Pinkish soap?

[FragranceGuy]

Hey there fellow soap enthusiasts! I made my fist batch of cold process soap yesterday. I made a couple of beginner mistakes. OK, more than a couple BUT it appears I’ve successfully created soap! Here’s my list of mistakes (that I know of) ...

1. Rather than making a tried and true recipe, I created my own (ego much? )
2. I told myself that my first batch of soap should simple, cheap and unscented. I’m obsessed with fragrances and colognes. I wear cologne when I’m alone While I was waiting for my oils and my lye solution to cool I decided to whip up an essential oil mixture based around sandalwood and lavender (3%). It smelled AMAZING so I decided I would add it, against my previous plans to keep things simple.
3. I overused my stick blender. Rather than pulsing and stirring, I did a lot of blending When I achieved a thin trace I added my FO, continued to blend and the next thing I knew I was working with pudding! Classic beginner mistakes.

The Pros: I was very diligent about the qualities I was looking for in my recipe and I measured accurately. My fragrance smells SO good, my girlfriend LOVES the scent and so do I! I tested the soap and it lathers well and doesn’t irritate my skin only 24 hours after pouring into the mold (5% lye discount) I achieved gel phase with temperatures hovering around 134 F. I successfully made soap my first try, and I’m grateful.

The Cons: I didn’t stick with my plan. I came to thick trace very quickly after I added my essential oils. The trace was so thick that I couldn’t expel all the bubbles. And my soap has a slight pink/violet color?? I wouldn’t consider the color a “con” because it’s quite beautiful, like something someone would try to do, but I didn’t try, and the curiosity is begging me. I did some preliminary research and it appears that fragrance and water impurities can sometimes cause this. I’ll post my recipe to help. My lye solution was perfectly clear. Ultimately, I’m curious what caused my soap to become a beautiful pink so I can replicate it! It’s difficult to see in photographs, but when you see it in person it’s obvious. I didn’t notice the pink/purple color until the loaf reached gel phase. I’m suspecting it has something to do with my essential oils because I DID use distilled water. I wonder if my essential oils have oxidized? Any expertise will be much appreciated! Thanks!!

 

[hlee]

Congrats on your soap success . I am not really sure about the pink color but someone else will probably have some ideas.
Don't feel bad about not sticking to the plan either. Sometimes you just can't.
Sometimes you just don' t want to anymore and sometimes you completely forget you even had a plan at all. Have fun!

 

[FragranceGuy]

Thank you hlee for being so welcoming and encouraging! I’m glad I found this forum!! I’m trying to post photos, but the forum keeps telling me I need to approve cookies to post photos. I’m trying to figure out how to do that, maybe it’s because I’m new..

Here’s photos...

Don’t get me wrong, the soap isn’t strongly pink, but it looks MUCH more pink than the photos..

 

[hlee]

Don’t get me wrong, the soap isn’t strongly pink, but it looks MUCH more pink than the photos..

It looks great!

 

[dibbles]

I can see that it is pink against the white background. There has been some discussion about this related to coconut oil. Here's one: Accidentally pink soap

Congratulations on your first batch - it looks great!

 

[FragranceGuy]

Thanks hlee and dibbles! Apparently I’ve found the right forum, you guys have been so helpful! I’ve noticed that the pink color is fading as the soap cures which makes me think that it might be related to moisturizer content. I’m going to let the soap cure for a while, a month or more before I over analyze. Leave it to me to overanalyze

Thank you guys! It means a lot to me that you care about a newbie..

Already the soap is turning a nutty, ivory color. Like a beautiful butter!!

Looking pretty enough for me...

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

Congrats on your first bar of soap' I love the slight hue tinge of pink' which can morph yet again To a lighter shade of cream. What caused the color change I'd venture to say the FO caused the color change? unless you used red palm oil.? Well done

 

[CatahoulaBubble]

I've been making soap for around 20 years now and I still stick blend too much sometimes. I'm a serial stick blender. I'm trying to get better at it but too many times I'm just like "one more pulse" and BOOM it's pudding.

 

[FragranceGuy]

I can’t express how happy I am that I didn’t completely fail! I spent at least 2 months studying soaponification and it still wasn’t enough. BUT, I’m learning, forever a student..

I've been making soap for around 20 years now and I still stick blend too much sometimes. I'm a serial stick blender. I'm trying to get better at it but too many times I'm just like "one more pulse" and BOOM it's pudding.

 

[FragranceGuy]

Thank you!!

