the soap and really pull the design together. They also needed to be consistent and look like they were drawn on the soap. I loved the result of this “Last Minute Entry” for those reasons! Great job to Christine Johnson in South Carolina and her friend Janice for this outstanding triple pencil line soap:
The other impressive part of this design is how completely straight the lines are! This is NOT an easy feat – especially for your first soap.
Next is the Best Use of Color award. For this award, I was looking for a color palette that was creative, the colors were well-mixed, and worked well with the design. This Lemon Birthday Cake soap by Danielle Schorfheide of Bubbly Ducky in Missouri and her friend Lisa fit the criteria perfectly:
I love the pastel hues and how they are pulled together in the confetti pieces in the center, with light yellow icing for the lemon-y goodness! Be sure to click on the photo to read more about this soap on Danielle’s blog post.
For the Drop Swirl category, the Grand Prize winner is Katja Schneider in Germany and her sister! Their entry is this stunning neon on black Carnival soap, inspired by their local carnival:
It is perfectly colorful and gaudy as planned! Congratulations to Katja for winning a $50 gift certificate from Formulator Sample Shop, and her sister for her $50 Amazon gift card! You can click on the photo to see many more photos and a short video of Katja’s sister pouring the soap on Instagram.
In second place we have Michal Nutt in Ohio and her friend Carol who created this fantastic mini drop swirl soap simply called “Friendship:”
As Michal so aptly said, “Carol’s results are more striking than my plain first attempt years ago!” Kudos to Michal for winning a $35 gift certificate from Formulator Sample Shop and to Carol for her $35 Amazon gift card. The photo is linked to Michal’s Instagram post with more photos of the process, so be sure to check it out.
Third place by just one vote goes to Cheryl Stelzig in Kentucky and her business partner John. He also created a magnificent mini drop swirl for this challenge:
Such beautiful colors, drops, and swirls on top! Congratulations to Cheryl for winning a $25 gift certificate from Formulator Sample Shop, and John for his equal Amazon gift card. The photo is linked to their Facebook post about their adventure!
The Sponsor’s Choice award for the Drop Swirl category goes to Marg Glohe in Australia and her friend Gayle who put all her love for purple into her Periwinkle soap:
Beautiful drops of every shade of purple!! Excellent work! Marg wins a $20 gift certificate from Formulator Sample Shop and Gayle wins a $20 gift card to Amazon. Click on the photo to read more about their adventures making this soap on Marg’s Facebook post!
Recognition Awards for the Drop Swirl category are as follows:
For Best Technique I was looking for nice consistent drops of color and fluid batter throughout. There were so many beautiful soaps that fit this criteria that I had to look for another distinguishing characteristic that would enhance the design even further. I found Sheri Meinburg in California and her daughter’s friend Alex put together that added touch with a hint of green mica lines:
I like how the colors work together, the drops are so distinct and consistent, and the hint of green throughout. Fantastic job! Be sure to click on the photo to read and see more about how this soap was made on Sheri’s Facebook post.
Best Use of Color goes to Cindy Chandler in Utah and her friend Lisa for their beautiful Royal Peacock Drops soap:
I love the saturation of the colors, and how they work together – the dark pink adds a punch to the otherwise cool color palette. Technically speaking, the colors are also well-mixed and perfectly smooth. Very well done! The photo is linked to Cindy’s Pinterest board where you can see more photos of their process and the pencil line soap that Lisa also attempted.
Finally, Best Presentation for the Drop Swirl category goes to Christina Biehl in Germany and her husband. His soap titled “Colorful Live” is the perfect subject for an artistic photo:
All the edges of the soap are beveled, and the photo has such a simple, clean look with plenty of white space around the soap. We can see one bar perfectly focused with the background bar blurred just enough to give the photo a sense of depth. It’s well-lit without being overexposed. Photo not linked.
The rest of the entries are posted in the order they were voted at the bottom of this post.
The challenge for March is the Clam Shell Technique with guest teacher Teri Endsley of Tree Marie Soapworks. She will be showing us how to create these lovely designs:
We’ll have regular and advanced categories, with Elements Bath & Body as our sponsor for both!
Registration will open this Monday March 2nd. If you haven’t signed up for notifications, you can do that HERE.
And now here are the rest of the entries for February: