Vanilla and color

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When I have used vanilla fo's in the past, I have worked the discolor into the soap design, usually adding a light TD swirl for variation. I have WSP's Dark Kiss fo with 9% vanilla content that I would like to use in a purple, black and white design. Right now my plan is to leave the white portion unfragranced to avoid any discoloring, but I'm wondering if any attempt to color the remaining batter is pointless. This is my first attempt to color a fo with vanilla content and I am still fairly new to coloring soap in general. (Please be gentle and specific lol)
 
At 9%, I'd expect the soap to be very dark. You said you are trying to do black, white and purple. If that's the case, leave the white and purple portions unscented but scent the black portion. At 9%, it's probably going to go dark brown anyway so you probably won't even need to add that much color to get it to go black (of course you won't know for at least a few days). You'll get some bleeding of the brown eventually but it should still look lovely.
 
I use a couple FO's that discolor to dark beige or brown. My Pink Sugar that I love goes really brown. I do separate some out and leave it unscented and color it hot pink, however, it does eventually discolor that as well. It does take quite a while though. I've tried vanilla stabilizer and it only works for so long as well. So, I just embrace it. My FO's that don't go as dark I am able to color with black/red/dark colors and they seem to be okay.
 
I wonder if it might be worth trying to use the max amount of the scent in the black portion, a small amount of the scent in the purple portion (light purple or dark purple?) and no scent and some TD in the white portion? Would the TD in the white portion "protect" it from the discoloration seeping?

Sounds like gorgeous soap!
 
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ETA: What do the reviews say for discoloring on that FO?

I read through them but didn't see any mention of discolor. Quite a few were noted for cp use but no mention of discolor which I would expect with such a high vanilla percentage. (but I always wonder if the reviewer actually used it in cp or is just indicating that they make cp as I have had a few micas completely fade out in minutes despite reviews that indicate cp use... I digress...)
 
Thanks, ladies, for your input. I'm still contemplating what design to do with this fo to best work with the vanilla. I think I'm going to try to work with the vanilla discolor after all, so I'm scrapping the purple and black. I will probably do some TD for contrast, maybe use a copper mica, and uncolored remainder. I can't soap until Thursday, so I still have time to contemplate. I still want to do the purple/white/black color scheme but may save it for the True Lilac fo that is coming from WSP on Friday. (It's serendipitous that I also have Friday afternoon off work.) Of course, I expect the TL fo to accelerate so my swirls will likely be layers and the black will be green. I guess what I'm saying is... I'm still looking for an fo to use the purple/white/black color scheme with. :) Colors and fo's are so much fun! I'll post a pic here of what I end up with.
 
9% will probably go from dark to very dark so you might not see much color from any scented batter portion. Here's a handy reference guide. I've experienced similar results although I've also had a few very low percentage FOs turn my soap incredibly dark.

http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/why-did-my-soap-turn-brown/

ETA: What do the reviews say for discoloring on that FO?

That's is a great guide for vanilla, thanks. I'm finding lately that the brambleberry site has a lot of information to offer. I've never ordered from them so I didn't spend much time looking around on it.
 
I would separete out the 3 portions for the colors. Tint one with some black to darken it and add in fo. Color your purple but do not add in fo and add your td although as dark as this will go you can probably just use the uncolored part as is.Dump the balance of fo into your main batter batch. I am guessing this fo will go a very dark chocolate brown, but can take up to a couple of weeks for the full change of color. Purple will show up in it and look pretty as long as you do not add in any of the fo and get the purple pretty dark. My new batch of DB goes extemely dark and I use red clay and activated charcoal with plain batter for contrast. Forgot to add that my colors do not tend to bleed.
 
That's is a great guide for vanilla, thanks. I'm finding lately that the brambleberry site has a lot of information to offer. I've never ordered from them so I didn't spend much time looking around on it.

I don't think you'll be disappointed. Their shipping is pretty good for NYers for starters and everything I have gotten from them has been put into good use except for my Phenonip- I'm still using Optiphen Plus (with minor issues).
 
