Food colourings?

[DanyulMac]

Has anyone used food colourings before ? Several types I’m aware of like the liquid but it has glycerin in it and can mess with the soaps process, others being powders and gels ? Only ask this cause i dont want to invest in micas yet for my first few batches as they are for personal use and gift for friends.

Thanks

 

[artemis]

There are several threads that talk about this here on the forum. Example: https://www.soapmakingforum.com/index.php?threads/40651/

 

[SunRiseArts]

No No No to food colors. It would be better to have no color at all.

You can infused one of your oils with annatto seeds for a yellow color, and some spiced also give you color. I sometimes used baby food to tint my soap. Carrots is probably the best one.

In my experience, only micas and oxides are stable enough for the color to stay for an extended period of time. The others tend to fade.

But like artemis said, several threads on the subject, check them out.

 

[Obsidian]

I use red 40 and red 33, one is pinker while one is orangier. Both are stable though they do fade a little. I have powder, it takes the tiniest amount, like a match head or smaller.
I prefer mica but food color works in a pinch, so does loose powder eyeshadow. Just make sure its mostly micas and oxides.

 

[cmzaha]

I use Blue food coloring from Smart & Final which is Blue 1 for a very pretty purple. It will morph several colors before settling on lavender to purple. So I do not fully agree with SunRiseArts. Some food coloring works as Obsidian with the red 40 and red 33. The Sage has a Purple Raspberry Color that is Red 33 and their Grape is Blue 1

 

[soapmaker]

The question for me is how much ppo? I bought some a long time ago to try and never did because I'm too busy to experiment and I didn't know how much.

 

[dixiedragon]

I find the frosting colors with glycerin work fairly well. I like the white - which is TD, glycerin and a I think some sweetener - the red #40 and the blue, which will turn purple.

However...Nurture Soap has free shipping on colors for orders over $30.

 

[DanyulMac]

I use Blue food coloring from Smart & Final which is Blue 1 for a very pretty purple. It will morph several colors before settling on lavender to purple. So I do not fully agree with SunRiseArts. Some food coloring works as Obsidian with the red 40 and red 33. The Sage has a Purple Raspberry Color that is Red 33 and their Grape is Blue 1

I guess my best thing to do is make a loaf batch and split it into several little batches/ bars and experiment thanks for help

 

[soap1daze]

Liquid blue food coloring works in m and p soap. I don't imagine it would hold in cold processed soap.

 

[jcandleattic]

You have to be careful if you are selling (and in the US) with food coloring as not all is FDA approved for use in skin products. Just something to think about.

 

[DanyulMac]

You have to be careful if you are selling (and in the US) with food coloring as not all is FDA approved for use in skin products. Just something to think about.

In the UK and im not sure yet but im just going to look into natural colours from herbs and spices

 

[LilyJo]

If you are in the UK and looking to sell you cant use food colouring as they are not skin safe. Your recipe will need to be approved by a safety assessor as well so you will need to make sure your ingredients are from reputable suppliers with MSDS - this obvs may not apply if you dont sell but its worth taking into account before hand.

 

[DanyulMac]

If you are in the UK and looking to sell you cant use food colouring as they are not skin safe. Your recipe will need to be approved by a safety assessor as well so you will need to make sure your ingredients are from reputable suppliers with MSDS - this obvs may not apply if you dont sell but its worth taking into account before hand.

Like i said its for personal use, not selling

 

[SunRiseArts]

Ha! Never thought about eye shadow ... interesting.

How much color? It really depends, I don't think one can really established that. Just add and mix until you are happy with the color, I guess. But if you are doing CP or HP, the color might morph after cure.

If you are using food color on MP, you have to be very careful, because you do not want to add a lot of extra water to your base.

Not sure in the UK, bit here are Michaels or Hobby Lobby, you can buy soap colors, that with a coupon, would be less than 2 dollars. But also keep in mind that water based colors, and I would think it the same with food colors, will eventually bleed into each other in the same batch.

You can also experiment with the natural tints you will get from the fragrances. Some can have shares of tan and browns after cure.

 

[cmzaha]

You have to be careful if you are selling (and in the US) with food coloring as not all is FDA approved for use in skin products. Just something to think about.

Very true, you need to check the ingredients. One example a lot of blue food coloring is Blue 1 which is a common blue in soap colorants as is red 33

 

[earlene]

I used food coloring in soap once and it was very pale, but pretty. There was no bleeding of colors in use. No skin staining. I don't recall how much I used, but here in the US, many food coloring comes in tiny little squeeze bottles that don't hold very much color. I used those, which I had originally bought to use for coloring Easter Eggs. I don't recall any color morphing, although that can happen with some food coloring, from what I have read. I wish I had a picture of one of those soaps, but it was long before I ever thought of photographing soap and they are all gone now. My skin loved that particular recipe and have used it since, but not with food coloring as I decided I wanted more vibrant colors, so moved on to micas the following year.

I also used eye shadow once or twice. The first time, I was traveling and had not brought any or much colorant with me. So I bought the cheapest eye shadow I could find at WalMart and I have to say, I was disappointed. I had read that some micas are not lye stable, so I knew it was a crap shoot, but of course that's what I bought - eyeshadow made with mica that wasn't lye-stable. The blue did not survive the lye so the blue in the swirl was actually white. Luckily I also use some eye shadow that was made with lye-stable micas and got some pink that stayed pink. And I used beta carotene for yellow. So at least I got some color out of it.

Caveat - I DO NOT SELL. I am a hobbyist.

As far as I understand it, if the mica is safe for use on the eyelids, it is safe in soap, so that is not an issue. But other ingredients may not be such a good idea. For example, perhaps food coloring is not really a good idea if it stains the skin. But if it's safe to add to food, is it really unsafe on the skin when used in soap? I don't know, but again, I DON'T SELL, and if I did, I would certainly abide by all regulatory requirements. I have seen some pretty strange ideas suggested for coloring soap and when I was new to soap making, might even have entertained some of them myself. But the voice of reason usually popped into my head with something like, 'Seriously? You want to slather that stuff all over your body?' And I thought better of it.

 

[jcandleattic]

But if it's safe to add to food, is it really unsafe on the skin when used in soap?

Most likely it is safe to use on your body if it can go in your body, however, with the FDA rules and regulations in place, that's where we stand as an industry.
It's so odd, some of the things the FDA does consider safe to use on the body (beaver excretions anyone?) is baffling when some food colorings are not. I would much rather slather myself with a food color than beaver excretion!! LOL

 

[SunRiseArts]

I agree. Specially when the package says FD&C does that not stand for food and cosmetics?

 

[Misschief]

I agree. Specially when the package says FD&C does that not stand for food and cosmetics?

True. However, they can morph in soap. I wanted to make a soap called Ice Queen; I used FD&C blue. It turned mauve. Really pretty but not what I was looking for.

 

[cmzaha]

It is not unusual for some of our soap colorants to morph this is one example and if you look at the inci it is Blue 1, which is known to morph in an alkaline environment which soap is.
https://www.thesage.com/catalog/products/Grape-Color.html