Red Colorant - Where?

[John Harris]

I've been trying to find a good, solid, bright red colorant. All of the reds I've found are reviewed badly as far as being true red goes. Most of the reviews say that they all end up being Brick Red or something.

I'm in Canada and try to buy from here to avoid Customs interference (i.e. trying to take more of my money). But, I guess I could go with an American supplier for this red I am looking for. Any suggestions?

 

[MellonFriend]

Mad micas makes a true red. I've never purchased from them, but I've heard great things about them.

My little sisters have requested red soap from me. I'm going to use the micas I bought off amazon. I'm not optimistic because I heard that obtaining a true red is hard, but I'm going to give it a shot.

 

[dibbles]

Nurture Trial by Fire is a true fire engine red. I use Nurture My Red Obsession, and it is a very nice red. I'm not home, but I have a post somewhere here comparing reds. I'll try to remember to look for it later. I prefer MRO because I don't have any bleeding or colored lather from that one.

 

[Zing]

Hey, John, I got tons of good ideas in this thread. I bought several reds and trying and making notes. Good luck!
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/how-to-make-a-red-colorant.81933/

 

[Bubble Agent]

Nurture soap has an aray of different reds, I have tried a lot of them, so if you can`t find anything in Canada, Nurture (or Mad Micas that @MellonFriend mentioned) are a great option that focus on high quality micas for soapers.

I haven`t tried all of them, but a lot of them, and My Red Obsession is a great one. It can go a tiny bit pink depending on rate, but I just add a speck of orange and it goes more towards a "neutral" red, if you know what I mean.

That is for my personal soaps though, in CPSR soaps it is difficult to get assessed anything with a lot of red in it, so I use Ruby Red mica from Nurture, and that was allowed. And I am very happy with that. Doesn`t stain or give pink suds. But it may not be what people call a true or bright red, but I am very happy with it at least. I am all out of soaps with that color, otherwise I would post a picture.

 

[Tara_H]

I had the same problem - a lot of research led me to the conclusion that a brick red-ish mica plus a dark pinkish red one plus a touch of orange neon is what's needed. I've been pretty happy with the results the couple of times I took this approach.

Theoretically it shouldn't lock you into any one supplier, so if you can get those colours locally it should be worth a try at least.

 

[dibbles]

Here is the thread with the red comparison I did. This was before Trial by Fire was available.
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/red.71199/

 

[Cat&Oak]

Trial by fire (Nurture) is my favorite true red as well.

 

[AliOop]

third vote for Trial by Fire.