Getting Great Soap Colors - Naturally

Getting Great Soap Colors - Naturally
Have you ever seen those soaps with the big colored chunks in them? You know, the ones everyone thinks look really great and gives you as gifts because they know you like natural soap? Sorry, but they're synthetic.

In keeping with proper definitions of natural, the colorants used in soaps should be derived from natural sources. As we explained in an earlier newsletter, this means the colors need to be truly natural, not just stated as "natural" on the label.

How can you know? For the colorants used in soap and skin care, this means herbs, plant extracts, and clays. But don't worry... this doesn't mean soaps can't have big bold colors.

There are three ways to add color to soaps. First, buy some bright pigments like the kind used in transparent glycerin soaps with names like "Magenta Sunset" or "Cotton Candy" and dump it in your natural soap. (JUST KIDDING! - Those are synthetic.)

First, some essential oils have their own colors. Second, we can add herbs or clay directly to the mixed soap. Third, we can steep herbs to extract their colors. Each has its own set of positives and challenges, though. In the following section, we'll explain how to achieve some great soap colors.


Here are some great methods for natural colors in soap so we can all forget about pigments.

Essential Oils as Colorants
Essential oils are normally used for scent. However, several essential oils, such as citrus oils, have their own color. This can be useful for some soaps. However, because of essential oil colors, some color/scent combinations aren't possible. For example, you can't have a pale yellow soap that smells like cloves, because clove oil is brown.

Direct Addition of Colors
This is the easiest way to control the color of soap. Near the end of the mixing process, we simply add an herb, clay, or any combination of them to achieve the color desired. Usually, the color of the dried herb or clay is a good predictor of the color of the soap, keeping things simple. However, here are a few exceptions... Organic Rosemary Leaf Powder will give soap a golden color. Organic Comfrey Root Powder, when used in high amounts, can give soap a dark purple-gray tone. Organic Rose Hips Powder, although yellow-orange when by itself, turns a soap red when a high concentration is used.

Steep Herbs to Extract Color
Some herbs contain rich colors that can be extracted by steeping them in oil. The ones that work best for this are Organic Annatto Seed, Wildcrafted Alkanet Root, and Maddar Root. This is the most complicated method of coloring soap, but the result is brighter colors. To achieve a certain color or shade of a color, we add a pre-measured amount of an herb to a known quantity of our base oil blend that has been pre-heated. Depending on the color desired, the amount of herb and the steep time will vary. Then, we strain the herb out of the solution and add the colored oil to our mix. If you make your own soap, this will take some experimentation, but if you stick with it, you'll love the results.

Originally Posted in the Botaine Newsletter.  Have a friend that makes his/her own soap? RECOMMEND THIS NEWSLETTER to them. 
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