colorant tantrum

[Stacey]

Arrgh! Just made yet another batch of soap with "soap safe" micas that I got from TKB that didn't turn out.

I used the Emerald Green mica and it turned to lovely shade of dark grey. Too bad that wasn't what I going for. I wanted GREEN dang it! Not grey. :evil: Of course, I bought the colors last year and now I see that then reviews for CP soap SAY it'll turn grey. Great.

I'm just about ready to chuck the whole lot of colors that I've bought from them.

$&#^%@!!

Ok, tantrum over. Thanks for letting me vent a little frustration.

I know, I know, I know. *sigh* Testing is the key. I understand that. I understand that there are variables based upon oil colors and so on. I'm always afraid of using TOO much colorant because of transferring issues. Ya know what I mean? The colorants getting left on the soap dishes or the wash cloth.

Please tell me...What colorants do you use? How do you get consistent colors?

I've been thinking about ordering BB's Lab Colors but I'm afraid of making another purchase that I'd be unhappy with.

What about the CP colorants from NG's? I know they were just tested...but they haven't posted the results on the website and I can't find it on the Facebook page.

Do you have any suggestions? Is there another supplier out there that is good?

TIA!

 

[krissy]

i love celestial colors and have never had a color not turn out for me.

 

[newbie]

TKB has many wonderful micas that stay true. However, you might have to use a lot of some of them to get the true color. The emerald green goes to black or gray because the base of the color is black. Blackstar Blue, Blackstar REd, Midnight Blue, GEmtone GReen all go very dark in soap and the amount needed to get the upper tone (red, green, blue) is so high that I've found it causes problems with the soap. The reds (colorona bordeaux for instance) require a hefty dose of mica to get the color to be strong, but you can get a nice rich red from it. Their lighter colors have all been fabulous for me, and I've used many.

I have a couple lab colors from BB and the colors are good but they bleed into surrounding soap. THat's fine for a solid colored soap, but not so much for swirls or sharp layers.

The COnservatories Happy Hour collection is good and there is a line of colors from Bitter Creek, I think it is, that people use with great success.

 

[Stacey]

Krissy, I popped over to look at Celestial Colors. Are you saying that it's pretty much "what you see is what you get" for colors? Cuz I like what I see. I just might get.

I wish I could see the colorants in soaps. Pretty hard to see what they really look like with the small swatches.

Do you have any recommendations?

 

[Stacey]

Thanks Newbie!

I'll check over at Conservatoire before I order from Celestial.

 

[newbie]

I put some pictures of soaps I made using TKB micas and some colors were with the Conservatories Happy Hour collections (they have the basic yellow, green, blue, purple, orange).

SOme of the TKB micas I used were:

Pearl Yellow, Soft Yellow, Passion Orange, Lotsa Lime, Breath of Spring, Coral Reef Blue, Copper Penny, Colorona Russet, Pearl Blue, Pearl Pink, Pearl Green, Soft Green, Umber, Swiss Chocolate, and Sagittaire. THey can be really good!

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/52/img2441v.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/526/img2660a.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/33/img2681lb.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/542/img3065ju.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/828/img3649m.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/825/img4964h.jpg/

 

[HutCar92]

I have colors from TBK, and love them. I also use colors from the Conservatorie, love them too but the two red/pinks morph. And I've got Lab colors! Haha they are nice as well but bleed over time, so I only use them for single colors soaps or soaps with black as well. I'm not sure but Celestial colors look similar to lab colors and I wonder if they might bleed as well??

 

[Soapsugoii]

Newbie you make some gorgeous soaps! What is that bright shimmering sky blue you are using?? I am trying to get that color for my soap

 

[newbie]

I'm pretty certain the one you are looking at is Coral Reef Blue, one of my favorites. I think I also left some mica in oil for the top, which shows the depths the micas have better than in the soap. In soap all the micas are flatter, but that color is splendid even so.

PS. Thanks for the compliments! Some turn out well and others, well, not so much.

 

[ChrissyB]

Purple is the thorn in my side, it always turns out grey, even in 100% Co soap.

