Help in the Right Direction.

[moodymama]

Hi everyone! I'm looking for some help in achieving a somewhat translucent, reddish brown soap, sans mica. Similar in color to what soaping 101 got with honey when she did the 3 different sugars. I added honey but I did not get that color. I have more of a light beige/tan. I used half a percent of cinnamon leaf eo in hoping it would add to the discoloration. 3g in 625g oils. Also no translucency.

I did some reading found some posts talking about higher water giving more translucency. I made a second batch which is still in gel so I am not able to see if I got any better translucency, but I can see the color is not there, also didn't use any more cinnamon leaf eo.

Both times I added honey (22g) to the water before the lye, added in the lye very slowly. It turned bright orange than a reddish brown. That color isn't transferring into the finished soap.

Questions
1. Will I need to hot process to give my desired color and translucency.
2. Do I have to stay away from hard oils like palm, cocoa butter etc. I used palm in first one @ 20% and cocoa butter second one 12%. Other oils were avocado, olive, caster and coconut.

This is similar to the color I would like but she used a lot cinnamon eo. Honey Cinnamon Oatmeal Soap – New England Handmade Artisan Soaps

 

[szaza]

Sorry I don't have a good answer ready for you, but I'll share some of my experience in the hopes it helps you brainstorm different ideas.
I got a similar color with a tumeric in alcohol infusion added after HP cook, but it discolored to a rather ugly brown afterwards.. (link here)
Did you gel the soaps in the picture? Because that seems to be important.. maybe the type of honey might also play a role? (Just spitballing ideas)
I've had a soap discolor to pink once and still don't know why it happened exactly. Cinnamon might play a role, but it didn't discolor when I tried to replicate the discoloration. (Link here)
Since you mentioned Hp.. I only tried to add honey after HP once, but the soap was still too hot and it got dark brown and smelled like something burned. I know others have added honey after HP without problems, but I also think that caused minimal discoloration (which would be a disadvantage for you). Though maybe wait for someone more experienced with honey in HP to chime in before excluding HP completely

 

[KiwiMoose]

You must gel to get it it to look more translucent -ungelled soap always looks creamy. How about cinnamon powder ( that you have in your kitchen)?
I made some with that once - I'll find a pic. Be aware - cinnamon can be sensitising.
Another thought - I've never tried it, but how about molasses?

 

[moodymama]

I cut the second one this morning since it was cooled down. Feels a bit wet, not zapping. I do have more translucent but color is not there. I used 30% lye concentration, the first was 36% iirc, the recipe is in my soaping area and I am upstairs in my room. Also seems the cocoa butter left stearic spots. The color seems darker as well.

@szaza I will try HP, I think that will help get to where I want to be. I have made LS a few times but not HP so I'll have to read up a bit

@KiwiMoose Yip the ones in the picture gelled, It started gelling within 20 mins after being poured, I waited until I saw the whole top in gel and stuck it in the fridge. Was only a few mins from where I saw it starting and when it was throughout. I may try both tumeric and cinnamon infused oils separately.

Thank you both for your answers.

 

[lsg]

You might try using red palm oil.