Hi! So we're making cp soap, have a little bowl of essential oils ready to put in at trace, and when we pour it in it immediately turns a black or dark brown color. Just sitting there on top before mixing in, it's turned from normal yellow essential oil color to this dark color. This was last night, haven't unmolded yet and the soap color is its normal cream color if slightly darker. Wish I had gotten a picture before mixing it in! Does anyone know why this happened?
Essential oils turned black
- Thread starter April T
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Where did you get these oils?
Some are Now brand and some are Mary Tylor. Do you think this means they're not pure?
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I'm not in any position to make such a statement. I've only used NOW and I find them too expensive to be using for soap, despite their being relatively inexpensive. I'm a little surprised that they turned black. Do you know how old they are? Did they smell off or unusual in any way?
They all smelled okay to me. The now brand came from a fairly busy nutrition store here. And Mary Tylor is something I found on Amazon that's supposed to be certified organic. I haven't been able to find any articles or other posts about why this would happen. They looked normal until it was poured on top of the soap batter. My base oils were coconut oil and lard. I'm now wondering if it had anything to do with the maple bacon we accidentally got one week. You say too expensive, if you don't mind, what do you prefer for scent?
Are you're saying the EOs turned dark when in contact with lye? If so, I've seen that when I've soaped with thyme EO. My guess is the lye is reacting with a chemical component in the EO.
I don't know why, just that it sometimes happens. My experience is this color change doesn't happen with the other EOs I've used -- I've only seen it with thyme. Thyme EO also causes soap batter to seize, but that's another issue.
I don't know why, just that it sometimes happens. My experience is this color change doesn't happen with the other EOs I've used -- I've only seen it with thyme. Thyme EO also causes soap batter to seize, but that's another issue.
Thyme was one of the oils, thank you! I'll have to look into this at some point.
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I tend to use FOs lightly. EOs tend to be used for other things in my home unless I blend them with an FO. Do keep in mind that organic EOs is more than likely a gimmick. EOs are not quite regulated by the FDA but there are agencies that do some regulating of it. A good source of EOs I came to trust is CamdenGrey. I like being able to get bottles under 4oz as needed, without being charged an arm and a leg.
I went for organic on one purchase because I've had bad luck with cinnamon eo before. Definitely going to try this store, thanks for the tip!
