# Natural Recipies Please for M & P



## lovefish (Feb 20, 2012)

Hi there,

Being new to this lark. I am trying to source some recipes for M & P that are only using natural ingredients to create the fragrance and colour etc. 

I have found some M & P recipes on-line but so far they all seem to have something synthetic in them, be it the fragrance or colour.  

Any help is appreciated.


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## Genny (Feb 20, 2012)

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "natural".  There's not a whole lot that you can scent soap with that I would consider natural.

But for color you can use some spices.  A lot of spices and herbs don't give the same colors in mp soap that they do in cp.

Also, "natural" is a word that has many different meanings to different people.
Some people consider micas and oxides for coloring to be natural, some don't.  Some people consider essential oils to be natural, some don't.  Then there are some suppliers that have "natural" fragrance oils, which some people would consider an oxymoron.  

I hope I didn't offend you or anything, I'm just not a big fan of the word "natural." LOL


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## lovefish (Feb 20, 2012)

I understand what you mean. When I say 'natural' scent I should have explained clearer. I am thinking more on the lines of essential oils etc. For example I would like to fragrance a soap with Lime and and Coconut, but have since found out that if I want to create a coconut smell then I would have to add something man-made. So now I have to rethink my plan, something without coconut i guess. I am happy using spices in the soap for colour. I just don't want to be adding something to the soap that I don't feel is necessary. I have very sensitive skin myself and I do understand that even essential oils can be toxic. I am just finding it difficult to find any recipes on-line that don't have strange colours or a man made fragrance.

Thanks for your time for replying to me!


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## PrairieCraft (Feb 20, 2012)

You can take any recipe and change it to suit your needs as far as scent and color go.  You will have to do a little research on usage rates for the essential oils and colorants so you don't use too much as you've already noted those natural things could be irritants.  

EOs are probably more likely to irritate skin than fragrances are.  Some people are allergic to the benzoin in citrus oils for example.  Fragrances are made to be non irritating and body safe.  I think a lot of us started out thinking we only wanted to use all natural ingredients and quickly learned that is very limiting.  

And, when you think about it color and fragrance aren't truly necessary at all.  Neither is soap for that matter, I know more than one person that actually never use soap or cleansers and if you can believe it, they don't smell bad!  So strange.  

I hear you on the unnecessary ingredients though, like putting red colorant in fruit juices.  What a waste and then it stains!  But soap (IMO) good scent is needed at all costs!


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## rileylite (Feb 29, 2012)

There are a lot of natural colorants you can use (as in spices, herbs, clay) but I find that they're usually expensive, and almost everyone I've come into contact with really doesn't mind either way. And since with using spices and herbs you run more risk of someone having a reaction, I say it's worth it to just stick to high quality micas from reputable companies. 
As far as coconut, if you're making CP soap could you potentially use coconut milk in your lye water? No experience doing it personally, but it might be worth researching. Probably wouldn't give you much scent, but it could have label value.

Oops, just came back and realized you were specifically talking about MP. You may be able to dry the coconut fruit and grind it up like people do with orange peel. It would probably turn brown but that might still add a nice effect.


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## Genny (Mar 1, 2012)

I wouldn't use the coconut fruit.  It will grow mold and you can't smell much coconut after it's in the soap.  I tried it years ago and all I can say is, Ewww!


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## Tabitha (Mar 2, 2012)

To add to what PrairieCraft said, natural is not always better or better for you than man made. There are a lot of things found in nature that are harmful so don't get caught up with labels. Natural does not = good and manmade does not = bad. You will need to do lots of reaserch on an ingredient by ingredient basis to fully  understand.


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