Neem turned green?

[KiwiMoose]

I made some doggie soap today - same recipe as always, but this time it turned dark green while gelling and then stayed green! It's usually a deep buttery cream colour. My recipe has all the usual ingredients that I always use, with neem being the only different one. However, i have used neem previously in my dog soaps with no problem. One difference with this batch is that it was CPOPped - where past batches were gelled naturally ( in summertime). Maybe it just got hotter?
The Eos I used were cedar wood, sweet orange, lemon eucalyptus and marjoram. It's the first time I have ever used marjoram in soap - but I doubt that would be the culprit?
Any ideas as to what happened here?

 

[AliOop]

My neem soaps generally turn a medium to dark brown with green undertones. I've occasionally had them come out a medium tan with green undertones. They were all gelled and usually at a fairly hot temperature since the round ABS pipe molds I use for those soaps are super insulators and seem to cook the soaps.

My neem oil has ranged from lighter to darker green, but I didn't pay enough attention to notice if the color difference in the final bars correlated with the color difference in the different batches of neem oil. Sorry I can't be of more help.

 

[KiwiMoose]

My neem is darkish brown when in its original state. But I only use it at 5% so it doesn't
discolour the bar much usually. I think it must be the heat that caused it then?

 

[Ford]

Heat? Isn't it technically winter there? Hello

 

[ResolvableOwl]

And where did you get that dog tallow from?

Give it a few days, some colour issues resolve by themselves. And if it's only a CPOP/gelling effect at all, and the appearance of gelled and ungelled soaps approach each other after a few days/weeks.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Heat? Isn't it technically winter there? Hello

Yes it is. Midwinter. View from my office window as we speak:

And only 13 degrees today ( celcius). Pleasant enough in the sun though.
BTW - I CPOPped this batch

 

[ResolvableOwl]

I didn't mean a pic of your office view (though this is also beautiful and green!), but your soap.

 

[KiwiMoose]

I didn't mean a pic of your office view (though this is also beautiful and green!), but your soap.

Isn't it midnight over there Mr Owl? Well I guess owls are nocturnal.

 

[ResolvableOwl]

Heeeh, don't judge my biorhythm
Yeah since you are off half a year as well as half a day, it's half awkward half calming to exchange with those in Oceania/South America (unless someone like you bothers to actually convert time zones).

ETA: Seriously, the alternative to casual conversation would be lying in bed and listening to an armada of bloodthirsty six-legged beasts eat me up.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Given that New Zealand is the first country in the world to see the new day, new year, new millennium....( you get the idea) I will always be in your future.

 

[ResolvableOwl]

…until I'll emigrate to Kiribati

 

[Ford]

I've never used Neem oil. But it is on the list. To try. Good luck with your color change.

 

[KiwiMoose]

…until I'll emigrate to Kiribati

Hmmm yeah - nah. Bold claims: Is Gisborne really the first city in the world to see the sunrise?

 

[Tara_H]

Yes it is. Midwinter. View from my office window as we speak:
View attachment 59791
And only 13 degrees today ( celcius). Pleasant enough in the sun though.
BTW - I CPOPped this batch

Jeez, your midwinter is not far off our midsummer. In fact it looks nicer! We've had 13-16 degree days here, overcast and showers...

Edit: here's my view this morning!

 

[KiwiMoose]

Jeez, your midwinter is not far off our midsummer. In fact it looks nicer! We've had 13-16 degree days here, overcast and showers...

Edit: here's my view this morning!
View attachment 59795

You have leaves on your trees though
Last week we had a couple of 16 degree days too. But the week prior we had frosts.

 

[ResolvableOwl]

Are we now through the weather small-talk?
Poor @Ford already tried to come back to topic, but nobody listened

I haven't worked with neem either, but when looking around, green isn't the least common colour for them. Just like not all laurel oil qualities are created equal, this wisdom most likely applies to neem as well. It might well be that you had “luck” and got a lot for which quite some of the green colour makes it into the soap, and it doesn't just turn brown like 80% of all other botanical additions.
Depending on your degree of unhappiness, you might try a test batch with all the ingredients except the neem, and test if really this is the culprit. Or make a 100% neem soap (neem is one of the few “perfect” oils that would give a well-balanced soap by themselves, weren't there the smell). Or both: shred a pure-neem soap and disperse them as confetti in whatever soap you want to enrich with neem, but don't want to risk main batter discolouration.

 

[tnana1]

Ladies, I have olive oil infused with neem, it is a deep beautiful green what is need good for? thanks

 

[KiwiMoose]

Sorry @Ford and @ResolvableOwl for going off topic, lol.

You will all be pleased to note that after the second day the green has cured out and the soap seems to be mutating through a very dark beige colour through to the buttery cream colour I was expecting.

 

[Ford]

No apologies needed. It's your thread. You go where you want. Enough Neem oil, for a test batch. Will be in my next order. Thanks.

 

[KiwiMoose]

No apologies needed. It's your thread. You go where you want. Enough Neem oil, for a test batch. Will be in my next order. Thanks.

Be aware that it is very stinky - even at only 5% of the recipe and some strong herbal EOs you can still smell it.