I am trying to design a great authentic looking and smelling horchata soap (a whitish, milk based South American drink with almonds, vanilla, and cinnamon) but the fragrance combo I put together of vanilla and almond fragrance oils with cassis essential oil is sure to turn the soap brown, and I really want it to be a creamy white with just brown specks (planned on using ground cinnamon and almond meal as additives). I thought about doing a brown swirl in the white for the vanilla and cassis oils, then adding almond fragrance oil to the white part, but most of the fragrance turns it brown and I want the soap mostly white. Other than adding t.d. (which I planned on doing anyway) or using vanilla stabilizer which I would rather not do, are there any other options? Can you share any ideas with me? Thank you!
Horchata soap
- Thread starter camproses
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I think what you’ve said will work. Use the vanilla and cassis in the ‘brown’ part ( ground cinnamon makes a lovely brown soap if you use a tablespoon PPO). Then add your almond meal (ideally not blanched so you get the lovely brown flecks in it) to the white part. Be careful not to grind them yourself - we did that at home and ended up with almond butter!
ETA: I reckon any scent you use in the almond part from the three you have stated will discolour. Almond FO will go to yellow, but maybe under use it (just to add a hint of fragrance at 1%) and with the TD added it should hopefully not be too bad?
ETA: I reckon any scent you use in the almond part from the three you have stated will discolour. Almond FO will go to yellow, but maybe under use it (just to add a hint of fragrance at 1%) and with the TD added it should hopefully not be too bad?
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Thank you KiwiMoose! I wasn't aware that almond would turn it yellow, so I will make sure to be light handed on that. I really was wondering if it would look better design wise to do the swirl, or to layer it, maybe cinnamon layer on the bottom, white layer on top? I guess it just depends on personal preference.
I wonder if it might be better to have the white swirled through given that it will be less scent-heavy? That way, no one will end up with a bit of white soap in a chunk with no smell?
It would look nice layered though! Maybe tiger stripes?
It would look nice layered though! Maybe tiger stripes?
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Cinnamon has to be used very carefully on skin; essential oil from the leaf and bark are used in tiny amounts. Since powdered cinnamon comes from a variety of species with a varied amount of constituents, so I would think it would be difficult to judge how much ground cinnamon is safe to use in soap.
Hi Camproses! I think your scent combo sounds fabulous and you should definitely give it a go. Every time I use an FO or EO that discolors to brown it will eventually migrate to the neighboring colors. So your white areas will probably become beige then brown with time. I've found it to happen over several months so it may not concern you. I also agree with Lenarenee that you should be very cautious with the ground cinnamon. Might be a bit caustic to certain south-of-the-border body parts.
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Cinnamon is so different from one source to another. I bought a huge container from Costco and found it had almost no scent or taste. I need to throw it out. Bought some from the grocery store and its rather hot! Someone gifted us some Penzey's Vietnamese cinnamon and it's wonderful!
Just a comment on the use of ground cinnamon in soap.
The cinnamon from Ceylon and Vietnam is real cinnamon: spicy, aromatic, and more expensive than most. Mexican cinnamon you buy in rolls, with thin papery layers is also real cinny! Just hard to find outside of Latin American shops.
On the other hand, the brand Badia sells cassia type of cinnamon. It's not as aromatic, or spicy, and very much less irritating, while also being kinda cheap.
How you tell the difference is that in the stick form, real cinny is formed lielike the Mexican cinny I describe above. The cassia is formed of a single THICK piece. If you get the chance, smell the two side-by-side and you'll learn to tell the difference.
I've use cassia at 1 tbsp per kilo of oils and the color and scent were fabulous. However, 6 months later the scent is almost completely gone.
I also used 2 tsp of Hershey's cocoa to that batch and, again, though the scent crane came through at first, it's almost gone as well.
The color though, it's a beautiful creamy brown that looks like a delicious cookie. Oh, and the tiny specks of cinnamon have also disappeared.
No irritation or burning in the nether regions has been experienced by me or my friends.
The cinnamon from Ceylon and Vietnam is real cinnamon: spicy, aromatic, and more expensive than most. Mexican cinnamon you buy in rolls, with thin papery layers is also real cinny! Just hard to find outside of Latin American shops.
