Natural green colorants experiment

[szaza]

It's about one month since I made the last batch of test soaps, so time for an update!

The spirulina+additives is 4 weeks and 3 days old today.
This is what it looked like after unmolding

(Ltr no additives, sugar, salt, sugar+salt; front gelled, back ungelled)

This is what they look like today (I accidentally put the ungelled soaps in front, so I flipped the image but it looks weird)

Ltr: no additives, sugar, salt, sugar+salt; front gelled, back ungelled)

The gelled soaps are already starting to turn brown, while the ungelled soaps turned a more leafy green (it lost its blue tint). Still a pretty color, but a stark difference with the first pictue. The ones with sugar still seem to be a bit darker in color.

 

[szaza]

Alfalfa at unmolding:

Alfalfa today:

Ltr infusion, trace, lye water; front ungelled, back gelled

The ungelled soaps have darkened a bit (this was already visible after one week, but I was too lazy to do an update)

Moringa at unmolding


Moringa today:

Ltr infusion, trace, lye water; front ungelled, back gelled

Here the ungelled soaps darkened a bit as well

Spirulina at unmolding


Spirulina today:

Ltr infusion, trace, lye water; front ungelled, back gelled

Ungelled infusion and added to lye water got darker, added at trace got lighter. Gelled added to lye water and trace got lighter.

 

[szaza]

Matcha at unmolding


Matcha today

All infusions. Left is a soap made in September with an infusion of old matcha (ungelled), middle is made with the same infusion one month ago (march), right is made with a new infusion of newly opened matcha.
Front is ungelled, back is gelled.

I don't see much of a difference, though the ungelled soaps might have become a bit darker.

Here's an overview picture with all the green soaps made with infusions

Ltr: alfalfa, moringa, spirulina, matcha new, matcha old. Front ungelled, back gelled. White soap for color reference.

 

[szaza]

And the other colors..

Indigo at unmolding:

Indigo today:

Ltr: infusion, bottom of infusion added at trace, bottom of infusion added to lye, new powder added to lye (far left is white soap for color reference). Front ungelled, back gelled.

The gelled soaps from the indigo from the bottom of the infusion jar turned a bit purplish.

Alkanet at unmolding:


Alkanet today:

Infusion. Left gelled, right ungelled.

Ungelled stayed very grey while gelled turned a bit more purple (reddish tones came more out over time)

Paprika at unmolding

Paprika today:

Ltr infusion, trace, lye water; front ungelled, back gelled

The ungelled soaps got darker, while the gelled soaps (especially infusion) might have gotten lighter.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

That’s an impressive range of tests and a beautiful range of colors. Makes me want to make soap

 

[atiz]

This is really awesome, thanks!!!

My green clay is starting to dry out and it is clay and is green, although rather pastel. Next time I may have to infuse the spirulina in alcohol longer, I only did 4 days because it seemed so dark in the little jar... I'm running out of isopropyl alcohol now unfortunately, which is not the best thing to run out of right now because every single place in the US seems to be out, but will continue the experiments when things settle down a bit.
Meanwhile, I also want to make some soaps!

 

[szaza]

Just a quick update.. after 2 months the spirulina starts to really show a difference when salt was added to the soap. Here's an update.

After unmolding (2 months ago)


1 month old


2 months old

Ltr: no additives, sugar, salt, sugar+salt; front gelled, back ungelled.

The soaps have faded/browned a bit more, especially the gelled ones. The soaps where salt is added (the four on the right) seem to be greener/have less brown tones in their green, while the soaps with both sugar and salt (far right) have the brightest green colors - especially when you look at the gelled soaps the furthest right is quite a bit greener than the others.
Sugar alone seems to make the color a bit more saturated, but when combined with salt the difference is quite striking. (It's a bit harder to see in the picture than in person)

So at 2 months, adding both sugar and salt to soap made with spirulina seems to help with color retention, though gelling makes the soap go brown earlier. Salt makes the soap less colorful initially, but the soaps stay pretty for longer (at least 2 months)

 

[szaza]

I also wanted to do a small update on the paprika soap, because this happened:

Ltr: infusion, added at trace, added to lye water); front ungelled, back gelled

The soaps with paprika infusion completely faded (I think this happened around the 6 week mark, I'm not entirely sure anymore, should've updated sooner). The gelled soap still has a tiny bit of color, while the ungelled soap is completely white.
I've used paprika infusion before (I did a color test in January) and those didn't fade as badly as these even though they're 2 months older, so I'm not entirely sure what caused this sudden fading.

 

[Kcryss]

That's great @szaza! Thanks for the update!

 

[boriana]

Thank you @szaza ! Great update!

 

[szaza]

Time for another update!
Matcha cold infusion added at trace and fresh pandan, pureed and frozen added at trace. The matcha soap was made September 2019, pandan soap October 2019.
Pictures taken October 2019 (1 month old matcha, pandan right after unmolding)


This was in February (5 and 4 months old)


And this picture was taken about a week ago (12-11 months old)

 

[szaza]

Spirulina, soaps made early March

All colors are mixed in water added at trace. Front is gelled, back is ungelled. Left to right: no additives, sugar, salt, both sugar and salt.

After unmolding:


1 months old (april update)


2 months old (may update)


Almost 6 months:

 

[szaza]

I just got a reminder I have an appointment I completely forgot. I promise to come back and update on the other soaps!

 

[szaza]

Let's have a look at alfalfa.

After unmolding:


About a month later:


5,5-6 months:


Eta: forgot to mention, front = ungelled, back = gelled. Left= infusion, middle= added in oil at trace, right= added to lye water

 

[szaza]

Moringa (same set-up as alfalfa)

After unmolding:

About a month later:

5,5-6 months:

 

[szaza]

Spirulina (again same set-up, except added to trace mixed in water)

After unmolding:

About a month later:

5,5-6 months:


Spirulina added at trace is browning faster than added to the lye water, which I didn't expect. It's also browning faster than I'm used to. I'm wondering if adding spirulina mixed in water or mixed in oil might make a difference in color retention.

 

[szaza]

Indigo. Front ungelled, back gelled, (older pictures far left = infusion) left reused indigo from infusion added at trace, middel reused indigo from infusion added to lye water, right 'fresh' indigo powder added to lye water.

After unmolding:

About a month later (furthest left = white soap for comparison)

5,5-6 months:

 

[szaza]

Alkanet (infusion, left gelled right ungelled)

After unmolding:

About a month later:

5,5-6 months:


I've never had alkanet infusion fade so fast on me..

 

[szaza]

An lastly paprika

After unmolding:

About a month later:

Two months in:

5,5-6 months:

 

[szaza]

Oh I completely forgot about matcha..
Left is one made in sept 2019. Middle is made in March with the same matcha powder infusion as the furthest left. Right is made with a new infusion from a freshly opened can (yes it came in a can). Front ungelled, back gelled.

After unmolding:

About a month later:

5,5-6 months: