Your Favorite Natural Colorant?

[Possum_Magic]

What is your favorite natural colorant and why? (I'm interested in expanding my horizons)

I'll go first...

Mine is oil soluble chlorophyll extract. It produces a lovely, vibrant green. It's a liquid, easy to work with, plus a little goes a long way.

 

[Seawolfe]

Where do you get your chlorophyll extract? My favorite so far is indigo - mix the powder in the water before the lye. But I also like the vibrant yellow of annatto infusion in oil, oh and carrot juice and infusion!

 

[Candybee]

I confess I am a clay junky. I use a lot of clays; pink, green, red, in my soap. Lately I used some cocoa powder for the first time and now have a new love.

I think the one I hate working the most with is activated charcoal. When you open the container the charcoal is so fine it just gets into everything so you have to be extra careful handling it. But it makes the most beautiful black colorant so shouldn't be missed.

I got the sampler pack of natural colorants from soap making resource. You get a whole lot to experiment with in that and stuff I never would have thought about using until I bought it.

 

[TVivian]

Red palm oil. It makes the best yellow in any shade from light to bright and the most vibrant tangerine orange.

 

[Possum_Magic]

Where do you get your chlorophyll extract? My favorite so far is indigo - mix the powder in the water before the lye. But I also like the vibrant yellow of annatto infusion in oil, oh and carrot juice and infusion!

I purchased it from Aussie Soap Supplies in Australia a few years back. I just checked out their site and they don't seem to have it anymore. Thankfully I have a decent amount left. I've been using heaps of it lately. Might have to rein it in. Hopefully someone somewhere sells it.

I have used annatto too. I like it. Haven't tried or heard of Carrot juice infusion, that's a new one for me.

 

[Possum_Magic]

I confess I am a clay junky. I use a lot of clays; pink, green, red, in my soap. Lately I used some cocoa powder for the first time and now have a new love.

I think the one I hate working the most with is activated charcoal. When you open the container the charcoal is so fine it just gets into everything so you have to be extra careful handling it. But it makes the most beautiful black colorant so shouldn't be missed.

I got the sampler pack of natural colorants from soap making resource. You get a whole lot to experiment with in that and stuff I never would have thought about using until I bought it.

I haven't delved into the clay world yet. Will have to do so soon. I've been looking at charcoal and wondering how easy it is to work with. A sampler pack sounds like just what I need.

 

[cmzaha]

Clays, activated charcoal, tumeric, annatto, and spirulina. As Candybee mentioned charcoal can be messy but makes a gorgeous shiny black. Added to that, right now charcoal soaps are very popular, at least in my area

 

[DiddlyO]

I use a lot of clays too - I got Australian black clay from New Directions in Sydney - I don't know if it works the same as charcoal as I've not used that, but it's pretty easy to work with and makes an intense black. I just received a kilo of yellow clay from them yesterday that I'm keen to tinker with today

Any Aussie indigo users know where I can purchase bulk amounts?

 

[seven]

red palm oil is my fave for now. it produces the most awesome yellow, very vibrant!

 

[Seawolfe]

Ill give a +1 for the SMR natural colorants - I didn't do the sample pack, but I have a lot of the items in it and they are fun.

 

[Meganmischke]

Alkanet gives a lovely dark purple.

 

[Ellacho]

I like charcoal, indigo root and chlorella for their colors and benefits.

 

[PoddaPeas]

I've been lovin' up natural indigo for blues and grays, and madder root for pinks... I've been using alfalfa powder for greens, but I'm not crazy about the fresh cut hay notes it's been giving the scents.

 

[Candybee]

After reading through this I got to gets me some red palm oil. I love a good yellow and orange color.

Once for an egyptian amber theme soap I used turmeric for golden yellow and indigo for lapis lazuli or cobalt blue. Well I didn't quite get cobalt but the colors were awesome! Unfortunately it was the first time working with this particular fragrance and it eventually discolored to a tan.

But if I ever go with the deep blue and golden yellow theme again indigo and turmeric is great for that.

Here's a pic of the soap in the mold.

 

[Seawolfe]

Oh I love the smell of fresh cut hay! Will the scent remain do you think?

 

[PoddaPeas]

I'm not sure, it seems to really stick around in my lotion bars. But, it's not super noticeable in the soap... You wouldn't sniff it and get hay fever... But I notice it mingling around with the scents of other ingredients. It has kind of a strange pairing with eucalyptus. I didn't like it at first but it's grown on me, now I think it would be nice it smelled a little stronger

 

[MagicalMysterySoap]

I really love parsley for green. There is a Mexican supermarket by my house that sells very vibrant green dried parsley. I blend it to a fine powder. It's awesome.

 

[CanaDawn]

I've been lovin' up natural indigo for blues and grays, and madder root for pinks... I've been using alfalfa powder for greens, but I'm not crazy about the fresh cut hay notes it's been giving the scents.

OH!!! does it give the same scent used alone? I'm SO much about the fresh cut hay, and if it really smells that way, I will be cutting down the alfalfa growing by my fence and drying it!

LOL just saw the comment from Seawolfe! Ok, so is the green from alfalfa and the green from parsley different enough to swirl and see? because I have both, and a hankerin' for a project....does it need to be dried or can I just use what I have?

 

[PoddaPeas]

Ooooooo! That might be really fun. Mix in some pow with larger dried alfalfa... Hay Fever! Maybe add a little dried honeysuckle to keep things interesting? Ah! So many possibilities!

 

[CaraBou]

Beta carotene is an awesome natural colorant that is super easy to use. Poking and squeezing the liquid from a few gel capsules per pound of soap produces a vibrant orange. It is fat soluble, so add directly to your oils, not your lye water.

You know beta carotene as the red-orange pigment that gives color to carrots, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, and other fruits & veggies. The human body converts it to Vitamin A, which is required for healthy skin and eyes. As an added plus, it is also an antioxidant. The vitamin industry commercially produces beta carotene by growing and harvesting marine algae (including Spirulina, interestingly enough).

Ever wondered where the orange color comes from that is added to coconut oil for movie theater popcorn? Yup, you guessed it!

Hope I don't sound like a b.c. salesman. What can I say -- it's just another odd collection of facts I pursued as a direct result of soaping. Can you see why I was fascinated??