How can I get this color?

[Mobjack Bay]

I’m thinking about using honey, but maybe I need a little something else to bring out the brown tones? Liquid from brewed tea? Cocoa powder? Coffee? Goat milk w/gel? The fragrance will be BB Bergamot Black Tea, which has 0.3 vanillin content.

 

[Dawni]

In her case I wonder if it's a combo of several things.... The milk, the sandalwood powder and the orange EO.

I've not gotten a tan that rich with the stuff I have used. The dark Yemeni honey I have gave me a lighter tan than this. The cocoa I have is a different shade of brown even with a light hand.

Black tea I've used but didn't note how much (I only got a light tan too) but maybe a very concentrated tea would work combined with the honey and your FO.

Good luck!

 

[Mobjack Bay]

View attachment 42507
In her case I wonder if it's a combo of several things.... The milk, the sandalwood powder and the orange EO.

I've not gotten a tan that rich with the stuff I have used. The dark Yemeni honey I have gave me a lighter tan than this. The cocoa I have is a different shade of brown even with a light hand.

Black tea I've used but didn't note how much (I only got a light tan too) but maybe a very concentrated tea would work combined with the honey and your FO.

Good luck!

I hope to make the soap tonight, but I don’t have sandalwood powder. Cocoa and coffee seem to produce more of a mocha/cool brown. This is more like the color of carmelized sugar. If I added a little carmelized sugar in addition to the honey would that boost the color? or would adding the honey to the lye water be enough? I’ve never tried soy milk, but that’s why I thought about adding goat milk.

 

[shunt2011]

I can only speak to the milk issue. I've never had it anything other than a light beige.

 

[CatahoulaBubble]

I’m thinking about using honey, but maybe I need a little something else to bring out the brown tones? Liquid from brewed tea? Cocoa powder? Coffee? Goat milk w/gel? The fragrance will be BB Bergamot Black Tea, which has 0.3 vanillin content.

View attachment 42506

I get that color in my oatmeal, milk, and honey soap. I use goat milk for my liquid and add in pulverized oats and 2 tablespoons of raw honey. I don't let mine gel because it heats up really hot so I pop my molds in the fridge.

 

[lsg]

You can add more vanilla FO or use brewed coffee as part of the liquid.

 

[TheGecko]

I hope to make the soap tonight, but I don’t have sandalwood powder.

If you want to wait until the weekend, I would be more than happy to share some of my sandalwood powder as I probably have a year's supply having bought it on sale. Will a couple of tablespoons do you are do you need more. PM me if interested and I can pop it in the mail this afternoon.

 

[lshone]

I think the brown color is from the honey reacting to the lye. Try adding honey directly to the lye and you will see the organic material in the honey burning. At first it will be orange, then it will darken. This will create a brown/orange/black lye that will color your batch. Depending on how much honey you use, you can vary the color.

 

[Arimara]

I get that color in my oatmeal, milk, and honey soap. I use goat milk for my liquid and add in pulverized oats and 2 tablespoons of raw honey. I don't let mine gel because it heats up really hot so I pop my molds in the fridge.

Agreed. I have had goat milk turn tan and honey turns the lye a different color. I would try a combo of the two to see. It it wasn't $4, I'd probably get a can of goat milk to test this out, myself.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I ended up having to work until an hour ago, so never even got close to making soap tonight. I did have an idea though about revisiting all of our green gone brown natural colorant experiments to see which green plant makes the perfect brown for this soap @Dawni @KiwiSoap @szaza

 

[penelopejane]

I can make that colour without GM - just with honey. But it depends on the honey. With a soap that is otherwise white Manuka honey 1 TBSP in 1700g of oils will be about that colour. Normal raw honey at that rate will be a bit paler. I add the honey to the oils and SB. I usually soap around 42*C. If you soap at RT you can heat the honey a bit with the lye and see if it changes colour.

DOn't worry if the soap turns orange as you pour it. It settles down to a tan as it saponifies.

Coffee and cocoa both leech out for me regardless of how much I use.

