what are your favorite spices for colors

[Jo Ann]

i was wondering what ppls favorite spices for coloring are and about what color they produce. even tho i am very visual, i want my soaps to maintain an "organic" color as opposed to say, cobalt blue

i would appreciate your input and pix if you have them

thanx

[soycrazy]

I use only natural colors I use spirulina though it does fade, sandalwood red, cocoa powder, cinnamon, hibiscus, peppermint, rose clay. I know I use more I just can't think of them right now lol. I am starting to love oxides though they are really nice in soap. I did have a hard time w/paprika it made my soap a little smelly lol.

here's a link that might help http://www.soapnaturally.org/naturalcolors.html I would do a search I'm sure you will find more.

[GrandmaArial]

I use herbs in my soaps because I like what they add to the soap quality, color isn’t as important to me. I have noticed most eventually turn brown or black. Be careful with “hot” spices, they can be an irritant to sensitive skin. I have infused oil with cinnamon and used the dregs to color soap. It works well, leaving the hot oils in the infused oil (which I add just a touch of to the soap or use for cooking). Carrots make a nice yellow soap, tomatoes I am trying now, seem to make a nice orange. Do searches for “natural colors soap” with google or any other search engine. I’m sure you’ll get a lot of good pages to read and learn from. Do remember, though, what ever you add to your soap will affect the quality of the soap. Some will make it better, some will make it not as good. I will also recommend that if you use spices to color your soap you use it a couple weeks in the tub before you hand it out to anyone else. If it’s going to cause a rash this way it’s you and not your mother in law. Testing on your hands isn’t enough. Our hands are exposed to too many substances through the day, and the skin of our hands is usually tougher than our more protected areas of our bodies.

[Jo Ann]

thanx for the link, checking it out now

[murphycat]

here's a link that might help http://www.soapnaturally.org/naturalcolors.html .

A couple of things they list there are not quite right...comfrey root actually produces a burgandy red if allowed to go through gel. I use 1 gently rounded teaspoon to 5 lbs of oil in the soap batch and it works every time. No gel stage..then you'll get beige. Nettle will mellow to a lovely sage green from a more grass green at start. Henna makes a dark brown for me every time. Gel stage makes a huge difference in the final color.

[SoapInTheCity]

I find paprika stays grainy when added to soap but it does make an orangey color. Good if you want to swirl with it though. I also love to use Tumeric as it is a great dark yellowy color. I add it to my sandalwood patchouli soap to make it look earthy. I also use cocoa powder occasionally for brown.

[benthere-donethat]

I have great luck with alkanet root for an earthy purple. It changes pink to purple depending on ph, but I've always had purple. It's grainy and drying if you don't strain it, though.

[heirloomoriginals]

Wholesale Supplies Plus has tons of herb powders for sale. Some of them are expensive, but you probably don't need that much!

Steph

[jackbenimble]

I find paprika stays grainy when added to soap but it does make an orangey color. Good if you want to swirl with it though. I also love to use Tumeric as it is a great dark yellowy color. I add it to my sandalwood patchouli soap to make it look earthy. I also use cocoa powder occasionally for brown.

Hi! Unearthing another lost thread from years ago.

My question to this quote is I heard that paprika and turmeric can make your soap smell bad. Is that true? Does anyone have any first hand knowledge?

[LuminousBoutique]

http://blog.thesage.com/2010/09/02/turmeric-in-cold-process-soap/ this might help! and this! http://www.craftserver.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-29693.html Personally I havent used turmeric... or paprika. I'd assume paprika would have a stronger scent... turmeric looks like it doesnt at lower usage rates! I've used small amounts of cinnamon, cocoa powder (dissolved in a little bit of water first), ground orange lime and lemon peels, blueberry juice (which turned red and green before going back to blue, PH!), ground dried rose leaves (I had deep red ones, they gave a beautiful color), ground tea leaves, uhm what else... i know there are more. This is all in CP though, with MP you could use most of those but some might not want to suspend, and might make a layer on the bottom or top as it cooled, kinda "settle" which acctually might be kinda pretty depending on the soap!

[jerszgrl]

I recently made a batch of soap using both Turmeric (beige) and Cayenne Pepper (dark brown). It has a faint smell, but I used no FO as I wanted to see what the spices did on their own. I am trying them out to see if they help with psoriasis. I used the Cayenne as the swirling part. It came out very nice. But I would definitely like to use a FO next time.

[TexasBrat]

I have great luck with alkanet root for an earthy purple. It changes pink to purple depending on ph, but I've always had purple. It's grainy and drying if you don't strain it, though.

You can use some citric acid to bring down the ph and change the color.

I use fruit juice to color my soap sometimes. Juicy juice had an awesome orange one but they dont have it anymore.