Hello, I am new to soap making and I'm really interested in making a "savon de marseille", thing is they don't use colorants and yet the color is a very pleasant dark green! But when I mix my oils with the lye, it turn yellowish then few days later it gets brighter. How do they do it?
Green colored soap
- Thread starter mynamenic
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Not sure what you tried - but definitely use EVOO ( as dark as you can get it) and French green clay. I'm still not quite sure how they get it so dark without any colourants.
I do use EVOO, as far as I know they don't use colorants, just pure vegetable oils.
Not sure if I can find French green clay in my country, but I do have Sicilian Green Clay (for external use).
ResolvableOwl
Notorious Lyear
I had to look up what exactly is inside Savon de Marseille. If you want to stay faithful to the original recipe, you would need to resort to EVOO as the colourant. I haven't heard from olive oils classified by colour intensity (maybe there is such a thing out there?)
Aleppo soap (a close relative to Marseille soap) uses unrefined laurel berry oil. Some qualities of this are indeed bright green. You might also extract/macerate green herbs/plant parts to get some green colour into soap. I had good success with pandan leaves, yerba mate and spirulina, others have used parsley, spinach, or anything else from the comprehensive list of plant-based colourants.
But don't expect that plant green (chlorophyll) will be overly long-living, it is always somewhat prone to fading (especially bad for OO-based soaps that need long curing times). Mineral pigments are more lasting. If you like the colour of your Sicilian clay, use it!
Aleppo soap (a close relative to Marseille soap) uses unrefined laurel berry oil. Some qualities of this are indeed bright green. You might also extract/macerate green herbs/plant parts to get some green colour into soap. I had good success with pandan leaves, yerba mate and spirulina, others have used parsley, spinach, or anything else from the comprehensive list of plant-based colourants.
But don't expect that plant green (chlorophyll) will be overly long-living, it is always somewhat prone to fading (especially bad for OO-based soaps that need long curing times). Mineral pigments are more lasting. If you like the colour of your Sicilian clay, use it!
Zany_in_CO
Saponifier
For a nice olive green I once infused bay leaves in olive oil to make soap. It is the same as the bay leaf used in cooking.
I buy my herbs & spices here: https://www.herbco.com/
I buy my herbs & spices here: https://www.herbco.com/
Cat&Oak
Well-Known Member
Does the bay laurel berry oil contribute to the final color at all?
Zany_in_CO
Saponifier
I use bay laurel berry oil at 12% to make Aleppo Soap (type) along with olive oil. It is quite green when unmolded. For whatever reason, the color fades to tan during the cure stage.
That experience is consistent among soapers who make Aleppo.
Cat&Oak
Well-Known Member
I use bay laurel berry oil at 12% to make Aleppo Soap (type) along with olive oil. It is quite green when unmolded. For whatever reason, the color fades to tan during the cure stage.
That experience is consistent among soapers who make Aleppo.
That is great to know thanks Zany!
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