I had some unscented lotion on hand. So I just now added BB's Vanilla Select FO, 4 grams, to 8 oz. lotion. Just as I suspected, it did not affect the color at all -- and Vanilla Select is known for turning soap to a lovely shade of dark brown.
HTH 
LOL, I did the same thing. Still waiting to see what happens. So far it hasn't changed at all, but it's only been a few hours. I have it in an open container so it is not closed off from air.
@Zany_in_CO I have had fragrance turn lotion brown, so I don’t think it’s safe to assume it won’t happen. It also didn’t happen right away.
Sorry
@Kcryss that I can’t answer your question about the ZVCS. Maybe
@AliOop has tried it or has some information for you.
Thanks dibbles!
Hi there,
I've seen comments by folks on other forums that range from "OMG, my bath bombs are brown!" to "Vanillin doesn't affect the color of anything but soap and has never turned my other B&B products brown or even tan."
My personal experience is that some lotions and other B&B bath products have turned tan (never brown) when using some fragrances that contain vanillin. Others were not affected, even with the same FO. I never thought to try VCS in them (homemade or otherwise) because I wasn't sure if it would be skin-safe in a leave-on product. If they make a version for lotions, that says to me that there is some need out there to prevent the color change that some folks do experience with some FOs.
I agree. I'm concerned about using anything that might not be skin safe.
Another guess would be that the reaction is perhaps ingredient-dependent. Perhaps some B&B products don't contain ingredients that react with vanillin to turn brown, while others do?
This could be it exactly. Would be nice if there was a list somewhere. lol "List of ingredients that don't like Vanillin."
@Kcryss if you are able to share, it would be interesting to see the ingredient list for the lotion version, and the usage rate. That would help you know if a) you can use the existing ZVCS formula, or b) whether you can dupe/adapt the lotion formula to make that yourself.
I don't know that Todd Ziegler is active here anymore (his name didn't come up when I tried typing it), but maybe he is and will see this and respond. He was the brainiac behind and formulator of ZVCS.
I tried his name with @ as well with the same result.
LOL, I would love to see the ingredient list for any VCS. Everywhere just lists "Fragrance."
I did find that Ashley Green (UGTS) recommends using 25% Sodium Thiosulfate and 75% distilled water to make VCS for soap. I think thiosulfate is less likely to cause skin issues, but even then, not sure I would want to risk it for something I am selling. I would be willing to buy the version from WSP, but I didn't want to wait that long for delivery. I've tried the jump in line thing before with them. Paid the extra and still didn't get my order for a month.
I've used FO's with small amounts of vanillin with no issue, but this one is 12%, so I'm a little worried about what might happen down the road.
What is the percentage vanilla are you adding to your lotion? Also are you putting it in clear packaging or coloured?
This one is French Vanilla and is 12%. I'm using amber bottles. Not sure if that will help in this instance or not however. I've done a lot of research today trying to decide what to do and it seems oxidation is what causes the darkening. I would think, in a closed container using a pump style lid, there would be little chance for oxidation to occur. Maybe I'm just being paranoid. I get that way sometimes. lol
I let my paranoia rule me for today and opted to use Natural Citrus Fantasy. Smells yummy!
I still need to make the vanilla, but will wait to see what happens with my little experiment and see if
@Zany_in_CO's turns brown or not too.
The ingredients in my lotion are pretty standard: Glycerin, colloidal oats, argan, grapeseed, sunflower, mct, mango, cetearyl, IPM, and euxyl pe 9010.
