Bubble scoop with brown spots

amd · Jun 14, 2018

I did a show on Saturday, my first time taking bubble scoops to an outdoor show and my first time setting up outside with 2 tables. I had the tables setup slightly "wrong" so some of my products were in sunlight for about 2 hours (now I know, will have better setup this weekend). Anyways, as I was unpacking at home, I noticed that some of my bubble scoops had brown spots on them. They also have a weird movie theater popcorn smell to them. I am wondering if the sun exposure could have oxidized the cocoa butter? Of the 6 that I had out, only 2 have developed this problem. They are also vanillan FO's that I used a stabilizer with, but the 3rd batch that I used a vanillan FO and stabilizer did not do this so I do not think it is a vanillan issue. I do find it weird that none of the others have the brown spots and weird smell, and not all of the scoops from the same batch are affected. Anyone have ideas or experience with this?

BattleGnome · Jun 14, 2018

It sounds to me like your stabilizer failed. Did you make the last batch more recently than the other two?

shunt2011 · Jun 14, 2018

I think the stabilizer failed in the sun. They’re still pink inside must be a weird reaction.

amd · Jun 15, 2018

Thanks for the input. It was really odd because not all of them did it. Do you think they're safe to use? The ones that have turned brown won't be put back out for sale, but not wanting to throw them out if they could be used as personal use. I did dissolve one in the sink to see if the weird popcorn smell went away, and I couldn't notice it once dissolved the bubbles smelled like they're supposed to.

I made the three with the vanillan FO's at the same time, so I mixed everything in one bowl, separated to add color and the FO mixed with stabilizer. I still think it's odd that the third one did not turn brown at all, and that one has the highest vanillan content of the 3.
(Pink is 3.5%, Orange is 2.3% and the other, not shown, is 9%)

earlene · Jun 16, 2018

I don't see why they wouldn't be safe for personal use. It's only the color (and maybe the scent) that was affected, right? It sounds like that offending odor disappears when the bomb melts in water, so it shouldn't alter the bathing experience.

amd · Jun 18, 2018

Well, I took the scoops without brown spots to the show on Saturday. I had a better setup in anticipation of the sun, so I was able to keep everything in the shade. Nothing else has turned brown or smells like popcorn, so I'm leaning more towards the sunlight caused the stabilizer to fail. Lesson learned (and now I have a nice stash of personal scoops to use up). Thanks for the input.