 

[Arimara]

I can make that colour without GM - just with honey. But it depends on the honey. With a soap that is otherwise white Manuka honey 1 TBSP in 1700g of oils will be about that colour. Normal raw honey at that rate will be a bit paler. I add the honey to the oils and SB. I usually soap around 42*C. If you soap at RT you can heat the honey a bit with the lye and see if it changes colour.

DOn't worry if the soap turns orange as you pour it. It settles down to a tan as it saponifies.

Coffee and cocoa both leech out for me regardless of how much I use.

I don't always trust honey. Manuka is quite pricey so I'd have to go local for honey. Still, I might try out the Costco honey to see what it will do.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I can make that colour without GM - just with honey. But it depends on the honey. With a soap that is otherwise white Manuka honey 1 TBSP in 1700g of oils will be about that colour. Normal raw honey at that rate will be a bit paler. I add the honey to the oils and SB. I usually soap around 42*C. If you soap at RT you can heat the honey a bit with the lye and see if it changes colour.

DOn't worry if the soap turns orange as you pour it. It settles down to a tan as it saponifies.

Coffee and cocoa both leech out for me regardless of how much I use.

I have plenty of raw honey from my friends in New England that I still haven’t used for anything, but it’s thin and pale. I think I might try carmelizing it for a richer color, or is that essentially what happens if I add it to the lye water? Manuka honey costs about 2x what I pay for other nice honey, so it would be good to find another way to get a rich golden tan/brown color.

 

[dibbles]

@Mobjack Bay I don't know if you have ever tried buckwheat honey. It is darker in color and less expensive than Manuka honey I'm sure. It's locally produced here, so your price point may be different.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

@Mobjack Bay I don't know if you have ever tried buckwheat honey. It is darker in color and less expensive than Manuka honey I'm sure. It's locally produced here, so your price point may be different.

I will keep an eye out for that.

 

[dibbles]

I think the way I worded that it sounds like buckwheat honey is darker than Manuka honey. I don't think that is necessarily the case, depending on the honey. But it is quite a bit darker than regular honey is what I meant to say.

 

[penelopejane]

I have plenty of raw honey from my friends in New England that I still haven’t used for anything, but it’s thin and pale. I think I might try carmelizing it for a richer color, or is that essentially what happens if I add it to the lye water? Manuka honey costs about 2x what I pay for other nice honey, so it would be good to find another way to get a rich golden tan/brown color.

I think you could try both.
Manuka honey isn't so expensive here and I add it for label appeal.
Just add a bit more regular honey than Manuka but watch the overheating.

Also try Lemongrass FO. It is about that colour. So annoying if you want white soap.
There are lots of discolouring FOs that will get you that colour.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I think the way I worded that it sounds like buckwheat honey is darker than Manuka honey. I don't think that is necessarily the case, depending on the honey. But it is quite a bit darker than regular honey is what I meant to say.

Actually, I just watched a soaping 101 video where she said that it’s the amount of simple sugar (glucose and fructose) that makes the most difference. She compared honey, molasses and maple syrup and the honey and molasses, which contain glucose and fructose, produced the most color. The color for those two looked about the same to my eye. The maple syrup, which contains sucrose (combined fructose and glucose) produced little color. She mixed the diluted sugars into the batter. Interesting.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

What about using a little beeswax along with the honey? It would be a total experiment since I’ve had one failed honey attempt to date and no experience with beeswax. I found a few threads where others mentioned that beeswax and honey produced brown soap. If anyone has any pics, I would love to see the color.

I also found some pics of soaps made with tea that look promising, like the second one here, where she used triple strength tea to get a brown soap. Maybe weaker tea plus honey will get me there. Using tea to make a tea scented soap sounds good.

 

[Dawni]

The soap I previously mentioned with honey also had beeswax. It faded really fast for me from the original color, plus it's HP so I'm not sure how much it applies to you hehehe.

I've been looking around for similar colored soaps on IG. Most of them have some form of milk (a lot of them coconut actually) in combo with the honey. See this one for example. Or this?