Batter that turn brown

[Wendjie]

Hi Everyone, i use to do my soap recipie with : co, oo, castor o, shea butter and for some of the recipie i had beewax.
I dont want to use shea butter anymore so i made: co, oo, castor o and beewax. The other thing that i have change is that i had roe to my olive oil could it be that?
CO 25%
OO 60%
Castor 7%
Beewax 6%
I also had ultramarine violet ans lilac fo.
I soap at 45-50c (cause of the beewax and i use to soap at that temp and no problem)
So i end up with a discusting brown soap that smell Véry good lilac
Thanks for your help!

 

[lsg]

Your FO could have been the culprit.

 

[DeeAnna]

ROE does not cause lasting discoloration in my soap.

I can't say I'm impressed with ultramarine violet as a colorant in soap, but it's never turned my soap a dark brown.

Like lsg, I'm thinking the lilac FO is most likely the problem. Have you ever used it in soap before? What does the supplier say about this FO? Is it listed as being suitable for use in soap? Is it described as a discoloring fragrance?

 

[AliOop]

Another vote for the FO. Does it have vanillin in it?

 

[Wendjie]

ROE does not cause lasting discoloration in my soap.

I can't say I'm impressed with ultramarine violet as a colorant in soap, but it's never turned my soap a dark brown.

Like lsg, I'm thinking the lilac FO is most likely the problem. Have you ever used it in soap before? What does the supplier say about this FO? Is it listed as being suitable for use in soap? Is it described as a discoloring fragrance?

The batter was dark before i add my fo and ultramarine. I put a picture from my previous batch.

Your FO could have been the culprit.

Thanks but it was before i add my fo. Sorry i should write that.

Another vote for the FO. Does it have vanillin in it?

No vanillin and my batter was dark before i add my fo and ultramarine.

 

[AliOop]

Wow, that is a mystery to me! I’ve never used beeswax above 1% in soap, but it sounds like you have done that without any problem.

Is it possible that the beeswax still contained some honey? In the past, I’ve received home-sourced beeswax that did contain some honey pockets. Honey would definitely caramelize at high heat and turn the soap brown.

 

[earlene]

Most reviews I read on Lilac Fragrance Oils do indicate at least a mild discoloration. Beeswax can sometimes be dark as there is a naturally occurring variation in the color of beeswax, depending on the diet of the bees. Is your beeswax from a different batch than you used in the previous batch of soap, by any chance? Is it from the same source? How to do melt the beeswax (microwave, stove top, etc.)?

It could be a combination of the FO discoloration and a darker beeswax and even possibly overheating. Did you by any chance use honey or any other sugar containing additive that would contribute to overheating which could in turn lead to a darker batter?

Oh, and one other question, this is CP soap, right? I don't think it's HP with such a low temperature, but thought I'd double check. With the melting point of beeswax ranging from approximately from 61 to 65°C depending on source beeswax, I wonder if it's possible that once this batch was melted, for some reason it was slower to cool down and started getting darker while perhaps heat built up inside the batter.

I really don't know and it's been awhile since I used beeswax in soap myself, but I do recall some soaps turning out darker than others for reasons I had too little experience to recognize at the time.

ETA: You said you changed your formula. By eliminating the shea butter, that means the percentages of each of the other oils would have increased. Was your lighter soap with the new formula or the old formula? Is there more CO now than before? CO heats up the batter, so that could also contribute to darkening in some cases. And is your beeswax @6% the same percentage as before or higher than previously?

 

[Wendjie]

Wow, that is a mystery to me! I’ve never used beeswax above 1% in soap, but it sounds like you have done that without any problem.

Is it possible that the beeswax still contained some honey? In the past, I’ve received home-sourced beeswax that did contain some honey pockets. Honey would definitely caramelize at high heat and turn the soap brow

Most reviews I read on Lilac Fragrance Oils do indicate at least a mild discoloration. Beeswax can sometimes be dark as there is a naturally occurring variation in the color of beeswax, depending on the diet of the bees. Is your beeswax from a different batch than you used in the previous batch of soap, by any chance? Is it from the same source? How to do melt the beeswax (microwave, stove top, etc.)?

It could be a combination of the FO discoloration and a darker beeswax and even possibly overheating. Did you by any chance use honey or any other sugar containing additive that would contribute to overheating which could in turn lead to a darker batter?

Oh, and one other question, this is CP soap, right? I don't think it's HP with such a low temperature, but thought I'd double check. With the melting point of beeswax ranging from approximately from 61 to 65°C depending on source beeswax, I wonder if it's possible that once this batch was melted, for some reason it was slower to cool down and started getting darker while perhaps heat built up inside the batter.

I really don't know and it's been awhile since I used beeswax in soap myself, but I do recall some soaps turning out darker than others for reasons I had too little experience to recognize at the time.

Its a good option, i use two kind of beewax (see picture) and the brick scent honey stronger than the chips so that is probably the answer

 

[DeeAnna]

The soap in the "after" picture is fudge brown. The soap in the "before" photo appears closer to a cream or tan -- a pretty normal color that's not remotely as dark as the "after" photo. I really can't say colors in the two photos are at all close.

The color in the "before" photo is reasonable based on your use of beeswax, possibly the olive oil, and/or the colorant. I'd expect a cream to tan color.

 

[glendam]

I noticed something similar with a soap, it looked beige instead of light purple (colored with mica though), until saponification was complete. (A couple of days later). It seems the high ph made that mica morph.