Teach Soap

New to soap making, only two batches under my belt but looking forward to more.
Recipe #1 (below) made a nice cream colored soap. Recipe #2 the soap turned a nice deep color of brown after a few days of aging. I don't mind too much that it turned brown, it's a beautiful shade of brown. However, next time I want to try coloring my soap. The metamorphisis the soap went through would have surely ruined any attempts made to color it.

Other than the addition of Shea Butter and adjustment of Lye and water, both recipes are the same. Did the addition of Shea Butter cause this color shift? I mixed all the oils together, including the Shea butter at the same time. Mixing temperature for both recipes was 125 degrees F +/- 5 degrees.

Any help with this will be very much appreaciated.
While I wait for my next shipment from Bramble Berry, I'll do some more reading.

Notice, both soaps I added no coloring.
All ingredients came from Bramble Berry.

Recipe #1
6 oz. Coconut Oil
6 oz. Palm Oil
9 oz. Olive Oil
1 oz. Castor Oil
7 oz. Water
3.0 oz Lye
1 oz fragrance ( Cranberry Fig )

Recipe #2
6 oz. Coconut Oil
6 oz. Palm Oil
9 oz. Olive Oil
1 oz. Castor Oil
1 oz. Shea Butter (Refined)
7.59 oz. Water
3.25 oz Lye
1 oz fragrance ( Vanilla Select )

Thank you

Gary

It was the Vanilla scent in the second batch that made it morph to brown.

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Dawn

I'm new at this too, but I'm guessing it was the Vanilla FO.

definitely the vanilla scent. Just about any FO the has vanilla in it will discolor anywhere from light beige to dark chocolate brown. The more vanilla, the darker the soap.

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

Thank you everyone for your quick replies. I would have never thought that the Vanilla FO would be the cause. Buying from Bramble Berry I assumed that it would be OK for use in soap making without any consequences.

Is there some where I can read about the different properties of fragrances? I don't remember reading about this problem on the Bramble Berry web site when I ordered it.

Thank You

Gary

Here is the description from BB's Vanilla Select: Vanilla Select: This is the sweetest, most rich vanilla that we carry. An absolute must for your soaping pleasure. It discolors to a creamy dark tan. In liquid soap, this fragrance oil goes dark brown but stays clear.

Generally speaking, if vanilla is listed in the description of an FO, it will discolor. Some suppliers test their oils in CP and list the test results. When in doubt, you can always contact the supplier and ask about the vanilla content.

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

Most fragrances with at least 2% vanilla content will turn darker over time.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.