Synthetic or natural colorants?
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craftykelly
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When I first started out and decided to start selling too I really wanted to do 'all natural' but the lure of 'pretty' soaps got the better of me and I do both but more of the 'pretty' ones.
I sell more 'pretty' soaps than natural ones :wink:
I sell more 'pretty' soaps than natural ones :wink:
I like red oxides and blue ultra-marine for brighter colours, but most of the colours I do come from spices and herbs.
I read on this forum about using pureed carrot baby food to achieve a nice orange colour, so this morning I stopped by the supermarket and got a pair of Gerber Organic Carrots (the organic part wasn't as important as the kool rectangular plastic boxes w/lids, they were packaged in. I thought they'd make great molds for "baby cakes", a sample size I want for each cold process batch we do.) We whipped up a batch this after noon and at the last minute, I told Linda to pull out 32 oz of batter and put some red oxide in it. We had dueling stick blenders going on for a few minutes and then, when we achieved simultaneous trace, we leap-frogged back and forth, pouring layers of alternating colours into our mold. A few vertical folds with a spatula down the length of the mold, and we capped it, wrapped it and it's stored behind the love seat in the living room until the day after tomorrow. Can't wait to see what it looks like.
I've used powdered, dried parsley to make a nice pale green colour. Some of the flakes survived the grinding and gave it a nice texture. And the natural scent adds a nice freshness that can enhance an added fragrance, or can stand alone without additives. I've also powdered calendula petals for a very pale golden colour.
Coffee in your lye water will give out a nice brown tint that can be enhanced with cinnamon (for a warmer brown) or paprika (for a cooler brown) The soaps below were brown tinted with coffee, cinnamon and paprika ... just different amounts and in different base oils.
Also some oils and butters naturally have nice colours, and some fragrances will turn nice colours, and I often take advantage of that.
I'm interested in dyes for some accents I may dream up in the future, but on the whole, I find good colours right on the spice rack.
I read on this forum about using pureed carrot baby food to achieve a nice orange colour, so this morning I stopped by the supermarket and got a pair of Gerber Organic Carrots (the organic part wasn't as important as the kool rectangular plastic boxes w/lids, they were packaged in. I thought they'd make great molds for "baby cakes", a sample size I want for each cold process batch we do.) We whipped up a batch this after noon and at the last minute, I told Linda to pull out 32 oz of batter and put some red oxide in it. We had dueling stick blenders going on for a few minutes and then, when we achieved simultaneous trace, we leap-frogged back and forth, pouring layers of alternating colours into our mold. A few vertical folds with a spatula down the length of the mold, and we capped it, wrapped it and it's stored behind the love seat in the living room until the day after tomorrow. Can't wait to see what it looks like.
I've used powdered, dried parsley to make a nice pale green colour. Some of the flakes survived the grinding and gave it a nice texture. And the natural scent adds a nice freshness that can enhance an added fragrance, or can stand alone without additives. I've also powdered calendula petals for a very pale golden colour.
Coffee in your lye water will give out a nice brown tint that can be enhanced with cinnamon (for a warmer brown) or paprika (for a cooler brown) The soaps below were brown tinted with coffee, cinnamon and paprika ... just different amounts and in different base oils.
Also some oils and butters naturally have nice colours, and some fragrances will turn nice colours, and I often take advantage of that.
I'm interested in dyes for some accents I may dream up in the future, but on the whole, I find good colours right on the spice rack.
