Can I possibly use blush to color soap?!

[ChristinaB]

I don't sell, this is strictly for me. I want to make a reddish, rusty, fall colored soap and don't have any real colorants, so wondered how blush would work? Has anyone tried it?! Any other suggestions? Thank you!

 

[Hazel]

My first thought was "no" and it might stain the skin. Also, blush is diluted for the skin and would have other additives in it. I think you'd have to use a lot to achieve a decent color. Colorants for soap are concentrated so generally a small amount gives good color.

It's possible that the lye would cause the blush to morph and you wouldn't end up with the color you wanted. Colorants for soap can be more high pH stable so you'd be fairly confident the color will be want you want.

But it is skin safe so you could try it a little bit of soap as an experiment. When I'm experimenting, I take out a few ounces from a larger batch to test.

 

[Fragola]

Cute idea

My guess is different cosmetics use different colorants. Some may work with soap, some may not.

Just wanting to share something I plan to experiment myself: red wine, maybe mixed with a little red clay.

 

[Guest]

I dont see why not, but if you sold it you would need to list all the ingredients, which would be long and may scare people away. But if its just for you why not just try it out and see if it would work! Eyeshadow may work too...

 

[Hazel]

Cute idea

My guess is different cosmetics use different colorants. Some may work with soap, some may not.

Just wanting to share something I plan to experiment myself: red wine, maybe mixed with a little red clay.

Red wine will turn tan because of the reaction of the tannins with the lye. At least that what I was told when I complained my wine soap turned dark.

 

[judymoody]

I'd be leery of the blush, you don't know what's in it.

If you want a reddish/rusty color try infusing your soaping oils with roobios tea or turmeric powder.

 

[newbie]

Judy, you may be thinking of paprika. Turmeric will turn the soap a golden brown shade of yellow.

 

[Fragola]

Turmeric will turn the soap a golden brown shade of yellow.

Tell that to the reddish soap I unmolded couple days ago. Maybe it will obey you, coz it seems to be ignoring me

 

[newbie]

Really? A reddish color, huh? I've used turmeric a number of times and always get yellow colors, whether I gel or not. Could you post a picture? And how much did you use? Always good to have more tools in the tool chest. Oh, and did you infuse it or use it straight in the batter? THanks!

 

[Lindy]

The red wine I used turned my soap quite a dark brown and OMG did it smell bad....

Blush - not sure, I doubt you'll get the look you're wanting though. Do you have any red clay?

 

[Fragola]

This is a picture here you can see the turmeric. My first attempt at layered soap ... not great
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/196/layer1.jpg/

Just to set the colours straight:
- the yellow is some green food color I had
- the reddish is turmeric

The amount ... I didn't exactly measure it Maybe 1 tsp/pound ?

 

[carebear]

Yes you can use it. If it's skin safe for the face it's skin safe for soap. This said, I don't know what color it'll end up. Not all materials are stable at such a high pH.

 

[newbie]

Well, I'll be damned. I've never gotten anything close to that from turmeric! I'll have to give it a go again. What did you use for the green? It's a nice color.

 

[judymoody]

I'd be leery of the blush, you don't know what's in it.

If you want a reddish/rusty color try infusing your soaping oils with roobios tea or turmeric powder.

Here you go. This is the result I got with turmeric:

It has since darkened to a less orangey and more rusty color.

 

[ChristinaB]

Thank you for all the replies! I've already made a red wine soap; I used Merlot and it turned my soap very dark but beautiful, so don't really want two soaps the same color.

I don't have any red clay, but the roobios tea is interesting to me.... I also have turmeric and paprika; it does surprise me that the turmeric could turn reddish instead of bright golden!

JudyMoody~which did you use in the pics that you posted? How long would the roobios tea have to infuse with the oils to get color? Your color would be fantastic for the fragrance I'm using; it's a fall harvest/apple cinnamon type scent, so really any color that would go with that fragrance would be fine. I just don't want another tan soap! LOL

Thanks again!

 

[judymoody]

The photos were from turmeric powder infused oils. I left 1 T to infuse in about 200 g of olive oil at room temperature for a few weeks. You could speed this up by heating the oil gently in a crockpot on low.

I then strained the oil and used the infused oil in a recipe that contained 750 g of oils total.

If you don't gel, you'll get a lighter more creamy orange.

 

[ChristinaB]

Okay, great! Thank you!

 

[debbism]

I'm curious how it lathers...I am always unsure of the maximum % of tumeric infused oil you can use before the lather bleeds and stains the skin. Looks like you are close your close to 25% - I have only gone to 12% but would love to go a little deeper next round

I spent several months with stained fingertips from taking tumeric pills so I am always cautious not to have that happen with soap! (FYI, tumeric kills joint pain over time)

 

[Tabitha]

Ditto what carebear said. Cosmetics are skin safe so it would also be soap safe. Not sure of the results though.

I have used eye shadow in M&P with fabulous shimmers results!

 

[Fragola]

What did you use for the green? It's a nice color.

Not being experienced with colours, the green is a cocktail:

- a pinch of spirulina
- maybe 1/2 tsp green clay
- 1 tsp Christmas tree powder

So I didn't really have a plan for this, I just figured one or the other will push the soap in the right direction.