 

[VikingChick]

There’s nothing like that thrill of making your first batch of soap. It’s like, oh my gosh, it actually worked!! Good job.

 

[KimW]

Whoop, Whoop! Nicely done.

 

[Zing]

Your enthusiasm is coming through the interwebs! Congrats! And let's re-frame "mistakes" into "what did I learn?" I've been soaping for awhile and am still actively learning about colorants, scents, trace, etc. Just this week I used a "yellow" which immediately turned "orange" -- like REALLY orange and did a freak out and kept adding colorants to make it yellow. Later I found out that after gelling the yellow truly is a yellow. Live and learn.
I've been soaping 3 years plus and just in recent months have felt more confident about blending to emulsion and thin trace. My blender is mostly a fancy spoon with occasional bursts.
There is a distinction between essential oils and fragrance oils. Which one did you use?
So great to have you here! Keep us posted! There's no turning back now....

 

[FragranceGuy]

I’m so grateful I discovered this forum! You all have been so welcoming and I know I’ll have lots of questions throughout my journey and I’ll get lots of different answers. What could be better in a hobby than having hundreds of mentors willing to help!! I think forums might be the best medium for learning. I get suspicious when everyone agrees on a process and forums are a great example that there is no “one” way to do something, we all have opinions and we’re all wrong some of the time. I’m happy to have found a community that is wise, welcoming and encouraging. You guys help me for the sake of helping a stranger and maybe someday I’ll be able to help someone else with what I learn here. THIS is a good place for soap makers!

Zing,
I wasn’t clear about my oils and I think I used FO inappropriately in my above post. I used essential oils. 2 parts sandalwood to 1 part lavender by weight at 3% total oil weight. The oils are about two years old purchased from bulk apothecary. Zing, I’ve definitely got the bug! My interest began when I got an electric razor and I thought “Is this razor over exfoliating my face? Do I need to take precautions to protect my skin?” Next thing I knew I have a skin care routine, I’m collecting soaps and straight up nerding out Then one day I decided to look up soap making. In my early twenties I spent years making fireworks. Why? Because I could and I love fireworks Chemistry and math were the only classes that I consistently made straight A’s and I KNEW soap making was going to grab my attention. Add to that my obsession with fragrances and a need to understand what’s happening around me. I’ve definitely found a life long hobby and I can’t wait to succeed and fail and succeed and fail. The rhythm of life How did your batch of yellow turn out? Did your efforts to correct your color work??

 

[Zing]

Okay, hands down one of the best posts ever -- "In my early twenties I spent years making fireworks. Why? Because I could and I love fireworks" -- WTH?! One of my undergrad majors was chemistry and it just all made sense and things fell into place. A looong time ago, good friends gave me handmade soap and it was on my bucket list for a long time. Once I started, I never looked back because of the miraculous effect on my skin. I was resigned that I was just a rashy person until I started using my own products. I too nerd out on this stuff -- it engages both sides of my brain.

The yellow is a story. After I posted that my yellow was orange, another poster here said to just wait. And lo and behold it did morph back to yellow. Course I had already added a lot of other stuff to it and should have left well enough alone. But that's why I like this forum -- someone always chimes in with experience and advice. Here's a photo of the yellow. You have to look close but there is actually 2 different yellows. SMF February 2021 Challenge Entry Thread - Circling Taiwan Swirl

Good to have ya here, take care,

 

[FragranceGuy]

Hey, fireworks are art too! And strontium makes a beautiful color, and some colors only exist in our imagination, at least I couldn’t make them, but I’m certain that any color that can be imagined DOES exist! if the minds eye can see it, it’s out there..

I’m so glad that you’ve helped your skin issues with your soap! The images you shared are freakin’ GORGEOUS! Beautiful!!!

 

[FragranceGuy]

Rosemary, bergamot and cedarwood

 

[hlee]

Hey, fireworks are art too! And strontium makes a beautiful color, and some colors only exist in our imagination, at least I couldn’t make them, but I’m certain that any color that can be imagined DOES exist! if the minds eye can see it, it’s out there..

I’m so glad that you’ve helped your skin issues with your soap! The images you shared are freakin’ GORGEOUS! Beautiful!!!

If only you could add fragrance to fireworks!

 

[dibbles]

My husband LOVES fireworks A couple of years ago we took a little road trip to see the public fireworks display at the PGI convention in Iowa. I think the best we ever saw, though, was on July 4, 2000 in Washington DC. It’s an incredible form of artistry, but so fleeting.

 

[Babyshoes]

If only you could add fragrance to fireworks!

Now that would be a profitable invention!