# Vanilla Color Stabilizer



## Rusti (Sep 23, 2017)

I've never used it before, but got the Fruit Loops fragrance from WSP and read that it discolored a little bit and thought I would try a new adventure and ordered the stabilizer to try. Normally I don't mind discoloration - I end up just not coloring the soap and letting it turn whatever color it wants if the warning is there, but I have some glow in the dark skin safe pigment and I wanted to try some bright colors for stocking stuffer soap for the niece and nephews (and one child-like great uncle).

...

Y'all, is the stabilizer *supposed* to turn the fragrance to mushy goop? I mean, I used it anyway because everything was already laid out and I didn't have any extra of the fragrance to use instead. So far so good, it didn't seem to harm the batter in any way, but I'll admit to being completely thrown when I picked up the little shotglass I weigh my FO into and had to spoon the contents out.


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## cmzaha (Sep 23, 2017)

Problem with stabilizer is it will not stop the discoloration for long. If I recall it is used 50/50 with the fragrance. The thickness might depend on the FO. I remember it never did that to my daughters when she was still working with m&p. I am sure it will be fine if you were able to mix it in well. Kinda funny you mentioned it because I am a great one for saying save your money on stabilizer and here I am thinking about trying some in a batch I am getting ready to make, hoping it will keep it until Christmas, in a Cranberry Fig from WSP. I keep trying to use up my daughters supplies


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## Rusti (Sep 23, 2017)

Yes, I expect I'll probably keep a small sliver and see how long it actually lasts. It's just one more thing I have to keep track of when soaping and probably not something I'd be making a habit of using.


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## SunRiseArts (Sep 24, 2017)

I have used it with MP, but not CP.  It does work.  I heard the vainilin will eventually take over, but I have a MP bar 6 month old, and the color has not changes yet.

Now, as I understand is a chemical, so I avoid it.... maybe others can chime in if it is harmful or not.


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## IrishLass (Sep 24, 2017)

I use the stabilizer for CP from BitterCreekNorth and it works great for me with FO's that normally turn light to medium tan on me, such as WSP's Sugared Spruce and SweetCakes Santa's Pipe. It keeps the tan away for at least 2 years (and counting). On the advice of others, I don't mix it with my FO. I mix it in with my batch oils/fats instead. I use an equal amount of stabilizer as per my FO.


IrishLass


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## Rusti (Sep 24, 2017)

OK, thanks for that tip IrishLass. The directions on WSP's site said to mix it with the FO, but if/when I use it again I'll do it this way instead and just mix them into the batter separately.


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## Millie (Sep 24, 2017)

Rusti, where did you get the glow in the dark pigment? Sounds awesome! Please post pics when you make it!


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## Rusti (Sep 24, 2017)

Millie said:


> Rusti, where did you get the glow in the dark pigment? Sounds awesome! Please post pics when you make it!



A group buy through a Facebook merchant called Vicious Beauties. She's got some really awesome neons too but haven't ordered any of those yet.

Posted pictures of the soap here: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?p=664667#post664667


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## SunRiseArts (Sep 25, 2017)

I buy many of my micas at just pigments.  I love that store, and they have the glow in the dark ones, but I have not try them (darn, now I want some).  I have gotten neon's from them and they worked great.

The only mica I ever got from them that I was not all that happy was a coral pink, but I think is because I just did not put enough.

They ship free is you spend 10 dollars. And if you don't their shipping rates are very reasonable.

I like to get their samples for a dollar for specific projects.

https://www.justpigments.com/search.php?search_query=glow+in+the+dark


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## SunRiseArts (Sep 25, 2017)

so is the vanillin like bad for your skin or not?


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## jcandleattic (Sep 25, 2017)

Also remember, not all vanilla stabilizers are created equal. 
The ones I used from NG, WSP, AND Bramble Berry, never kept the browning away for more than 2 months, tops, if I was lucky, usually it was by the time the full cure was over, I could see the soaps were starting to turn. 

However, in my Pink Sugar soaps that turn VERY DARK brown very quickly without stabilizer, when I used VS from BCN, it keeps the discoloration at bay for up to 9 months to a year. 
For me, that is good enough for my applications, so that's the only VS I will use now.


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## IrishLass (Sep 25, 2017)

Jcandleattic is actually the one whose BCN recommendation I followed a few years ago when looking for a vanilla stabilizer. It's a purchase I am very pleased with and have not regretted. 


IrishLass


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## Rusti (Sep 25, 2017)

Thanks! If I decide it's something I want to use more often, I'll look into theirs for sure.


