# Natural Ingredients



## H Diamond Farms (Jun 3, 2011)

Full of questions tonight. 
What colorants are considered "natural"? Obviously any of the herbs and such would be. 
What about Micas and Oxides, etc?


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## Guest (Sep 26, 2012)

Rachel, there is a list posted by Sandra in the soap making section....


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## H Diamond Farms (Jun 3, 2011)

Ya I found that after I asked lol. Good job me. 
Is it correct to assume that the micas and oxides aren't considered natural then?


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## Guest (Sep 26, 2012)

No they are not, but they are much safer than lab colors... but then I use them all.. lesser of the evils compared to commerical so called soaps... UGH..


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## H Diamond Farms (Jun 3, 2011)

Thank you!


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

Rachel, I only use EO's and natural colorants. NO micas, NO pigments, as they are NOT natural (well, red and black oxide might be). Anyway, I use many herbs, flowers, clays, etc. in powder or dried form to get various colors. Are my soaps vibrant? No. Do they look good? YES! Do they fade to brown? Not that I have seen as long as they are DRIED. I am hoping to get a business FB page up and running soon so you can see what I'm selling. I'm happy with it and my customers are very happy, too.


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## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

There are lots of colorants that are natural that will give you interesting colors. Woad, for example, gives a lovely blue. They are not as easy to use as micas, but it certainly can be done, if that's what you're looking for.


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## H Diamond Farms (Jun 3, 2011)

Thanks ladies.  Cindy, that's kinda what I"m thinking. At least to start. There are so many colors and FO's I wouldn't know where to start, lol. I have a couple people in my family that are very sensitive to any man made ingredients. Dye and such. Seeing as how this is for my family right now, I figure that's the way to go. I just want pretty colors, lol. I would love to see your soap! What do you find makes the best pinks? I thought I might try some rose clay and also some alkanet. 
Stacey, Woad is on my list! This guy has so many to choose from! http://www.soap-making-resource.com/natural-soap-colorants.html 
Silly money getting in the way or I'd buy them all, lol. 
I figure I might as well test colors and such while I'm doing my small test batches to find a soap recipe I really like. I know they can react differently, but it gives me something to go on.


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

Rachel, that's where I get most of my colorants. Pink, for me, is pink clay. Alkanet root will color soap anywhere from pale lavender to dark purple depending on how much use in jar with oil to steep. Most of his greens give more of an army green. For a brighter, greener, green, I use parsley flake powder. Forget who I got that from, maybe WSP.

Woad is nice for a pale blue, but will not work in oo-based soaps. Yellow + Blue = Green. :biggrin. If you do a batch without oo that makes a fairly white soap, like the Walmart recipe, you have a much better chance at getting blue. I've been using his Indigo, but it is not as dark as it usually is - his batched of it are almost as light as woad these days. I need to find a better source for indigo. And too much indigo will dye washcloths blue! So you can't use too much.


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## H Diamond Farms (Jun 3, 2011)

I was wondering how much indigo was "safe" 
Thanks for the tip on parsley... what do you use to get a nice sage or pale green color?


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

For a more sage color, I use comfrey leaf powder. I also have some nettle leaf powder that I bought the last time I ordered, but have never used it yet.


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