Natural Soap Colorants

In my pursuit of removing cancer linked colorants from Eden’s Rivers soap, these new season of products will yours natural colorants.  Natural colorants like clays, herbs, and spices don’t offer the same dazzle as some artificial colorants, but the variety is still amazing. The picture I am using for inspiration has many different colors.

These are the colorants I will be using.

Comfrey

Comfrey is an herb used by many organic gardeners for the benefits it gives to fertilizers and soils. It is also thought to aid in skin care by improving cell turnover and repair and decreasing inflammation.  As could be imagined, when dried and powdered this little herb products a nice, deep green color that stays greens. I will used these lovely leaves to create the deepest green in my palette. I will make an 35% base oil infusion to deep green (hopefully) and a separate 20% base oil infusion to get the lighter green.

 

French Green Clay

Known for its ultra purifying nature, green clay is used to absorb oils and impurities, fight acne, and tighten pores.  However, all clays can be drying in soaps, so I will only use 1/2 teaspoon per pound to gain the perfect dusty green color.

 

Rose Clay

Another clay, this one is considered slightly milder than the green clay. I used this clay in last year’s Grapefruit and Mint soap. These 100% are some of the most beautiful I’ve ever made and the color is perfect for the dusty pink of my new spring bars.

 

Indigo

One of the oldest known dyes, indigo created a deep blue. However, this color also tends to stain and bleed. For this palette, only a tiny amount of indigo added to the lye water will create that ethereal light blue.

 

 

The last color is the easiest! It will be the natural color of the soap. Most of my soaps tend to naturally be cream to tan colored. For these, I will make it as light as possible my using the lightest, most colorless oils. This will ensure that all the other colors come through.

A Word on Micas and Pigments

Are pigments and micas natural?

Yes…and no….The answer is complicated. They are considered “nature identical.” While they are created in a lab, they are, chemically speaking, the same substance that comes out of the ground. they are regularly labeled natural. They don’t have artificial dyes. In the case of micas and pigment, all-natural is not always better. Most lab manufactured micas and pigments are insured to be toxin free, unlike their straight-from-the ground counterparts.  However, at this time I want to focus on making the most natural products possible, so I will use detoxified natural clays and organic spices for the foreseeable future.

Next, on to scents. What scent does this picture evoke for you?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Related articles

• Foods and Herbs to Help Prevent Colds and Flu (wholefoodandmore.net)
• More on Natural Soap Colorants
• Color and Spice
• Guide to Herbs (energyoftheheart.wordpress.com)
• New Inspirations for Natural Colors (edensrivers.com)