Posted on 11 Comments

Taming the Vanilla

I’m going to quickly gloss over how long it’s been since I last posted and share a soapy pic – ‘cos that’s what you’re here for right? ๐Ÿ˜‰

Soap fragrance oils containing vanilla are often considered tiresome because of their propensity to discolour and potentially ruin a carefully designed soap. But they smell so good! I absolutely love the smell of ‘Pink Kisses’ from Gracefruit, but my first attempt at using it was a complete disaster. It was early on in my soaping career, and discolouration wasn’t even on my radar. ย I used a selection of pretty pink colours and was so excited to see what it would look like, so imagine my disappointment…

Looks ain't everything!
ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  Looks ain’t everything!

Every failure’s a learning opportunity eh? ๐Ÿ˜€

Four (!!) years on and I decided to give it another go – this time I was a little more careful with my design. Splitting the batter into two, I coloured one half with Orchid Pink Mica, and added the fragrance oil to the other other portion only, adding a little Titanium Dioxide to mitigate the effect of the vanilla. This was the result:

First Kiss Cold Process Soap
ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย First Kiss

Needless to say I’m so much happier with this one. I think the browning effect of the vanilla actually improves the look of the bar and gives it some depth and interest.

I hope you’ll agree that my photography skills have improved a little too ๐Ÿ˜€ ๐Ÿ˜€ ๐Ÿ˜€

 

11 thoughts on “Taming the Vanilla

  1. Beautiful Vicki! <3

    1. Thank you Natalia ๐Ÿ™‚

  2. I too have started fragrancing only part of the batter on my vanilla containing fragrances to avoid complete brown soaps. I remember one year making a beautiful red and green Christmas soap only to have it turn completely brown as it cured! Lesson learned LOL

    1. Ah, we’ve all been there eh?! I’ve avoided fragrances with vanilla as much as possible, but I just love this one so much!

  3. Lovey colors you achieved Vicki and I’m sure the fragrance is wonderful. I like doing half the batter in one fragrance and a second half in another. That way say dark vanilla soap on the bottom and a creamy scent on the top to compliment is workable. Of course the design isn’t anything like these lovely swirls!.

    1. Thanks so much Pam :0)

  4. You soaps are so pretty! Vanilla is always a great scent for anything, discoloration or not.

    1. Thanks Anne-Marie! To be honest I’ve been a scaredy-cat and avoided vanilla-y scents for the most part, but I just adore pink sugar ๐Ÿ˜€

  5. Thanks so much Silvia ๐Ÿ˜€
    I really should try to find the time to post more often!

  6. Thank you for sharing this design and idea :0) I love this soap … and I can imagine how wonderfull smell it

  7. Gorgeous, Vicki Splitting the batch is a great way to work with a discoloring FO, and you used the vanilla beautifully to your advantage.

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