 

[Stacey]

Newbie! Those are some beautiful soaps! You got those colors from TKB Micas? I'm so jealous.

Can I ask what your usage rate is? PPO? Do you ever have trouble with the colorants transferring?

 

[judymoody]

I've been using clays, oxides and ultramarines mostly. The color palette is more limited but what you see is generally what you get.

I have a bunch of micas from the conservatorie but haven't tested them yet.

I have heard good things about the micas from Brambleberry. She posts CP testing notes for many if not all of them.

The labcolors, as mentioned earlier, are good for solid colored soap but will bleed in a swirled or layered soap.

 

[Stacey]

I've got another question...

In general terms would one guess that liquid colorants (Labcolors and maybe even Celestial colorants?) would bleed at least a little bit when using more than one color?

I'll have try researching oxides and ultramarines. Do they have any issues with bleeding when using more than one color?

BTW: I cut my soap and it's a darker green/grey color. Still not what I was hoping for but not as bad as I initially thought. =o/

 

[judymoody]

Here's a soap I did recently using oxides and blue UM. No bleeding.

 

[brewsie]

newbie- your soaps are so awesome! you are a pro swirler

stacey - i had some issues with micas and cold process as well. the colors just morphed into a gray mess and i was very dismayed. no big loss, since i was fooling around with essentials oils i didnt know much about, and my parents described the final soap scent as 'a urinal at a construction site'. good lord haha

This info from the brambleberry site :

Some micas can work in cold process soap, but many do not. Typically, it depends on what type of colorant is used to dye the mica.We recommend doing a small test batch to make sure the color is stable in your particular recipe. Even if a mica does work in CP it often isn't very sparkly, as there is no light for reflection (since cold process soap is opaque).

Also check this out:
http://www.soapqueen.com/bramble-berry-news/mica-stability-tests-2/

and this video where anne marie from BB tests different colorants in CP and shows you the results. bonus for the great nerdy soaping glasses! [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3NQMzeDMAU[/ame]

 

[newbie]

Stacey, yes all of those were made with TKB micas and some from the OCnservatorie. I get only micas from TKB's soap stable page but those can occasionally morph too. I've had lots of luck with their purples but she must have discontinued a bunch of them- my favorites are gone like purely purple, love spell, lotsa lime (for green). I had so many of their purples it was ridiculous. I listed some of the ones I use and they are all stable. I haven't been scientific enough to have a ppo rate down cold and part of it depends on what you want. A bit less and you can get a more pastel version and more gets you a strong color. I would guess I use about 1/4 teaspoon for 6 ounces of batter in general. And those micas don't bleed or transfer. Ultramarines tend to come out in the lather and leave little mess in the sink.

 

[krissy]

yes, i have gotten the color i was going for every time i have used them. it varies on how bright or pastel depending on how many drops you put in but i get consistant colors and just keep track of my drops per batch. they are also super easy to blend and i have never gotten colored bubbles even when my soap is dark.

pretty much every pic of soap i have posted on here has been with celestial colors.

 

[Dragonkaz]

The site I buy my micas from trials them first and states if they're stable in CP etc. The pop micas are amazing and so true it's amazing. Sadly following on from the USA, this company will soon be all sold out of pop micas, but I've stocked up, so I'll have enough for another year ... I hope.

They are trialling other micas to replace the pop ones and are so far have found some that are great in CP and some that aren't. They've not published names yet ... but am looking forward to finding out what the replacements are.

I've also bought liquid soap colours for CP soap ... excellent! Love the brites range!

 

[Stacey]

Thanks everyone. This has certainly been enlightening for me. I've done some more research and have settled on getting some of the Celestial Colors for now.

But I'm going to look into oxides and ultramarines too. Just because...research, research, research! Research is neverending when it comes to soaping, isn't it?

Thanks again!

 

[JackiK]

Purple is the thorn in my side, it always turns out grey, even in 100% Co soap.

Bitter Creek's Rainbow Purple is lovely. Doesn't take a lot of it, either.