Lavender Essential oil in CP soap

[Bubli]

Here's the situation,very 1st batch of soap I made was with coconut oil,castor and olive.Scented with regular lavender EO.It was actually one of the pre measured kits for newbys .I love the off white,creamy color,smell....but way too soft(ran it through soap calc and it was like below a 29 on hard scale and above 20 on cleansing...OUCH!)So I played around with the soap calc ap and came with my own recipe that I am so in like with....one problem.I keep getting darker soap like just lighter than card board.Differences in my recipe was addition of palm oil,refined Shea butter,a small supperfat of jojoba oil and goat milk powder and this time my lavender was ORGANIC which did look and smell different.I also played with soaping at different temps.No matter what i did,my soap turned light brown(frozen,half and half,in the oil,reconstituted in water and added at trace.....).Really,really aggravated the doody out of me because "I WANT WHITE MILK SOAP,not dirty looking soap.Although the soap itself is actually very nice,I love it(except for the color).Oh..I also use ROE but that was with both and such a tiny amount so that was not a difference.Opinions please,could it be the milk powder(which I'm thinking is highly likely),or the organic lavender.I can't imaging any of the base fats causing this much of a darkness.Im stumped and clueless.I just don't get how even when I reconstituted it and froze it and slowly added lye(peyew!!)over an ice bath and even soaped at 80degrees F.it still turned out exactly the same tannish color.So now I'm going to try coconut milk in hope of lighter milk and the fact that animal milk in soap just seems strange to me.I have added my pic of my deviant soap,is that a normal goat soap color?All the pretty pics I see on the web are so creamy and white,I feel like this one looks yucky(but it feels so nice).HELP!!

 

[Bubli]

darnit!maybe it showed up this time....

 

[CaraBou]

I think it is more likely your goat milk and/or palm oil. Did you gel? That will definitely darken goat milk soap or any soap with sugars. I don't gel my GM soaps so I'm not 100% sure if the color you're showing would be characteristic of it (but I think it is likely). As for palm oil, my experience is it does produce a color similar to what you're showing. When I switched from palm to lard, I was shocked at the lighter color I got. It really whitened my bars. But I like it both ways, and hope someday you can appreciate the lovely color you have even if it wasn't what you were looking for.

In any case, I doubt it is the lavender. I use lavender in a lot of soaps and haven't noticed a specific color change with different kinds. I haven't used organic but I'm not sure why that in itself would cause such a change.

 

[Obsidian]

Thats about the same color as my goat milk soap. If you want it whiter, you can always use titanium dioxide.

 

[Bubli]

I think it is more likely your goat milk and/or palm oil. Did you gel? That will definitely darken goat milk soap or any soap with sugars. I don't gel my GM soaps so I'm not 100% sure if the color you're showing would be characteristic of it (but I think it is likely). As for palm oil, my experience is it does produce a color similar to what you're showing. When I switched from palm to lard, I was shocked at the lighter color I got. It really whitened my bars. But I like it both ways, and hope someday you can appreciate the lovely color you have even if it wasn't what you were looking for.

In any case, I doubt it is the lavender. I use lavender in a lot of soaps and haven't noticed a specific color change with different kinds. I haven't used organic but I'm not sure why that in itself would cause such a change.

I asked bramble berry about the palm oil because it was a tannish color,I thought that could contribute to the color.But if course they were like"no,it's more likely the lavender."And I don't think it gelled,didn't witness it,but I did purposely gel the same recipe and it was like transparent Tera cotta clay color,glossy.IDK,I'm still new.But you guys/ladies help so much.Thanks.Im trying the coconut milk and if that doesn't do it,I'll know its the palm.i do love my soap.Its nice and I actually like brown...I just see all those really LIGHT colored gm soaps and think they look so pretty.The lard is an ideaThanks

 

[Bubli]

Thats about the same color as my goat milk soap. If you want it whiter, you can always use titanium dioxide.

O.Kay good.its not just me then.Like i said I like my soap and brown,I was just trying so hard to make it creamy white.I was convinced I messed something up.But with all you guys help I'm gathering this may actually be the norm.Darn I just can't hardly stand it when I see something I think should be one way cuz someone else made it look so lovely and I can not make it do right.....I looked into that TD and think I read it lowers lather.Is it natural?I'm going to give the coconut milk a shot.I was reading the nutritional value of gm vrs the coconut milk and noticed the sugars in gm is like 9gr vrs 2 in CM.Im betting the sugars are getting to warm or something or other....ugh....Am i the only soaper that go bonkers over detail?Or are you all plagued with the same delima? Thanks...for helping/informing/listening,my loved ones are so irritated with my soap rants they could very well lock me in the garage soon My supplies should be here Monday,I'll post my next attempt.Thanks!

 

[Obsidian]

The sugar increases the temperature during saponification and the milk proteins turn dark from the heat. If you want the lightest animal milk soaps possible, use TD, soap at room temp and once poured, immediately put your soap in the freezer for 12 hours.

Titanium dioxide isn't exactly natural but its not exactly man made either. Its a natural mineral that goes through a process to remove all the toxin and impurities.
Not sure if it reduces lather, I suppose it can if you use too much. Generally I only have to use 1 tsp in a 2 lb batch.

 

[Bubli]

Well then,there ya go....that just justifies my initial thought about cm soap being lighter or making a lighter soap than gm soap.the proteins in cm is about 1.5 grams where the gm is like 7.both sugar and protein is considerably lower in cm which means less heating up from sugar and less proteins to darken.

We make a good team,eh?I'm kidding.You're probable thinking"man I wish she'd get off this milk kick,"or"I won't reply to one of her posts again."LOL

I have not tried putting my soap in freezer or fridge yet,that may be my problem.

Night all,and thanks a million.Storming something terrible where I'm at so I'm about to head for the hall!Catch y'all later.