Pink soap? I don't know what I did do you?

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Sexymess

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So I planned to make seaweed rosemary mint salt bars. I steeped fresh
Rosemary and mint in oil and heat processsed it. Oh I added two sheets of nori seaweed. Any way the "batter"? Turned pink. I also ended up using peppermint esstial oil ( I just didn't like the nori smell)
So my question is do any of you know what turned it pink? I would like to do it again. It wasn't the salt. I had not put the salt in. It was just after I put in my heat processed, weighted oil.
Thank you
 
Castor oil 9 Gr
Coconut oil 231gr
Olive oil ( infused with two hand fills of rosemary, slightly chopped up in my food processer, as was the fresh mint and nori seaweed, I hot processed this mixture in olive oil for about 3 hours.
Lard 15 gr

LYE 45.49 Gr
Distilled Water 114.00 Gr
240 Gr real salt.

I mixed the water and lye. Melted the oils. Waited for the temps. To come down.
Added the lye as I was blending I was noticing the oils were pinkish. Brought to trace. Added peppermint essential oil, added salt, quickly spooned into silicone muffin molds ( I use only for soap)
That's it
I thought it was the rosemary. But I remember putimg a few
Drops of the peppermint into the infused oil. It smelled too much like seaweed.

Was it the rosemary? It was fresh. Maybe the tar?
 
I use sheet nori in salt bars and it's never turned my soap pink. I don't infuse oil with it though, I blend it with water and add chunks and all.

Fresh mint always turned brown on me, never used rosemary​ so I don't know how it behaves.

Give it some time, the color could change during cure.
 
Real salt is the actual brand, I've used it in the past too. Its a pink sea salt much like himalayan but it has small bits of clay in it that doesn't dissolve, its scratched me up like crazy. Not a very good choice for salt bars IMO.

I just googled nori, apparently it does come in two colors, green or red, the kind I have is green. sexymess, what color is yours? If it is indeed the red then dragongirl is probably right and the nori is the culprit.
 
First, did your soap retain the pink color after finished? Did it remain pink after cure?

Were any of your ingredients stored in aluminum? I once read that can turn your soap pink, and I did once use some vegetable shortening that was sold in a container with a lining that looked like it was coated with an aluminum type foil lining and it DID turn my soap pink. But it did not remain pink. It also developed DOS, so I ended up throwing that soap away.
 
Real salt is the actual brand, I've used it in the past too. Its a pink sea salt much like himalayan but it has small bits of clay in it that doesn't dissolve, its scratched me up like crazy. Not a very good choice for salt bars IMO.

I just googled nori, apparently it does come in two colors, green or red, the kind I have is green. sexymess, what color is yours? If it is indeed the red then dragongirl is probably right and the nori is the culprit.

Obsidian is the Real Salt Himalayan? Just curious because I find no matter how fine Himalayan is it is scratchy. Going to have to see what color seaweed my Nori is from. I use it in a couple of bars and do not get pink so maybe mine is the green
 
No, real salt comes from a mine in Utah.

I originally bought it for eating but it was really gritty so I checked the website and it mentions mineral particals that are insoluble in water.

If I use it for brine soap, I have to strain the brine to remove the grit. It looks and feels like sand. Awful stuff in soap
 
Yes the soap is still pink. Oh no about the "real" salt the health food store was closed. I will have to check my nori. Amd I may have used an aluminum pot to melt the oils, only that
One time so that may be it. I was really hoping it was the rosemary. What salt to use? Himalayan is sratchy, real isn't right, table salt isn't ok. Sea salt?
 
I love salt bars and use any number of different salts. While I have not tried Real* salt, I have never had a problem with any of my choices. My opinion is that "scratchiness" owes little to the type of salt. Rather, I think it is important to pay attention to grain size. I buy my finely ground Himalayan pink salt in the bulk section of Sprouts for $2.99/lb.

Dead Sea salt, and possibly Real salt, are special cases that should not be used without some carful consideration and formulation.
 
I like pickling, pacific sea salt (fine grain), and table salt. Different types of salt feel different in salt bars. Besides Himalayan I also dislike Gray Sea Salt because no matter how fine they are both scratchy. Save your money on Hawaiian black salt, it is simply Pacific Salt with Charcoal added.
 

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