Vanilla Test Project

[jiroband]

Jim - No, I have not tried that, but that sounds promising. Please post what your experience is once you soap it since I would love to know. Will you be soaping with Palm or Lard? I hate giving up on it, but it moved so fast I only had about 30 seconds and it was almost solid.

It's turns dark chocolate brown, but not black brown like some. It sticks forever! If you like it OOB, you will like it in soap.

I use Palm.

BTW -- I don't care if it turns jet black as long as it sticks.

Jim

 

[jules92207]

So far the best vanilla scent I have smelled was actually a blend of vanilla select from BB and clove fo from crafters choice. It's not a straight vanilla but somehow it's how I imagine vanilla should be. That's what prompted this little test actually.

Thanks for all the new suggestions too, I have been wanting to try sweet cakes for their rose so I am glad to have a good vanilla excuse too.

 

[jiroband]

Vanilla FO Updates:

1. The RE (Rustic Escentuals) "French Vanilla & Oak" on Day 6 -- nice scent, but not my favorite, and not super strong.

2. The SC (SweetCakes) "Tahitian Vanilla" on Day 4 -- great scent, a little stronger than yesterday, but still not as strong as i would like it to be.

3. The CS (CandleScience) "Very Vanilla" on Day 3 -- very, very light scent reminiscent of the strong OOB aroma. This is not a great aroma (to me) -- it smells like dirt with a hint of cocoa powder. So far, this wins for darkest bar.

4. The CC "Vanilla Bean Noel" on Day 2 -- the scent has returned! It is nice, but not super strong like I would like it to be. It's still early, though. It already has a rich, DARK, chocolate brown color which I think looks great! This is the 2nd darkest bar.

5. Yesterday, I made a test batch using CC "Oatmeal & Honey." (Yes, I realize this goes against my not wanting to use an FO that smells like food, but it is sooooo strong OOB, that I wanted to see what happens.) OOB, it has an INTENSE aroma of baked goods, like pecan sticky buns -- it smells ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS! Immediately after cutting last night, this batch has the strongest scent of all vanilla FOs so far, although it has morphed into more of a sugar cookie aroma -- it has an awesome cold "throw," as candlemakers would say. It also has the lightest color, so far. I may end up using this in a vanilla blend to bump up the intesity of the final scent.

6. I made a test batch using CC "Vanilla Musk" last night. I apologize to jblaney, but I was too impatient to wait for the oil mixture and lye mixture to cool down to room temp before combining -- I mixed them at around 95 degrees. I also wanted to judge for myself just how fast it accelerated. It DID accelerate! The scent is great, but again, not as strong as I would like it to be. The next time I use this FO, here's what I would do to try to slow things down:

a. Cool everything down to room temperature (70-75 degrees) before combining.
b. Add a bit more water or liquid.
c. Add at least 5% Hazelnut Oil to my oils mixture. (Hazelnut Oil tends to slow things down a bit -- good when using clove/cinnamon eos, or jojoba oil. Hazelnut oil is also great for using in soap for acne.)
d. Reserve about 1 cup of oil mixture (before adding lye mixture) and add FO to it -- then, add this back into the soap mixture at light trace.


I do realize that I'm a bit strange in that I like my soap to be highly fragrant, so just because I say I don't feel an FO is strong enough, doesn't mean that a "normal" person wouldn't find it strong enough.

One thing I've noticed about ALL of these FOs -- and I'm assuming may be true of all vanilla FOs -- is that the vanilla component of the fragrance disappears during saponification, leaving the remaining fragrance components to come through in the end. With all of the FOs mentioned above, the vanilla aroma in the soap is gone -- which is a real disappointment. If you have a vanilla FO that you really like, do you actually smell vanilla in your soap, or do you smell other elements of the fragrance oil -- be honest.

Jim

 

[jblaney]

Jim - What % of FO do you usually soap? I rarely go below 5%. I also find many fragrances get stronger as they sit, so you may be happier in a week or 2 with the Vanilla Musk.

Good luck with soaping it again. I have tried adding more water, mixing the FO with some of the oil and adding it back in after I have stick blended and adding lecithin. It did buy me a little bit of time, but not much. I have never heard of hazelnut oil slowing trace.

I do think that HoneyBee from Soapalooza smells like vanilla once soaped and sticks very well, but I'm on the fence about it now. It's very strong. I have tried at least 20 vanilla fragrances and have not found any that I love. I will be watching this thread closely.

 

[jiroband]

Jim - What % of FO do you usually soap? I rarely go below 5%. I also find many fragrances get stronger as they sit, so you may be happier in a week or 2 with the Vanilla Musk.

Good luck with soaping it again. I have tried adding more water, mixing the FO with some of the oil and adding it back in after I have stick blended and adding lecithin. It did buy me a little bit of time, but not much. I have never heard of hazelnut oil slowing trace.

I do think that HoneyBee from Soapalooza smells like vanilla once soaped and sticks very well, but I'm on the fence about it now. It's very strong. I have tried at least 20 vanilla fragrances and have not found any that I love. I will be watching this thread closely.

I usually FO at 5%.

Yes, the Hazelnut Oil trick has worked pretty well for me before.

I've tried adding a bit of lecithin before, but I ended up with a soft bar that never firmed up -- even after several months of curing.

I'll put "HoneyBee" on my list. Thanks, jblaney!

Jim

 

[Irishgem29]

I also tried MO vanilla milk last month which oob smelled so good. But I now have soap with brown bubbles and the scent morphed into something cinnominy. Ugh. One thing I hate is fake cinnomin smell. It makes my throat close up. Needless to say that one went into a closet to cure. Strange, first time using fo and I also used MO mica for the first time for a swirl. Could the mica have done it?

