Peak's Black Canyon F.O.

[Donna]

Has anyone had much experience with Peak's Black Canyon FO?
My husband really likes the fragrance, so I made what I though was going to be a black bar with white swirls. Great soap, but the swirls were dark tan.
No problem, called it Black and Tan.
Yesterday, I decided that a lovely gray with white swirls would make a
"manly" looking bar. I used a black mica and added TD to the white.
Looked beautiful for about 4 hours. It's been 24 hrs and it looks like a baby poop green with yucky yellow swirls. Clean the World, here we come!
Would it help if I didn't add the FO to the white or would the FO bleed in and discolor it anyway?
Thanks!

 

[IwantItgreen]

I use Peak's Black Canyon in beer soap and don't add any color. It always discolors to a dark brown. The fragrance really sticks, it's a great manly scent. Even some women love it.

 

[IrishLass]

I've never used it myself (been contemplating it, though, to add to my men's line), but the reviews for Black Canyon over on the ScentReviewBoard report dark discoloration. If I were making it, I would forget swirling and just color the whole thing black with activated charcoal.

Would it help if I didn't add the FO to the white or would the FO bleed in and discolor it anyway?

I've tried doing that before with one of my discoloring FOs, and while the unscented swirls stayed white at first, the discoloration eventually took over my whole bar a few months down the road. I've heard of others having better luck with doing a layered soap with a scented layer on the bottom and an unscented layer on top. I haven't tried it myself, though.


IrishLass

 

[falldowngobump]

I've soaped with it. Don't count on swirls, great scent, but discolors like crazy.

 

[paillo]

discolors to a dark yucky brown/ooblick green. love, love, love the scent though. i managed to make (only once) a really attractive batch with red clay and activated charcoal swirls. the white base cam out a shade of tan, but still looked pretty cool. my so can't get enough of it -- he's been hoarding

 

[Donna]

O.K. This give me what I need to know and many thanks to all of you.
I guess it's a trade off. Great scent for ho hum color. However,
the red clay and activated charcoal sounds like something worth trying.


Your answers have saved me from beating my head against the wall trying
to figure out what I've done wrong.

My husband now has 3 lbs. of his favorite fragrance to enjoy!

Thank you all,
d

 

[Donna]

Update.
YOU WON'T BELIEVE.
Today has been 48 hrs. and I decided to remove the "pond scum" from this sorry batch of soap figuring I had nothing to loose.
When I started striping off a thin layer of the disgusting color, things were looking up. A little more removal and guess what!
A beautiful gray with whitish swirls lurking underneath.
I never would have guessed, but am thrilled!
I guess I'll spend the rest of the day "eating crow".

WHO KNEW!

 

[paillo]

ooooohhh, pictures, pictures please! hooray for your batch, so glad it worked out. it was worth it, yes?

 

[IrishLass]

Hopefully, as the newly exposed layers hit the air they won't go dark as well. That has always been my experience with FOs that discolor dark brown. I can cut into a dark brown, discolored soap that's been sitting around for months and the inside will be a beautiful, light creamy beige/tan, but over the next few hours or days, the newly exposed lighter parts turn dark brown as well. Just thought I'd share to give you the heads-up so that you won't freak out too much in case that happens, for it's pretty much a normal thing that happens with deeply discoloring FO's. If it doesn't happen to your bars, then I say cool beans! I shall be very happy for you and give you official permission to say, "Neener, neener, neener" to me. :wink:


IrishLass

 

[Donna]

Irish Lass,

Oh crap! I'll bet you're correct. I can see it changing already.
However, it's not as horrible as the first colors.
I should have taken pictures during that nano second when it was
so pretty.
I also must learn how to post pics!

Live and learn!

 

[dcornett]

Donna I use Peaks Black Canyon, and like the others I loooovve the scent. The first time I made it I was shocked to see how badly it discolored, worse than anything I'd seen! I've started useing some TD in my batches now, and it still discolors to a tan, but the greenish/tanish horrible color is gone. I'm still able to swirl it too...here's a pic of how mine turns out with the TD:

 

[Donna]

Debra,

Your soap is beautiful!
I notice that you used more white than I. Perhaps that's part of my problem.
Could I ask how much TD you used?
I hate to give up since I love the scent.
This has become quite a challenge. Fortunately, I only made 3 pounds.
My husband made me a little one pound mold. I could experiment with that!
It's early here. I'm almost afraid to check and see what my soap has morphed into overnight!
Thanks for the hint.

 

[paillo]

debra, that is gorgeous!!!!!

 

[Donna]

I am so frustrated!
I have joined Photo Bucket and can't seem to get my pics on this forum
I have a Mac. Can anyone help?

 

[dcornett]

Debra,

Could I ask how much TD you used?

I make a pretty good size batch of soap, (nearly 5 lbs oil) and I use a rounded tablespoon in it...for the black canyon.

 

[Donna]

Thanks Debra,

I'll give it a try!

 

[Donna]

Debra,

Thanks so much for trying to help. I don't know how to send a private message. This is what I get when I paste the forum code.
Think I'll let it go, but can tell you that the soap isn't bad.
It is grey with some cream and lavender (don't know where that came from)
swirls. All is not lost!
Will try more T.D. next time and think it will be better.
Thank you all for helping!
Donna

 

[Donna]

YEA and double YEA!

Debra, it worked!

Now the word can keep on turning

Yippeee!

Donna

 

[dcornett]

LOL!
And you must be waaaaay too self-critical, because that soap is very nice!! It's not just "isn't bad" LOL...I love it! I don't know why you would want to change anything about it.

 

[paillo]

agree with debra, i think it's gorgeous! and very manly congrats to both of you on your creations, i am inspired to try again with black canyon.