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How to stop blue tansy turning green
I have a cream made with a very small amount of blue tansy oil that gives it a nice light blue color. After a couple weeks however this blue starts turning to more of a green. Is there anything I can do to prevent this other than including an antioxidant?
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8 Replies
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I use blue tansy as a colorant in one of my main products….never had this issue.
Are you using containers that don’t allow light?
Are you buying the BT from a reputable source, like New Directions Aromatics?
What is your AntiOx program?
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@Graillotion Well until yesterday I was being a fool and had been storing it in a clear plastic bottle as well using the wrong tocopherol! But I realized my mistake and made a new test batch, and this time I’m storing it in a dark cabinet and also switched out tocopherol acetate for tocopherol. I am using the 95% one that lotion crafter sells at 0.25%. So hopefully these changes will make a difference, but the tocopherol is about the extent of my AntiOx program, is there anything else I can be doing?
The oil is from plant therapy.
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The other issue im having with my blue tansy oil is that even at tiny amounts the smell is way too strong. I still want the cream to end up slightly blue but i cant do that without it being overpowered by the tansy smell. An ideal blue tansy oil would be one that is just as blue but not as aromatic. I will try ordering some from new directions and see if it works better for me.
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I haven’t worked with Blue Tansy but it is possible that it is something in your emulsion turning yellow (oxidising). Have you tried a sample without the Blue Tansy added? What else is in your emulsion?Adding an antioxidant is a great starting point to try and fix the issue. -
GeorgeBenson said:The other issue im having with my blue tansy oil is that even at tiny amounts the smell is way too strong. I still want the cream to end up slightly blue but i cant do that without it being overpowered by the tansy smell. An ideal blue tansy oil would be one that is just as blue but not as aromatic. I will try ordering some from new directions and see if it works better for me.
Hard for me to comment on the smell, as the pain cream I am adding it to, already has a profound smell. I will tell you this, I don’t use much of it. I typically make 180 gram batches, and I add 7-8 drops while hand stirring, until the color is where I want it. I then put the product in a dark blue glass jar, which further accentuates the blue color.
As far as adding a secondary AntiOx, I would sure look at ROE. If you are ordering from NDA…I think they even carry ROE. Use in in conjunction with MT E. (I also get my mixed T E, from NDA.)
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Pseudomonas aeruginosa can produce green color.
What is your pH and ingredients?
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I haven’t worked with Blue Tansy, but I do know with plant extracts PH can change the colour quite drastically. Have you checked if the PH has changed between formulating it and when it turns green? If so it might be worth adding a PH buffer.
In terms of the smell, you could try using an odour masking agent - this is what I do for a serum I make with mushroom extract which leaves things smelling a bit odd.
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Thanks for the input guys im going to try some of this stuff out. I’ll start with making a batch without it and seeing what happens, but im fairly confident the addition of tocopherol + not letting light hit the product will fix it.
@FlawlessTouch i have not checked the ph thats a good idea ill give that a shot. Which exact odor masking agent do you use? Does it get rid of all smell completely or just tamp it down a bit? What do you use as a ph buffer?
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