Cherry Soap Oops
I had this great idea for a cherry soap using a sample of Black Cherry fragrance from FNWL, and some Cherry Garcia fragrance from Southern Soapers (which is sold out now). I really love the Black Cherry one the best, but I only had 0.15 ounces. The oil is completely clear and the fragrance is positively mouthwatering, however FNWL says that it can discolor to light tan or brown. The Cherry Garcia oil is actually dark brown in color – you don’t see that very often! The scent is also very good – just doesn’t WOW me like the Black Cherry. I figured the dark brown oil would have to discolor the soap, but ironically Southern Soapers claims it is nondiscoloring! I pulled out a couple cups of soap before adding the fragrance anyway so I could color them cherry red and white. So far, so good.
After reading the post by Ruth of Sirona Springs about how gelling the soap can affect the outcome of the color, also I decided that preventing gel might help keep the soap color lighter, so I put the soap in the refrigerator. I didn’t get a chance to cut it for several days, and it was still somewhat sticky even after waiting that long.
I did have one problem, however. At the last minute I decided that the cherry red soap colors weren’t going to be red enough, so I added some powdered red 40 to the glycerin base that was already loaded with red oxide and red talc dye. It didn’t have enough time for the powders to get saturated:
So I guess this counts as a test batch. Good thing it was a small one! I’ll let it cure out and see how much it will discolor, or if the bottom will stay a nice creamy white before I attempt this one again. And I will make it again. It smells pretty fabulous!
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Can’t quite tell what’s wrong; they look really nice. Edible, in fact. Is the red bleeding into the top layer? I thought dyes always did that. Or do you think it was overcolored?
No, there are dots of color bleeding out. I guess I need a bigger photo so you can really see it!! UPDATE: I just marked up the photo so you can see the spots.
Looks great! I sure hope it doesn’t discolor cause the colors are just right on that one!
It really is a pretty soap!
Edible indeed! This one reminds me of Black Forest Cake, the upper whipped-cream layers with cherries (yumm yumm yumm). I have never been successful in finding a cherry fo that didn’t turn my soap soup into instant cement..
I actually think these look great!
Ohh that is lovely – damn those pesky spots! So hard to get a decent red too!
Okay, I think these soaps look great. Your average buyer would think it was just part of the design, and I can’t tell the difference until you circled them, lol!
From this view your soap looks really pretty! The spots look like they belong there. You make such pretty color blends!
What is the ph of ur soap? Do you sell any soap with low ph like 6?
I have very sensitive acne prone skin which can’t tolerate high ph and syndet tend to cause breakout due to some chemical found in surfactant
@Pearlyn – I have never tested the pH of my soaps, but from what I’ve read, nearly all natural soaps, whether commercial or handmade will have a pH of about 9 or 10. There is no such thing as a low pH soap. That said, the soaps that I make contain no artificial surfactants. I would suggest you try either my Creamy Castile if your skin tends to be dry or Clarifying Facial Soap if your skin tends to be oily for your face. Both are quite gentle.
It looks lovely and the scent combo sounds wonderful.