Vanilla and color

[hlee]

I understand if there is vanilla in a FO it will darken.
Does it darken in proportion to the % of vanilla in the FO?
Is there any way to get a color that is not brown if a fragrance has vanilla in it?

 

[melstan775]

The more vanilla the darker I think. You can get vanilla color stabilizer to help slow the oxidation. And purefragerenceoils.com has one they say won't darken if that helps.

 

[Shannon_m]

There are some fragrances that have vanillin in it and if it's minimal (like .02% for example) it usually doesn't darken your soap. However the more %age of vanilla in the fragrance, the darker it gets. There are Vanilla stabilizers out there that halt the darkening process however sometimes you'll end up with a more yellow or light tan than a dark brown, you might be able to add some colorant to mask that, I haven't tried. There are some non-discoloring Vanilla FO's out there, I haven't tried any. BB's Vanilla Stabilizer doesn't morph the fragrances I've used it on, but it doesn't keep the soap white without help (Titanium Dioxide or some other color).

 

[hlee]

Can you use fragrance that will darken in half your batter only and then color the rest with no fragrance?

 

[Shannon_m]

I've done that, it works. Just separate your batter and add the FO just to one half... leave the other half natural or color it.

 

[hlee]

Thank you for your replies. I don't have any stablizer and would like to make this tonight!

 

[kharmon320]

I have set some batter aside with no fragrance and then swirled, etc. Often this works, but occasionally the swirls will eventually disappear as the brown takes over. Some fragrances are worth it!