I've made two soaps today, a strawberry and charcoal and cucumber. Do the oil combination effect the final soap colour? because I did it all as I should have done but when I added the active charcoal to my batter it went a weird green not black like in the picture. having never used it before I'm not sure what will happen after gel phase. also, I'm hoping the strawberry turns out pink. I used a red mica in some chocolate soap a few weeks ago and instead of a vibrant red strip it was more of a pink, I had used the correct amount of mica, am I doing something wrong? thanks in advance x
mica help!
- Thread starter laurad75
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I have used activated charcoal in soap and never had it turn green. Wait until the soap sets up and maybe it will morph back to grey or black. I use CP safe mica from Nurture Soap. They show pictures of what the each soap looks like using their mica. Make sure the mica you are using is made for CP soap.
I use activated charcoal all the time for black in my soaps. As for your red mica is it made for high pH usage.
If your oils are quite yellow, I wouldn't be surprised about the greenish tone to the AC. It sounds like you didn't add enough if you wanted black. I will admit, I have trouble with AC still. More often than not, it will look black as the void when wet and when it dries it will still go a little gray for me. I much prefer black oxide.
In general, when using micas and colorants, (as long as they are CP stable). The color you see when wet will be a little bit darker and more vibrant than what you see in the final product, so you can learn to approximate it based on that. Of course, some micas morph and morph back (esp yellow and green), and you just learn to work with those knowing approximately what color it should be. Also, gelling helps with vibrancy in your colors.
In general, when using micas and colorants, (as long as they are CP stable). The color you see when wet will be a little bit darker and more vibrant than what you see in the final product, so you can learn to approximate it based on that. Of course, some micas morph and morph back (esp yellow and green), and you just learn to work with those knowing approximately what color it should be. Also, gelling helps with vibrancy in your colors.
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It is in the US, sorry. Just make sure whatever mica you use is for CP soap.
I realised my problem, I had to toss the soap and I remade it now it's great. thank you for replying
thank you for the reply, all my micas and recipes have to be approved and I use ready done recipes, I don't feel confident winging it myself yet. here in the UK, I can't switch things up when I like everything has to be approved. Even though it has stayed a grey color it actually looks quite cool, with the design I did on top it looks like an alligator or dinosaur, lol. the kids think it's great.
So you're selling already, then you can do what you will...but if you had done more research before submitting your recipes for approval, you could have probably refined your colors and method to get a more appealing result.
And you're still posting beginner questions and making errors. And what do you mean by ready done recipes? Someone else's? If so just because they think it's a good recipe doesn't mean it is . I would think twice about selling. You've only been making soap 7 months. Do you know how your soap will be after 12 months sitting on a shelf. Just make sure you have good insurance in place.
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