Natural green colorants experiment

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Turns out I didn't have to wait long to see the difference in fading..
One week in, these are the soaps kept in the basement and in the window sill side by side.
The soaps exposed to light (right) faded considerably more than the ones stored in the dark. They were both exposed to air.
Top to bottom:
Spirulina
Wheatgrass
Moringa
Matcha
IMG_20190721_134026.jpeg


For those interested, the soaps that were exposed to air and light faded just as fast as the ones that were only exposed to light, not air as demonstrated in this picture. I'll leave them for a bit to see if a difference occurrs after a longer period of time, but I think light is the main culprit in fading.. especially of spirulina!
IMG_20190721_134220.jpeg
 
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For those interested, the soaps that were exposed to air and light faded just as fast as the ones that were only exposed to light, not air as demonstrated in this picture. I'll leave them for a bit to see if a difference occurrs after a longer period of time, but I think light is the main culprit in fading.. especially of spirulina! View attachment 40436
That’s a really striking difference in the color of the Spirulina. The others seem to have taken on more gold tones. Is that how it looks to you?
 
Hi everyone, thought I'd add my attempt at natural green to the thread.

2nd bar from left: Infused 18% HOSF with parsley and 15% EVOO with parsley.

3rd from left: same as 2 but added a little bit of black walnut powder to both infusions to darken it up.
View attachment 39668
What is HOSF?
What did you use (and how much) to colour the soap 4th from the left?
Have the colours still held?
 
What is HOSF?
What did you use (and how much) to colour the soap 4th from the left?
Have the colours still held?

Probably either High Oleic Sun or Safflower Oil. I think it's got to be one or the other. Someone else here also used that same abbreviation, but it is confusing because only that one person knows what they mean.

Edit, no I think it was Kurt in another post somewhere, still it is not a commonly used abbreviation, so confusing to others.
 
Just wanted to cone back and update on the curing in light vs dark environment. Most greens that were sitting in the window sill have faded almost completely after 6 weeks.IMG_20190831_124353.jpg
The upper row has been sitting in the window sill, the lower row in the basement.
Left to right: spirulina, wheatgrass, moringa and matcha.
The greens that have been in the basement are also starting to fade a bit, but it's nothing compared to the ones subjected to lots of light.

There's still no difference between the soaps that were packaged in plastic (no airflow) vs the ones that were unpackaged. So it seems like light is really the main culprit in fading of natural greens.
 
Thanks @Cocolive that's a great link!
Indeed most colorants fade. I'm not sure about micas because I've never used them, but natural colors are notorious for fading fast, especially greens. There was significant fading after 1 week and color is almost gone at 6 weeks, which means if you cure naturally green colored soaps in a light environment, color will be gone completely after cure. So even if most colorants react to light, this seems to be extreme with natural greens.
Someone (was it @earlene ?) also suggested oxigen/airflow might have an influence on fading of green colors, which I thought was an interesting experiment to make. Oxigen however seems less influential than light exposure.
 
I am wondering if Oxides are natural colorants? I have a Red Brick Oxide that does not appear to fade at all. I made soap with it about 3 years ago, I think and it's as dark now as it ever was. I do have to admit that I don't store this soap in sunlight, though and that I did use more of the colorant than I should because it really does bleed a lot of pink into the lather when used.

Oxides are not my colorant of choice, so I only have 3 that I bought when I attended a soap gathering and another soaper was de-stashing supplies. They are from reputable soap suppliers, but without looking, I can't say which supplier for sure.

As for micas fading, some do and some don't. I have a soap at sink-side, which gets sunlight through my kitchen window that is still as bright as the day I made them in Feb 2017. I used some Micas & More really bright colors in that soap, in fact, they are almost psychedelic even still. The only reason I put that bar of soap there is because the colors match the soap dish and the decor in my kitchen! It's been in this location for several months with no visible fading.
 
Thanks for your input @earlene ! Very interesting that oxides don't seem to fade and only some micas do.
When I wrote natural colorants I meant plant colorants, but indeed oxides are also considered natural, depending on who you ask. Should have been more specific about that.
 
Oxidized metals are the "rust" of a metal--oxidized iron is rust, for example. The oxides here are lab created for purity as naturally found oxides often contain other minerals like arsenic or lead. I have read that there is a mine in France where the oxides come directly from the ground but it is a very pure source. Oxides can be a bit harder to use, as a little goes a looong way and they will come off on a washcloth if you use a lot. But they dont fade. There is also less color choice. Red seems to be the brick color, no lovely deep pinks and plums.
 
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Just realized I should really update this thread! About a month ago I made a final attempt at matcha soap with a cold infusion and it worked! The soap is still green:D just when I was about to give up on matcha..
A few days ago I added my homemade frozen pandan at trace and that also worked, need to see how it holds up but it looks promising!!
(I'll try to come back later with pics;))
 
I love spirulina too...my spirulina faded in a couple of months, alas. In melt and pour it is beautiful, in the clear mp....and lasted 8 months before fading to a nice yellow. I am trying chlorella now.
 

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