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## dibbles (Sep 28, 2017)

IrishLass said:


> I use the stabilizer for CP from BitterCreekNorth and it works great for me with FO's that normally turn light to medium tan on me, such as WSP's Sugared Spruce and SweetCakes Santa's Pipe. It keeps the tan away for at least 2 years (and counting). On the advice of others, I don't mix it with my FO. I mix it in with my batch oils/fats instead. I use an equal amount of stabilizer as per my FO.
> 
> 
> IrishLass



I should have reread this. I was making a batch of Sugared Spruce, so I thought I'd give the BC vanilla stabilizer a try. Mixed it with the FO. I got everything ready to soap after I came home from a few errands. The FO was semi solid, just like Rusti described, and an orangy-pinkish color. I decided to use it anyway and it mixed into the batter just fine, but turned it bright yellow. I tried to whiten it to no avail. So right now I have spruce scented yellow and two shades of pea soup green soap topped with white and green Christmas tree sparkly M&P cutouts sitting on the top. I'm hoping that it is a temporary thing, and all will be good tomorrow. Ugh.


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## jcandleattic (Sep 28, 2017)

dibbles said:


> I should have reread this. I was making a batch of Sugared Spruce, so I thought I'd give the BC vanilla stabilizer a try. Mixed it with the FO. I got everything ready to soap after I came home from a few errands. The FO was semi solid, just like Rusti described, and an orangy-pinkish color. I decided to use it anyway and it mixed into the batter just fine, but turned it bright yellow. I tried to whiten it to no avail. So right now I have spruce scented yellow and two shades of pea soup green soap topped with white and green Christmas tree sparkly M&P cutouts sitting on the top. I'm hoping that it is a temporary thing, and all will be good tomorrow. Ugh.



Sometimes my batter will go bright yellow like that using VS, however, it always changes back after a gel and saponification. The trick is to gel your soap though. If you don't gel, it will sometimes stay a yellowish color.


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## dibbles (Sep 28, 2017)

jcandleattic said:


> Sometimes my batter will go bright yellow like that using VS, however, it always changes back after a gel and saponification. The trick is to gel your soap though. If you don't gel, it will sometimes stay a yellowish color.



It's insulated, and hopefully gelling happily away. Thanks!


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## jcandleattic (Sep 28, 2017)

Here's a good example. 
This soap became so yellow that the pink was orange, and the 'white' was yellow, but after saponifcation and the cut, you'd never know that's what the wet soap looked like.


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## jcandleattic (Oct 4, 2017)

dibbles said:


> It's insulated, and hopefully gelling happily away. Thanks!



How did your final soap turn out? Still yellow?


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## dibbles (Oct 4, 2017)

The top stayed yellow, so I cut that part off and stamped the soap. The rest of the embeds will probably just be little itty bitty guest soaps. Or one shower.


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## jcandleattic (Oct 4, 2017)

dibbles said:


> The top stayed yellow, so I cut that part off and stamped the soap. The rest of the embeds will probably just be little itty bitty guest soaps. Or one shower.



They look good though. What scent did you say they were? Blue Spruce? They look like they would be a good VBN scent.


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## dibbles (Oct 4, 2017)

jcandleattic said:


> They look good though. What scent did you say they were? Blue Spruce? They look like they would be a good VBN scent.



Thank you. They are Sugared Spruce from WSP. I tried it after many recommendations by IrishLass. She is right, it smells so good.


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## IrishLass (Oct 4, 2017)

Here's a pic of a batch of Sugared Spruce made with BCN's vanilla stabilizer that I made 2 years ago in October of 2015. I have 1 bar left over from this batch and I just now checked on it. It still looks exactly like the pic below that I took 2 years ago. No change in color at all (still smells great, too). The entire batch has both the stabilizer and Sugared Spruce FO in it, except for the white snowdrift on the bottom, which contains only the stabilizer and a little TD. 

The wispy swirls on top were made with a portion of my fragranced blue batter that I had set aside to swirl with a small bit of un-fragranced batter mixed with silver mica. I meant for the swirls to be more distinct, but as you can see, I became a little overzealous in my swirling endeavors near the top- the two colors intermingle a bit too much, making for a muddied, light silvery-blue swirl in several areas. But I'm glad I was overzealous, because it advantageously shows off how well the stabilizer is working, i.e., those areas where the unscented silvery-white batter got mixed in with the scented blue batter are still as light, silvery-blue as they look below. No discoloration at all. The white 'snow' that you see throughout the main body are flakes from a bar of one of my salt soap batches.

For what it's worth, when I added the FO to my batter that already contained the stabilizer and my blue colorant, everything went *GREEN. *Happily, as you can see*, *it all ended up the way I had intended after a good gel. 








IrishLass


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## jcandleattic (Oct 5, 2017)

Yep, I think with stabilizer gel is the key. without gelling, it may not go dark brown, but it will stay the yellowish color that the batter gets after adding it. 
That's never a problem with me because I gel all of my soaps except my beer and goats milk soaps. With those soaps, I still use stabilizer, I just try to work with the colors they are going to end up instead of trying to fight it. Usually never have a problem.


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## Heika (Nov 22, 2017)

I was just looking at NG's vanilla stabilizer. I made a really pretty dragon's blood soap with flames in the center, and the yellow and orange have turned brown. So disappointing. Glad I read this thread, I will order the stabilizer recommended.


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