Ugh! Blue colorants are so frustrating!

[wikkedsuzanna]

I made a blue soap using ultramarine pigment, and it was a beautiful dark blue. I don't do CPOP, by the way. Then I did a soap with cobalt pigment. It was a nice rich blue during the pour, and the next day it became a pastel blue. It's still pretty, but not the ocean color I was hoping for. Sometimes I feel like every color has it's own way of behaving and the only way to know what the soap will look like is to make a practice loaf. I'm not sure if I'm looking for advice or commiseration.

 

[msunnerstood]

Had the same experience with yellow last night.. as I mixed it, it seemed really pale, almost white.. so I added more.. still really pale so I gave up.. what I have this morning is almost neon yellow.

 

[cmzaha]

Ultramarine Blue is my favorite blue to work with.

 

[wikkedsuzanna]

Had the same experience with yellow last night.. as I mixed it, it seemed really pale, almost white.. so I added more.. still really pale so I gave up.. what I have this morning is almost neon yellow.

Wow! I'm sorry that happened. I've never had a soap color get more intense. I wish we could balance each other out. I do have a yellow that is really powerful, no matter how little pigment I use, it's always too much.

 

[cmzaha]

This yellow (yellow 5) from The Sage will become very intense Lemon Yellow (dye)
The problem with it is you do not necessarily know it at first so it is very easy to use too much. This one is the same way, very easy to overdo but I love it, and is actually Red 33 Purple Raspberry

 

[TheGecko]

Sometimes I feel like every color has it's own way of behaving and the only way to know what the soap will look like is to make a practice loaf. I'm not sure if I'm looking for advice or commiseration.

Pretty much. From lessons learned, I make test soaps these days when it comes to new colorants, new scents, new ingredients. Every recipe is different, different soaping temps, to gel or not gel, even different parts of the world and different seasons can affect how your soap turns out.

 

[kaygrrl]

Have you tried indigo?

 

[Megan]

I made a blue soap using ultramarine pigment, and it was a beautiful dark blue. I don't do CPOP, by the way. Then I did a soap with cobalt pigment. It was a nice rich blue during the pour, and the next day it became a pastel blue. It's still pretty, but not the ocean color I was hoping for. Sometimes I feel like every color has it's own way of behaving and the only way to know what the soap will look like is to make a practice loaf. I'm not sure if I'm looking for advice or commiseration.

It sounds like you just aren't using enough. It can be a fine line between not enough and too much, but it can be learned over time to get the right amount. You can't necessarily tell the color that the soap will be by the color of the batter. Start by calculating using the recommended usage rates for the colorant (1/2-1 tsp PPO probably). Then adjust if you need too, but be careful to not use too much that the lather blues.
Gelling can also help to bring out the color.

I personally wouldn't recommend indigo if you want an easy to use blue...indigo is finicky and often turns out grayish.

Edit: I didn't see that you mentioned the cobalt was different than the ultramarine...I thought you were having trouble with the ultramarine. It could be that the cobalt isn't soap stable too, if you were using the recommended amounts.

 

[Dan9250]

I for the most part have given up on the blue color. Never had any luck getting what I wanted, with many attempts. I hope you have better luck, and if you do please post your success.

 

[cmzaha]

I find Indigo miserable to work with. Many Blue mIcas are gorgeous you just need to purchase samples and test them. I always mixed my Ultramarine in glycerine and kept it in a small squirt bottle or deli cup.

 

[Angela Kamau]

My Indigo looks black or dark grey I suspect I may be using too much thoigh cant get the Blue i wish for .

 

[Dan9250]

When I want a blue these days. I use Natural Soap "Electric Blue Mica." I only use it if pushed to make a blue soap. I still stay away from blue,
It's hard to get a good color even with mica.

 

[cmzaha]

When I want a blue these days. I use Natural Soap "Electric Blue Mica." I only use it if pushed to make a blue soap. I still stay away from blue,
It's hard to get a good color even with mica.

On the other hand, I find blues the easiest to work with especially blue micas. If you look at the inci on blue micas you find many are mixed by using ultramarine with varying degrees of TD. I usually mix my micas directly in my very liquid batter. Some of the peacock blue and sky blue micas are gorgeous.

 

[Dan9250]

Thanks for that, If I run into a need for blue, I will try ultramarine with TD as an alternative to Electric Blue.

 

[wikkedsuzanna]

This yellow (yellow 5) from The Sage will become very intense Lemon Yellow (dye)
The problem with it is you do not necessarily know it at first so it is very easy to use too much. This one is the same way, very easy to overdo but I love it, and is actually Red 33 Purple Raspberry

I have purple raspberry from MMS. It's water soluble, and VERY potent. I only use it for solid color soaps, because no matter how little I use, it bleeds.

I'm going to have to try peacock blue, it sounds wonderful.

I mixed a new soap using ultramarine and cobalt as a swirl, and they were almost indistinguishable during the pour. They turned out to be a perfect sky effect. Which is blurry because this is an image from a video.

 

[Zing]

I've had great results using blue micas. My hands down favorite blue is Bramble Berry's ultramarine blue. I'm pleased with all the blue micas from BB -- and my results are very close to their photos on their website. In a recent challenge entry, I used 2 of their blues. Stormy Blue resulted in gray (and I relabeled the bottle). Carribean Blue is a green-blue (altho' it looks more blue in the photo than in real life. Don't get me started on yellows and reds though....

 

[Dan9250]

I really like the Caribbean Blue, even if it is a bit green. That soap looks great.

 

[Megan]

Here’s one of my favorite blues: peacock by mad micas. It’s actually based on iron oxide and chromium green oxide… go figure! I know it's more of a teal but I love it.

The blueberry soap is ultramarine based blue, twilight by mad micas…not the best example because I didn’t add enough IMO, but it’s a beautiful blue, straight ultramarine blue would give you a similar color but is just slightly harder to disperse. Edit: want to add that the blueberries are soap dough with the same twilight mica.

 

[Dan9250]

I do like the blueberries. That is a beautiful soap.