Coloring with cocoa powder?

[shunt2011]

I made a batch of cocoa soap (in the lye water) last night. I'm pretty certain it won't discolor since I was working with a recipe provided in one of Jo Haslauer's books, who makes all her soaps with natural colorants and sells them commercially. Not sure about scent as I used a fragrance oil but I did notice that the cocoa water (which smelled great at the outset) smelled pretty terrible after adding lye so I probably wouldn't have wanted that scent to stick anyway. It's my understanding that natural fragrances are very difficult to achieve when it comes to soap. Shea butter is said to leave a faint shea butter fragrance in the soap, which might come across as somewhat "desserty" if you pair it with cocoa powder if that's what you want?



That is so cool. I am still pretty new to soapmaking and I'm still playing around with infused oils and replacing the lye water with other liquids. Nowhere near having the guts to add in other things like this. Your soap looks beautiful!

I've not found that shea leaves any scent to the soap. You would likely need to use a high percentage to even possibly get any carry over. I've never gone over 20%.

 

[Misschief]

@Misschief, I'm curious about something.

And sorry for going slightly off topic...

If the "brown" chocolate gave you this color, will white chocolate help lighten the soap's color?

I would think it would be the same as adding cocoa butter to your soap. It doesn't really lighten the colour of the natural soap.

 

[KimT2au]

It's a 1000 gram batch of oils; the whole batch has 25 grams of dark unsweetened chocolate and one half has an added 1 tbsp of Dutch cocoa.

Hi @Misschief , did that amount of cocoa and chocolate produce an aroma in the soap or did you add a FO or EO of any sort?

 

[Misschief]

Hi @Misschief , did that amount of cocoa and chocolate produce an aroma in the soap or did you add a FO or EO of any sort?

It really doesn't scent the soap much, if at all. I added Chocolate Fudge FO and Peppermint EO. It really smells yummy.

 

[Lye-h20-oil]

@Misschief, I'm curious about something.

And sorry for going slightly off topic...

If the "brown" chocolate gave you this color, will white chocolate help lighten the soap's color?

Good question! I was wondering what could be used to lighten soap naturaly as well. Looking forward to the answer!

I just looked up ingredients in white chocolate and stumbled on white chocolate pudding...now I want to know if pudding has been used in soap!

 

[artemis]

now I want to know if pudding has been used in soap!

If you think of a possible soap ingredient, odds are someone else has, too: https://www.soapmakingforum.com/index.php?threads/63358/

 

[shunt2011]

Good question! I was wondering what could be used to lighten soap naturaly as well. Looking forward to the answer!

I just looked up ingredients in white chocolate and stumbled on white chocolate pudding...now I want to know if pudding has been used in soap!

I did once when I ran out of Cocoa Powder. I had a box of SF Chocolate Fudge pudding mix. It worked. To lighten soap I use TD. You can get cake white at places that sell Wilton Cake decorating supplies. It's TD. Will work in a pinch.

 

[Suzy Knight]

I made my first batch of chocolate soap Last week. I added cocoa powder to my fluid HP as it came to "mashed potato" level. I added fresh rose FO. This stuff is sinfully smooth and silky! Thanks for putting the idea into my head!

 

[KimT2au]

I made my first batch of chocolate soap Last week. I added cocoa powder to my fluid HP as it came to "mashed potato" level. I added fresh rose FO. This stuff is sinfully smooth and silky! Thanks for putting the idea into my head!

Hmmmmmmm, Turkish delight. Yummmmmm.

 

[Kafayat Adebowale oyeniyi]

I just made soap colored with cocoa powder and it's a beautiful brown. I am impatient waiting to test it in 3 weeks and have questions for the forum. Does it turn lather or washcloth brown? Does it have a scent? I can't really smell cocoa, just the peppermint essential oil I used. I used 2 Tbsp per pound of oil. Thanks!

With cocoa powder in my soap i always love it. However to compliment i use cocoa butter so the natural cocoa ftagrance smells awesome.I have done it before and loved it.No shea butter added

 

[Suzy Knight]

Hmmmmmmm, Turkish delight. Yummmmmm.

Rose is my favorite! I love the little rose mints too!

 

[Fargood]

I’ve used cocoa powder and cocoa butter for soap. I notice it less in CP soap, but I have a pretty good sniffer. I don’t like the cocoa powder or butter in non-compatible scents. If I pair it with a vanilla or other “warm” scent, I like it. I can’t be in the same room if it’s paired with a floral note or citrus. It’s like an odor nails-on-the-chalkboard. So yeah, I can smell the powder. I think it depends on the person.