rose geranium FO

[leishs]

Hi
im only very new to making soap - my 4th batch was rose geranium FO soap and evrything went wrong.. Someone suggested using beetroot juice to help the soap go pink.. maybe i added it in at the wrong time?
i put it with my goats milk before i added the lye - and it went a lovely bright orange colour -but not the colour i wanted, and my soap when hard is now tan/beige colour. I made the soap on goats milk, coconut, olive, rice bran oil, castor, shea and palm oil.. and used rose geranium FO - maybe i used not enough or too little - it smells terrible..

a friend has suggested to remelt it and add another fragrance oil - not sure if this is worth doing? and what would you suggest to add?

what is the general rule of thumb when adding EO or FO to soap? what % should i be using it?
thanx for reading..

 

[carebear]

I cannot speak to the fragrance, but beetroot juice goes brown. Sorry!

as for when... well when CPing I add to the oils before the lye. Some add at trace. When HPing I add after the cook when the soap is still relatively fluid. Some FOs/EOs are problematic (cause CP soap to seize, fade, morph to something different/nasty), and some do fine. You can read reviews on the scent review board... http://soapscentreview.obisoap.ca (you need to join to read)

Levels - well I work at 0.7 - 1 oz per pound of oils with FOs. with EOs it really varies.

 

[Fanci]

why do so many people think that beet will do anything red. I know I did, and I even watched a Youtube video of someone making soap and using beet juice to make it red. It turns a lovely shade of yuck! Brown would be nice but what I got was gray. It did make nice bubbly lather...

 

[leishs]

i guess too i was also sucked into thinking that beetroot would make my soap pink.. but im a bigger sucker - i tried doing 50% of the liquid as water with lye, and then added the rest of the liquid - rosehip tea (pink) to the trace, the soap liquid kind of went mauve colour .. but when i cut it up 18hours later it was orange in the middle.
So giving up trying that, with natural stuff.. although someone here made mint soap - with real mint in it - and it was so pretty..

i think i'll just stick to red oxides or micas in my soap.. go back to my oringinal recipe..

as for the rose geranium it still stinks like my last batch.. leaving it for my candles..

can i rebatch my soaps (once cured) and hand mill them? probably doesnt make any sense.. but i like to reuse it if i can?? what scent will i put with rose geranium that will drain it out??

i just remembered that i also added honey to make the scent bit sweeter.. which probably explains why the soap is bright orange inside..

 

[leishs]

carebear..
unfortunely i cant get the link you suggest to work at my end.. i've tried looking it up on google, and still not working :cry:
is there another one you recommend??