I don't think you'll be disappointed. Their shipping is pretty good for NYers for starters and everything I have gotten from them has been put into good use except for my Phenonip- I'm still using Optiphen Plus (with minor issues).

Thanks, I just ordered last night, but 5he next time I do I will give them a try.
 
I'm still looking for an fo to use the purple/white/black color scheme with.

Have you thought about Black Raspberry Vanilla at all? I like to make mine with a white base and then add swirls of black and purple into it. I also have found that even though it has vanilla in the name that mine doesn't discolour at all. I get mine from Aussie candle supplies here in Aus . HTH your design musings
 
My experience is that vanilla + purple is a heartache waiting to happen.

The browns from vanilla are dark/desaturated yellows, from a color theory perspective. Yellow is the complement of purple, and the combination makes for a gray-to-brown color, depending on the relative amounts. I made a lavender/vanilla soap and tried to make it lavender, not really thinking about the discoloration. I ended up dubbing the result the Soap of the Living Dead. :)
 
My experience is that vanilla + purple is a heartache waiting to happen.

The browns from vanilla are dark/desaturated yellows, from a color theory perspective. Yellow is the complement of purple, and the combination makes for a gray-to-brown color, depending on the relative amounts. I made a lavender/vanilla soap and tried to make it lavender, not really thinking about the discoloration. I ended up dubbing the result the Soap of the Living Dead. :)
I use purple in a very dark brown soap for a swirl and it works well. But I never had fo to the separated batter unless I am also doing a charcoal black swirl also then I will add fo to the black potion.
 
I don't add FO to my colored batter either. Only to the base. It does work but depending on the amount of vanilla I have had it fade to quite a bit less color and more brown over a length of time.
 
Have you thought about Black Raspberry Vanilla at all? I like to make mine with a white base and then add swirls of black and purple into it. I also have found that even though it has vanilla in the name that mine doesn't discolour at all. I get mine from Aussie candle supplies here in Aus . HTH your design musings

Thanks for the suggestion! I have thought about BRV, but not sure I like it. I have two soap bars in my shower fragranced with it and I'm okay with it but not every day. Also, the other "soap lady" in my area does a lot of BRV. We're on friendly terms as I have very pointedly made a decision to not do goat's milk soap (she raises her goats and there's a love and care that goes into her soap that I couldn't compete with) and we reciprocate (is that the word I want?) customers. I steer (no pun intended) customers looking for goats milk soap her way and customers looking for a different fragrance than she carries she sends my way.

I googled images of Dark Kiss Soap and they are quite brown! I think I'll just embrace it and find a new name for my soap. The old BBW label for their Dark Kiss was shades of purple and black which is why I was connecting them together.

I'm leaning towards trying some black in the DK soap, just for my own experience. Maybe trying to leave the purple unfragranced as well. I have kind of wrapped my mind around the fact that the bottle I currently have will likely be dedicated to experimenting in small batches before I make something I'm completely happy with. Good thing I like the scent and have friends who do too!

I also have BBW dupes of Twilight Woods and Midnight Pomegranate either of which I think would go well with the purple color scheme, although I haven't double checked the vanilla content on the fo yet. The color scheme isn't dead by any means.
 
I have had high vanilla content FOs (even under 9%) completely overtake all the unscented portions- just wiped them out and the entire bar is dark brown. I don't know if there was some other element in the FO that made it bleed that badly but I suspect it was just the vanilla. This was Vanilla Milk by Mad Oils. No point in putting a pattern into that one.
 
I've made several attempts at leaving portions of my soap uncolored or use td and leave the fo out and that darn vanilla has bled into those portions anyway too. Also midnight pomegranate from BB has turned an odd yellow for me, if left uncolored.
 
I've made several attempts at leaving portions of my soap uncolored or use td and leave the fo out and that darn vanilla has bled into those portions anyway too. Also midnight pomegranate from BB has turned an odd yellow for me, if left uncolored.

I just used wsp's midnight pom and it also yellowed the batter. I used quite a bit more TD than I usually do. The white part looks white hoping it stays that way!
 

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