Soap darkening as it cures. Any ideas?

Bluejays20 · Jan 22, 2017

Hey All!

Soap newbie here, as I am now on my fourth batch of soap. This is my first time doing more than one color, and I am curious if anyone has any ideas as to why the soap is darkening as it goes along in the curing process... I have attached two photos, the first after about 2 weeks, and the 2nd after about 1 week... I used Olive oil, Palm, coconut, and castor oil along with some Shea Butter. My temps of the lye and oils were all in the vicinity of 120 degrees. Am I doing something wrong? Or just something that will occur regardless? Thanks!!!

shunt2011 · Jan 22, 2017

Did you use any fragrance? Many FO's contain vanilla and will cause the soap to turn brown.

Bluejays20 · Jan 22, 2017

shunt2011 said:
Did you use any fragrance? Many FO's contain vanilla and will cause the soap to turn brown.

Thanks Shunt! I looked it up and the FO I used has 5% vanilla content. DO most FO's use vanilla? Anything I should avoid or look for in the future?

Thanks!

Susie · Jan 22, 2017

Not all FOs contain vanilla. But the best ones, IMHO, do.

Just understand that FOs that contain vanilla will turn a rich dark brown. I use it as a design element by leaving some un-fragranced and either using that as a topper, or doing a swirl with it. It also looks great against some other colors like yellow, gold, etc.

shunt2011 · Jan 22, 2017

That explains it then. Not all contain vanilla but a lot do. I always check when ordering. Although there are some that don't have vanilla and discolor too. I just work with the discoloration when using them.

cmzaha · Jan 22, 2017

^^^ all of the above. Yours will most likely continue to darken but will still look very nice with the pink layer. If you put some of the fo in the pink you should just get a darker pink. I also use my very darkening fo's as a design feature. Seperating off the batter and using varying amounts of the fo in each cup will give you different shades of brown