Stretching Out - Color

So I've been making soap for a little while now and believe it or not I have gone a little over a year with no real grasp on colors. So far all I have used is some Ti I bought at a local cake decorating store (glycerin based) and some blue/sky liquid dye (which I later found was not for soaps) I bought from Peak. Well I guess there was also a horrible experiment with some red dye that didn't dissolve/disperse in lip balm and turned brown in CP.

So that's it. I have off white soaps, I have sky blue soaps, and I have that horrible tan one. I have never done a swirl of any sort, not used any micas or anything else I've heard about. What I've just typed here is the sum total of all my color knowledge.

Can anyone recommend a primer on color in soap? Or if it's as simple as using mica (hear y'all talk about it, don't have any, know which ones I should start with, etc) can you give me a "go do this" to start with? Maybe one of the suppliers has a "starter/assortment set I should buy?

Then there's swirls, dips, drops, layers, all that stuff. for the most part I have no idea what anyone is talking about save layers which seems pretty simple to understand (if not pull off.)

Shaving soap seems so simple when I think of colors .....

It is not as complicated as it seems. Yes start with mica, it is easy, doesn't bleed and comes in every color. You mix the mica into a small amount of oil (say a Tbsp) in small amounts to get the color you think will work.

The best way to learn to use colors is to take the plunge and try it out.

Soap Making Resource also has a natural colorant kit that is worth it. Clays are also great for color and skin benefits. Here are my favorite herbs/colors.

Paprika- Orange
Annatto- yellow
Wheatgrass- green
Activated charcoal- black
Rose kaolin clay - pink

Also, you can freeze Orange juice into ice cubes, and use that for your lye solution. This makes a pretty yellow.

Micas are fantastic. If you're interested in learning more about color theory, check out Vibrant Soap on youtube. He does a color tutorial at the beginning of every video.

You really cannot go wrong with micas from Nurture. Their Vibrance line performs wonderfully. I also love Mad Oils but have found their purples to be a little trickier than Nurture.

As far as micas, usage depends on how much color you want. I start with 1/4 tsp ppo for pastel, 1/2 tsp ppo for medium, and 1 tsp ppo for bold. That seems to work for me except for micas that are already bold in which case I only use 1/2 tsp ppo or I end up with pretty lather.

ETA: I also use micas from Nurture and love them. There is variety and the colors are really beautiful. The micas are easy to work with and I like that Nurture provides a cp result example for each mica.

Thank you - all four of you cleared some things up for me.

The natural colors are interesting, I never thought of that but I guess it makes sense. You just put them in a spice grinder and powder them? AC seems like it would resist incorporation - any tricks to it?

I've avoided clays simply because of my prejudice related to their use in shaving soap, but there's no such issue with bath soap so I may look at that as well.

LBussy said:

The natural colors are interesting, I never thought of that but I guess it makes sense. You just put them in a spice grinder and powder them? AC seems like it would resist incorporation - any tricks to it?

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Nope, no trick. Add activated charcoal powder to a bit of oil and mix well before adding, same as the micas. A small amount will give you a steel gray blue color, more for a true gray and even more to get a true black.

Dorymae said:

Nope, no trick. Add activated charcoal powder to a bit of oil and mix well before adding, same as the micas. A small amount will give you a steel gray blue color, more for a true gray and even more to get a true black.

Click to expand...

Oh, so it will match my hair? (Unfortunately I am referring to the gray end of the spectrum).

+1 for natural colorants. Powdered activated charcoal makes a lovely striking black. Im not sure if grinding your own and sieving it would work, but cant hurt to try. Clays are wonderful - Moroccan red clay makes a nice bricky red. Oil infused with annatto gives a perfect yellow, or alkanet for a great purple. Madder root infusions give a pinky red. Turmeric powder stirred directly into the batter like charcoal gives a nice orangey brown, paprika for a nice orange.

One potential issue with clays and natural colorants is that unless you are adding the powder straight to the soap batter, you are mixing it with the water or oil from your recipe and you need to account for that within your recipe, so it takes a bit of calculating - unless you are using insignificant amounts of oil or water.

One pigment that I have and love is chromium green oxide - it makes a great stable bright green. And I do love gold mica for highlighted pencil lines and a splash of gold on top.

Here is my licorice soap I just made. I used Orange juice for all liquid. Added 2tbsp activated charcoal to half of my scented batter and 3tbsp Moroccan red clay to the other half. The total weight of my oils was 125 oz. I'm still new at creating pretty swirls so I am really pleased with how this turned out!

That's a very nice pattern! I'd be thrilled to someday do something like that.

Lee, I still have plenty of free mica samples from Nurture. A couple of these should be enough to get your feet wet.

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=52544
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=52545

Thanks Cindy, I'll go have a look!

I think this is a good starter for color. It also embeds the video from BB about mixing colors. Say what you want about ED and its practices - the basic techniques in Soaping 101 are pretty solid from my experience.

https://youtu.be/l9IHRkv0-f4

TKB, Brambleberry and Nurture have photos of their products (micas, oxides, etc) in CP soap, which is very helpful.

Lee, this link is kind of interesting about colorants generally, not sure how helpful specifically, though:



http://www.tkbtrading.com/content.php?content_id=13


This one is useful - if you buy from TKB, as many do, b/c it guides you to which ones to use in various applications (if you click on to the micas, they are further broken down into cp and MP, some morph in CP.



http://www.tkbtrading.com/category.php?category_id=93


This is a good one on infusing natural colorants (that's how I do it, I like the less grainy/look fee):


http://www.lovinsoap.com/2011/07/color-soap-naturally-infusing-oil-with-herbs-and-spices/


Another couple of goods ones for natural colorants:



[FONT=&quot]Lots and lots of natural colorants[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]http://www.diynatural.com/natural-soap-colorants/[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot][/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Natural colorants grouped in colors:
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[FONT=&quot]http://www.offthegridnews.com/2013/02/02/how-to-color-homemade-soap/[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]

Thank you counsellor! I like those articles. The "why" is always good.

For a simple way to experiment with micas, you might try this technique, which uses very little mica and is simple enough for a swirl challenged person like me! [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U9pHUa8vAg[/ame]

Thanks Nav. That's perfect for me. I can definitely say I am (or will be) swirl challenged. I did not get my dad's artistic bent.

HappyHomeSoapCo said:

Here is my licorice soap I just made. I used Orange juice for all liquid. Added 2tbsp activated charcoal to half of my scented batter and 3tbsp Moroccan red clay to the other half. The total weight of my oils was 125 oz. I'm still new at creating pretty swirls so I am really pleased with how this turned out!

Click to expand...

Love that orange! I'll have to try the orange juice ice cubes.