On the other hand, the brand Badia sells cassia type of cinnamon. It's not as aromatic, or spicy, and very much less irritating, while also being kinda cheap.
How you tell the difference is that in the stick form, real cinny is formed lielike the Mexican cinny I describe above. The cassia is formed of a single THICK piece. If you get the chance, smell the two side-by-side and you'll learn to tell the difference.
I've use cassia at 1 tbsp per kilo of oils and the color and scent were fabulous. However, 6 months later the scent is almost completely gone.
I also used 2 tsp of Hershey's cocoa to that batch and, again, though the scent crane came through at first, it's almost gone as well.
The color though, it's a beautiful creamy brown that looks like a delicious cookie. Oh, and the tiny specks of cinnamon have also disappeared.
No irritation or burning in the nether regions has been experienced by me or my friends.
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Here's my cinnamon soap:
Kamahido
Paladin of Soap
If you want to make something brown without the burning of cinnamon, try a bit of cocoa powder in lieu of cinnamon.
I like cocoa very well to make brown. It gives a uniform milk chocolate color without speckles.
Here's an example of a cocoa swirl. There's a heaping teaspoon of cocoa powder (Hershey's Special Dark, FWIW) in about 700 mL of base soap batter. The base soap contains beer rather than water, so the light portion of the swirl is a light beige. I suppose I could have added some titanium dioxide to the light portion to increase the contrast, but it's fine this way too, IMO.
Here's an example of a cocoa swirl. There's a heaping teaspoon of cocoa powder (Hershey's Special Dark, FWIW) in about 700 mL of base soap batter. The base soap contains beer rather than water, so the light portion of the swirl is a light beige. I suppose I could have added some titanium dioxide to the light portion to increase the contrast, but it's fine this way too, IMO.
RobinRogers
Well-Known Member
It is beautiful!!! However, I did a recipe from a magazine using cocoa powder. The problem is that the soap makes brown lather and the water in the shower is brown! Have you tried any of your soaps with cocoa?
It depends on how much cocoa powder you use as to whether the lather is brown or stains a washcloth. IMO it doesn't take a ton of cocoa powder to get a deep chocolate brown, so perhaps try using a bit less next time?
I used 1 heaping teaspoon (maybe a few grams, but didn't weigh it) of cocoa powder in a recipe calling for 1600 g of fat total, but obviously the whole soap wasn't colored with cocoa -- just the swirl. That's another way to enjoy the color created by cocoa without as much risk of dark colored lather or washcloths.
RobinRogers
Well-Known Member
I will try cocoa again but on a much smaller scale!! Haha!
I have just started using spices and seasonings, herbs, clays, etc for more natural colorants and I do like it! Coffee brewed and replacing the water makes a very nice dark brown!
"...it was a smaller batch ant there was a tablespoon or more!..."
Mmmm, yeah, that might be a bit much and I can see why the lather is brown. But your soap is attractive -- I like the look of the lighter, feathery swirl within the main darker color. Very nice.
Mmmm, yeah, that might be a bit much and I can see why the lather is brown. But your soap is attractive -- I like the look of the lighter, feathery swirl within the main darker color. Very nice.
RobinRogers
Well-Known Member
Thanks. Just started soaping in Jan. Took a class but very basic, nothing about coloring! Grateful for You Tube!
Zany_in_CO
Saponifier
I love what you're attempting to do with this soap. I'm wondering if an FO like Brambleberry's Almond Biscotti might simplify things for you? I haven't soaped it, but I've used it in an almond oil EO blend for cuticle balm. Nice.
PS: I had to look up a recipe for Horchata. YUM!
https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/horchata/
As others have said, I would go light with the cinnamon. It can not only be a skin irritant, it's also "a heater", meaning it can heat up and cause the batch to accelerate.
Yummy! I looked up this one:https://www.mylatinatable.com/authentic-horchata-recipe/
I lived in Mexico for over 6 months and never heard of this. I missed out!
I lived in Mexico for over 6 months and never heard of this. I missed out!
