Alkanet advice anyone?

[Malleebird]

I was so looking forward to cutting my tube of alkanet soap this morning...you can see why... and what the result was
Was really expecting to have all these magnificent royal blue bars ! Trying to trouble shoot myself, I decided perhaps I shouldn't have insulated ? Also I used 15% alkanet infused in my olive oil (which was a beautiful dark cherry red colour )...which would have worked out at about 2 Tbs per 500g (PPO)....that does seem like an awful lot I guess
I remember reading somewhere that if you didn't use enough, your soap would be grey and I didn't want that....it certainly wasn't
Love these experiments though...best way to learn

 

[AliOop]

Give it some time. Infused alkanet often changes color during the cure. So far, I've gotten taupe (didn't use enough), grey and blue-gray, and deep purple-black. The last one happened when I got so tired of not achieving the desired purple that I used something close to 40% infused OO. Others seem to get a lovely soft purple with just 15%, but I've given up and decided to use mica.

 

[glendam]

I remember reading that gel phase is suggested with natural colorants, so insulating them should have been good actually. I have only used it once and I did such a small amount I couldn’t see it at all, my soaps stayed white. So I am impressed you got such a dark color

 

[Malleebird]

Give it some time. Infused alkanet often changes color during the cure.
Thanks Alioop...I hope so, will be interesting to see. Will post a pic if it morphs into something beautiful !

 

[Malleebird]

So I am impressed you got such a dark color

Perhaps it's not going to be as bad as I thought A friend has just been around and said "...what a beautiful colour...!" It's actually a really dark navy... not quite as black as the pic.

 

[szaza]

Alkanet seems to be pH sensitive. At higher pH (raw soap) it's blue or grey and normally it turns more purple during cure as the pH drops. Wait at least a week before judging the color (but don't expect the blue to stick around.. it never does)
In my experience alkanet does better with gel, so I don't think you need to worry about that.
Keep in mind not only amount of infusion, but also infusion strength plays a role in the color you get

 

[atiz]

Agree with the others; alkanet changes color. I remember when I used it first I got super upset, because my beautiful burgundy oil turned grey-ish blue. In a week or two it was back being pink/purple again.
So, patience! Natural colorants are tricky but can be really fun.