 

[jiroband]

I also tried MO vanilla milk last month which oob smelled so good. But I now have soap with brown bubbles and the scent morphed into something cinnominy. Ugh. One thing I hate is fake cinnomin smell. It makes my throat close up. Needless to say that one went into a closet to cure. Strange, first time using fo and I also used MO mica for the first time for a swirl. Could the mica have done it?

Irishgem, I doubt it was the mica. I'm 99.99% sure it's the lye/saponification process -- which does a number on so many things from scent to color. It usually affects the scent by morphing it into something else, or in the very least, weakens it.

You'll also find that most of the time when you add plant material, such as lavender flowers, rose petals, etc. they will turn brown. There are exceptions though, such as calendula petals which will remain yellow. I've also recently experimented with using applesauce as my liquid, and found that its color is not affected by lye -- it retains its light beige color.

Good luck, and don't be afraid to experiment. That's my favorite part of soapmaking!

Jim

 

[jules92207]

First test -

OOB
CC Warm Vanilla Sugar - very floral, feminine. Nothing really vanilla here. I hope they sent the right fo.

CC Vanilla Buttercream - buttery and rich, heavy

CC Bourbon Vanilla - slight perfume note, subtle

BB Vanilla Select - understated, plastic

Here's a picture so far, oddly enough the two with spoons in it look speckled, like maybe I didn't incorporate the fragrance enough but I stirred and stirred, they are the vanilla buttercream and vanilla select.

 

[jules92207]

UPDATE ON VANILLA TEST:

I have 8 different testers I'm currently going through and testing. So far I'd say my favorite vanilla/vanilla fragrance would be the Deluxe Vanilla from Crafter's Choice. I also really like the Warm Vanilla Sugar so far, but its more of a perfume vanilla, not a true vanilla. Tonight I made 8 more samples of the following:

Fragrance Buddy:
Birthday Cake
French Vanilla
Vanilla Bean Noel

Brambleberry:
Warm Vanilla Sugar
Vanilla Vanilla
Vanilla, Tahitian

WSP - Crafter's Choice
Vanilla Bean Noel
Vanilla Verbena

I have a list of more vanilla's I need to buy but for now things are progressing along.

Updates to come... :smile:

 

[gigisiguenza]

Dang Jules you're a testing maniac! I'm eagerly awaiting your results

 

[Dharlee]

Following with great interest!

 

[vmakkers]

I'm so eager to see the results. I've never really been a fan of a lot of scents until I started soaping. Vanilla is def one that I have changed my mind about.

 

[dixiedragon]

Following with interest! I haven't found a vanilla I love. To my nose, most of them smell like vanilla frosting or vanilla ice cream or cookies - I want pure, vanilla bean scent or vanilla extract scent.

 

[gigisiguenza]

I love the combo of vanilla, cinnamon, cloves, and orange. Years ago, I used to make old fashioned pomanders to hang in the bathrooms. You take a whole orange an pierce it about 1/4 inch deep systematically to cover the whole surface, including piercing straight through from the top to bottom (north pole to south pole). Once done, you alternate stuffing whole cloves, pieces of cinnamon stick, and dried vanilla bean pods into those holes. Then you take a ribbon or piece of kitchen twine and run it through from north pole to south pole, to give you a way to hang it. Finish it off with a raffia bow and you've got an old fashioned room deodorizer. Hang it near a heat source, like a sunny window, a heat vent, etc, so the heat helps warm the orange and generate scent.

If I had the ingredients I'd be making these right now v

 

[jules92207]

I'm almost through the latest batch of testing. I have recruited a few friends to test some as well to compare.

I have to admit this round was much more promising than my first two batches. So far the BB Tahitian Vanilla, FB French Vanilla, and WSP Vanilla Bean Noel are really standing out.

 

[jules92207]

I love the combo of vanilla, cinnamon, cloves, and orange. Years ago, I used to make old fashioned pomanders to hang in the bathrooms. You take a whole orange an pierce it about 1/4 inch deep systematically to cover the whole surface, including piercing straight through from the top to bottom (north pole to south pole). Once done, you alternate stuffing whole cloves, pieces of cinnamon stick, and dried vanilla bean pods into those holes. Then you take a ribbon or piece of kitchen twine and run it through from north pole to south pole, to give you a way to hang it. Finish it off with a raffia bow and you've got an old fashioned room deodorizer. Hang it near a heat source, like a sunny window, a heat vent, etc, so the heat helps warm the orange and generate scent.

If I had the ingredients I'd be making these right now v

This brings back fond memories...

 

[nsmar4211]

I'm having visions of moldy oranges hung in the room.......ewww?

 

[gigisiguenza]

I'm having visions of moldy oranges hung in the room.......ewww?

LOL ya don't leave them til they get moldy, geez hahahaha.... and usually they dehydrate, not mold.... hanging them near heat sources not only helps them give off scent, it also helps keep them dry, and over time, dehydrates them. They're more likely to start shedding their little additions (cloves, cinnamon, etc) as they dry out and lose their shape, than they are to go moldy

 

[dixiedragon]

We did them in Girl Scouts with just oranges and cloves. I learned you can't do half of your orange and come back later! But if you do the whole orange, and hang it, it dries, it doesn't rot. I think the cloves help wick out the moisture.

 

[gigisiguenza]

We did them in Girl Scouts with just oranges and cloves. I learned you can't do half of your orange and come back later! But if you do the whole orange, and hang it, it dries, it doesn't rot. I think the cloves help wick out the moisture.

Yep