Aghhhhh, FO's changing batch colour

[AshleyR]

I just got a big order of FO's in from saveonscents and I tried two of them out already. Yesterday I made sugar cookie soap that was a nice light off-white colour when I poured it (looked like cookies!!), but today I see that it has turned brown, and it seems to be getting darker!

Also, I used a blueberry cheesecake FO today and it turned my batch bright orange! So frustrating!

How do you get around these "incidents" when working with CP soap? I want my soaps to look nice and so far both of these batches have flopped in the colour department. I can see this getting really frustrating!

Hmph.

 

[Becky]

I test all my fragrances out in a small batch with the same basic recipe.
This will let me know if they are going to discolor, and if so, to what amount.

Once you know if / how much they are going to discolor, you can work your color design out around it. For example, dragonsblood FO will discolor dark brown. Instead of trying to fight it, I just swirl some gold mica thru and let it do its thing.

 

[IrishLass]

I make sure to look over at The Scent Review Board before buying any F/Os: http://soapscentreview.obisoap.ca/. Not every fragrance from every supplier is reviewed there, but a boat load of them are, and you can always add your own reviews, too. The reviews include info such as whether there was any acceleration or discoloration, ricing, etc.... It's one of the best F/O resources out there.

If I can't find any info about the F/O that I'll be using on the Scent Review Board, then I make a small batch with it to test it out.

One of my biggest pet peeves with soaping is soap that turns brown. I've learned to steer clear of F/Os with a high % of vanilla in them for they will always turn deep, dark brown over time. Not every F/O company will list the percent of vanilla in their F/Os, so it's not always easy to know which ones will turn brown until you soap them, but WSP is one of the few out there that are very good about listing their vanilla content. I use them a lot.

HTH!
IrishLass

 

[Deda]

I make sure to look over at The Scent Review Board before buying any F/Os: http://soapscentreview.obisoap.ca/. Not every fragrance from every supplier is reviewed there, but a boat load of them are, and you can always add your own reviews, too. The reviews include info such as whether there was any acceleration or discoloration, ricing, etc.... It's one of the best F/O resources out there.

If I can't find any info about the F/O that I'll be using on the Scent Review Board, then I make a small batch with it to test it out.

One of my biggest pet peeves with soaping is soap that turns brown. I've learned to steer clear of F/Os with a high % of vanilla in them for they will always turn deep, dark brown over time. Not every F/O company will list the percent of vanilla in their F/Os, so it's not always easy to know which ones will turn brown until you soap them, but WSP is one of the few out there that are very good about listing their vanilla content. I use them a lot.

HTH!
IrishLass

Very helpful site. I get most of my FOs at WSP. They've a nice selection of reviews for their scents.

 

[beachgurl]

That's part of the reason I like Flickers Fragrances so much; they let you know how each of their FO's behaves in CP soap .. to what degree it discolors, accelerates trace, etc. I also like WSP because the user reviews are very helpful.

 

[mandolyn]

Like already mentioned, test, test, test. Vanilla will always turn your soap brown & any scent with vanilla in it will turn.

There are non-discoloring vanilla FO's out there.

Some colorants morph as well. I can only keep saying test new scents & colors unless you don't mind surprises!!

 

[MikeInPdx]

Some of my most beautiful (and most comical ) soaps have been surprises.

Sorry for your misfortune, but I got the giggles at bright orange blueberry cheesecake.

 

[carebear]

OK I'm gonna go out on a limb here and suggest you do a lot of reading on this forum and others (the Dish would have been another great resource, but I guess you won't be back there). Discoloration is a biggie that is discussed often and the fact that vanilla scents discolor really shouldn't be a surprise. Additionally there are probably other things you might want to learn from reading rather from doing that you can get from the old posts.

I also suggest you join the Scent Review Board - a quick search of this forum should find you the link.

These forums have a WEALTH of information which people share freely, as do the vendor sites (where you will read things like "accelerates" or "discolors").

Read read read. Information is your friend.