I want it to be purple, grrr

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Wow! I am going to switch! That is a beautiful color. So how did you infuse? What oil did you use and how much? Did you infuse for a few hours/days? Sorry about the questions, but your color is beautiful. Is the alkanet a powder?


It is a powder from a root. I got it at Brambleberry. I did a heat infusion. I added 1 tablespoons to 5-6 ounces of oil (I have used olive and sunflower and got the same result) in a jar. Light put the lid on. Put it in a crockpot filled with water to just over the oil in the jar. Cook it on low for 8 or so hours. Then let it cool. The alkanet will settle to the bottom and you should be able to just pour the oil out. I always reweight the oil. It starts off as a reddish purple. Then turns to the purple I showed. ImageUploadedBySoap Making1459279407.061925.jpg
 
Micas aren't considered natural. I got my micas from Nurture Soap Supplies. They have some awesome colors that don't morph in CP.

You can't generalize about micas like that. For example, if a mica contains mica, titanium dioxide and carmine, it is totally natural as it contains nothing synthetic at all. Not many micas are all natural like that. Some are in the same "nature identical" category as oxides and ultramarines because they contain those as colorants. Other have FD&C dyes and are not considered natural.

If anyone wants to read more, there is a good explanation on Soap Queen here:

https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/talk-it-out-tuesday-colorants/
 
That's all fine. I don't consider the majority of them natural. Even if they have oxides most are lab created. Micas are lab created. But I don't consider what I create as natural. It's close though.
 
With ultramarine purple, do you have to add quite a lot (as compared with ultramarine blue) to get a decent color?

I get a nice light to medium blue with a modest amount of UM blue, but more of a lavender gray with about the same amount of UM violet. And it seems as if the UM violet starts out more lavender in the batter, but gets more gray as the soap cures.

I've only tried these two colors a few times. I look forward to using the blue again, and am beginning to cringe about using the violet. Is it me or is it soap gremlins? :mrgreen:

This is probably due to the fact that many soaps (and EOs) are yellowish. Since purple and yellow are complementary, the yellow undertones take the saturation of the purple down a bit.
 
This is probably due to the fact that many soaps (and EOs) are yellowish. Since purple and yellow are complementary, the yellow undertones take the saturation of the purple down a bit.

The pink and purple utramarines are just tinted lighter, so you need to use more for a comparable shade of color.

TKB Trading can be a handy reference. They have photos for all the pigments showing the effect of 1, 3, 4, and 7 g ppo in both CP and MP.
 
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