Fresh mint leaves - I should have known better

[rainycityjen]

Just finished my first experiment with fresh herbs!

Tonight I picked some mint (no idea what kind) in my backyard and bruised several handfuls of it to use in soap. Half I steeped in water for tea, half I infused in coconut oil. The coconut oil came out a lovely olive green, and the tea came out gold. The soap is currently some kind of butterscotch color. If it cures a light tan that's ok - I put a little dried parsley in it for texture.

Something weird though ... I laid out some fresh mint leaves on top - imitating some post I'd seen on the forums somewhere. 10 minutes after pour, the veins of the leaves are turning purple. Not too attractive against the mustard-colored batter. Anyone had success embedding fresh herbs like mint in their tops without discoloration? Or only dried?

Here's the soap at 0 minutes after pour and 10 minutes after pour:

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I can't see the picture, but a lot of people do get some discolouration from the Lye in CP soap, even with dried herbs! Some people spritz a little alcohol on the soap first so that the herbs stick but not directly on the soap itself, helping to keep it looking "normal"

 

[navigator9]

Sadly, I would guess that eventually the leaves will turn black. At least, that's what happened to the beautiful peony and rose petals that I saved and dried. And the lavender buds. If I remember correctly, the only botanicals that don't turn black are calendula petals and oh, it's the blue one that I can't think of the name right now! Although parsley powder is sometimes used for coloring and that stays kind of greenish. Kind of. Beautiful teas, (I'm thinking specifically of a pink, pomegranate green tea that I thought would be so pretty in soap) turn brown when you add lye to them. Lye isn't kind to botanicals.

 

[judymoody]

Fresh herbs are generally not a good idea - they can go moldy. I suspect that yours will turn brown or black over time, due to contact with active lye. You can probably just pick them off after the soap hardens. Might leave an interesting pattern or impression underneath.

 

[rainycityjen]

Fresh herbs are generally not a good idea - they can go moldy. I suspect that yours will turn brown or black over time, due to contact with active lye. You can probably just pick them off after the soap hardens. Might leave an interesting pattern or impression underneath.

I knew not to use fresh herbs in the batter itself. Don't know why I thought the lye wouldn't affect the leaves on top! Yes, they turned entirely black. However, when I picked them off I had perfect impressions of leaves underneath. Neat. Thanks for the insight everybody.