Dawni
Well-Known Member
Part three in the series, but featuring soaps some of you would have already seen. I wanted the info in one place, hence this post.
First up, the mouthful (this is a sorta pun, if you catch it lol) that is Baphicacanthus Cusia (Nees) Bremek Powder. No, I did not type that, merely copied and pasted. I came across some sites that called it indigo naturalis.
A couple of sites said the plant is a flaccid conehead. Ehmm..... Yeah, I snorted at this one, too lol
I tried this powder two ways, first mixed in the water where the lye goes in with. Right off I knew I wouldn't get blue soap as the resulting color was a dark, dark forest green, with a lot of the powder just floating around even after 2hrs of soaking. The soap batter looked more promising in the pot.
It was a bit more bluer in person.
The resulting soap was indeed green. Started out a nice shade, as seen here when I first posted, but it faded quite quickly. Too quick I'd say. Here they are after several days.
Might not show any difference inthe pic but I saw it first hand, trust me lol. I'll show later how it looks like a month after.
I really wanted blue soap so for the next try I used 2 teaspoons in my oil, and the batter looked like this.
Still slightly greenish to me, so I added another 2 teaspoons in my superfat to add after the cook. Again the powder was just floating around in the oil.
Resulting soap is slightly bluer, but more of a grey/slate shade I think. 4 slightly heaped teaspoons of the powder and still not the blue I wanted.
There's a closeup here, where you can see the specks. They're darker than the actual powder, go figure.
Second up, is indigo tinctoria. I have yet to use the powder in my lye water (I'll post here once I do) but I'm already happy with the blue I got by dissolving the powder in hot water, and adding that to part of my batter. I used much less to get this shade, only 1/4 a teaspoon.
Some of you have seen this soap here but I give you another shot anyway, including extra mini soaps that look like brownies lol
There's an interesting color morph I caught on cam in that link btw. The blue was green when I cut and turned blue gradually upon exposure. Soap magic right there for ya.
Here's a shot of the powders.
Tinctoria is the dark powder in the tub, and the mouthful is the lighter one in the small pack.
And to show how quickly (and badly I might say) the baphica something one faded, here's a pic of one month old soaps.
The soap with the powder mixed in oils n superfat is faring far better than the one where the powder was added in the lye water.
Third, is a powder that came from a market stall in Pakistan. My dad asked them for indigo, which the shopkeeper called "neel" and neither of them mentioned it was for soap, not hair. My dad insists it's not mixed with henna, but the resulting color isn't that far of, as seen here.
Thanks @Mobjack Bay for unwittingly reminding me that this post was pending lol, and thanks to everyone who reads my long posts haha
First up, the mouthful (this is a sorta pun, if you catch it lol) that is Baphicacanthus Cusia (Nees) Bremek Powder. No, I did not type that, merely copied and pasted. I came across some sites that called it indigo naturalis.
A couple of sites said the plant is a flaccid conehead. Ehmm..... Yeah, I snorted at this one, too lol
I tried this powder two ways, first mixed in the water where the lye goes in with. Right off I knew I wouldn't get blue soap as the resulting color was a dark, dark forest green, with a lot of the powder just floating around even after 2hrs of soaking. The soap batter looked more promising in the pot.
It was a bit more bluer in person.
The resulting soap was indeed green. Started out a nice shade, as seen here when I first posted, but it faded quite quickly. Too quick I'd say. Here they are after several days.
Might not show any difference inthe pic but I saw it first hand, trust me lol. I'll show later how it looks like a month after.
I really wanted blue soap so for the next try I used 2 teaspoons in my oil, and the batter looked like this.
Still slightly greenish to me, so I added another 2 teaspoons in my superfat to add after the cook. Again the powder was just floating around in the oil.
Resulting soap is slightly bluer, but more of a grey/slate shade I think. 4 slightly heaped teaspoons of the powder and still not the blue I wanted.
There's a closeup here, where you can see the specks. They're darker than the actual powder, go figure.
Second up, is indigo tinctoria. I have yet to use the powder in my lye water (I'll post here once I do) but I'm already happy with the blue I got by dissolving the powder in hot water, and adding that to part of my batter. I used much less to get this shade, only 1/4 a teaspoon.
Some of you have seen this soap here but I give you another shot anyway, including extra mini soaps that look like brownies lol
There's an interesting color morph I caught on cam in that link btw. The blue was green when I cut and turned blue gradually upon exposure. Soap magic right there for ya.
Here's a shot of the powders.
Tinctoria is the dark powder in the tub, and the mouthful is the lighter one in the small pack.
And to show how quickly (and badly I might say) the baphica something one faded, here's a pic of one month old soaps.
The soap with the powder mixed in oils n superfat is faring far better than the one where the powder was added in the lye water.
Third, is a powder that came from a market stall in Pakistan. My dad asked them for indigo, which the shopkeeper called "neel" and neither of them mentioned it was for soap, not hair. My dad insists it's not mixed with henna, but the resulting color isn't that far of, as seen here.
Thanks @Mobjack Bay for unwittingly reminding me that this post was pending lol, and thanks to everyone who reads my long posts haha
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