Natural Soap Colorants
There are a wide range of colors that you can achieve when using all natural soap colorants. Spices, Clays, Herbs, etc. are the most natural ways to color your melt and pour soap. One word of warning though – you shouldn’t be expecting bright blues and purples when using these soap colorants You’re more likely to find neutrals, soft warm colors, and lots of greens when using natural soap colorants.
Which Colorants are ‘Natural’?
The lines are blurry here and people have different opinions. There is no true legal definition of “natural”. For the sake of this article we are talking about mostly plant-derived and earth-derived ingredients which will contribute color to your soap. Try to limit the amount of artificial and chemical colors to your soaps so that you can truly advertise a natural homemade soap!
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Natural Soap Colorants for Melt and Pour Soap
Red/Pink
 | Rose Clay Example: Rose Clay Soap Tutorial |
 | Paprika Powder Just use a little bit! |
 | Beet Root Powder |
Yellow/Orange
 | Calendula Flowers |
 | Turmeric Root Powder Example: Natural Lemon Lavender Tutorial |
 | Annatto Seed Powder |
 | Safflower Powder |
 | Saffron |
Green
 | Kelp Powder |
 | Alfalfa Powder |
 | Spirulina Powder |
 | Chlorella Powder |
Brown
 | Cinnamon Powder |
 | Cacao Powder |
 | Coffee |
 | Ground Cloves |
Black/Gray
 | Activated Charcoal Powder |
| Alkanet Root Powder | |
| Gray Mica |
Natural Colorant Benefits
The benefits of using natural colorants are plentiful. By using all natural ingredients you know that your soap doesn’t contain weird chemicals and toxins. You can assure others who use or buy your soap that it is natural and most people will really appreciate that. Natural colorants also vary greatly in color so you will always have a unique and rustic look. Another benefit is that it doesn’t take a whole lot to get some color and for a natural look, you can just use a little bit.
Natural Colorant Challenges
The hardest thing about natural colorants is getting the color right. During the process the colors are highly likely to change. For instance the first time I made lavender soap, I was disappointed that the beautiful purple buds turned green-brown when mixed into the melted soap base. There will be some trial and error during your process. Another challenge is price: natural colorants can be expensive, especially if organic.
More Resources for coloring your soap Naturally!
This is a cool image I found on Pinterest. I believe that this may have been done with cold process technique so colors in melt and pour may turn out differently. I cannot find the original source though so if you find it please let me know in the comments so I can give proper credit for this great experiment!
Lovin Soap also has a very in-depth article about creating custom colors using ultramarine and oxides. Such beautiful colors here! Creating Custom Colors using Oxides and Ultramarines
spices photo credit: tinou bao via photopin cc
What are your favorite natural colorants for soap? Post in the comments below!
Do you have a link and or information as to how these natural colors work with bath bombs?
That is a great topic to explore for a future article. I’ve only made bath bombs a couple times so I haven’t tried all these colorants in bombs. Great suggestion.
Yikes, I used beet powder to colorize my melt and pour soap snd it was a beautiful lavender. In 24 hours it was. Light brown… is this typical?
Unfortunately many natural colorants fade to neutrals. I know in cold process lots of natural greens fade to light olive tones.
Hi Becca, your articles/blogs are very well l written, well researched and most of all very informative and educational.
May I please have your email address that I can contact you from. I would like to discuss something with you and hopefully you will be able to guide me the right way and in to the right direction.
Thank you in advance
Mbali
You can use the contact form, but I don’t give this blog as much attention as I used to as I am very busy (aren’t we all!? 😛 )
I don’t know how it would work in melt & pour, but I can get a beautiful lavender in cold process or hot process from alkanet powder infused oil. Madder powder also gives a beautiful pink either added directly to the soap or infused into oil added to the soap. Turmeric ( use very little ) also will give you a beautiful vibrant yellow, be aware that it will fade in cold process soap. Indigo will make a beautiful blue, just use a powder made for soap use not dye. Yellow dock root powder infused in oil will give you a peachy pink. I haven’t had great success with natural greens, but I haven’t tried spirulina yet. I have linked my own soap color experiments for reference. http://www.blog.cabinofbows.com/2013/08/natural-soap-colors-reveal-1.html
http://www.blog.cabinofbows.com/2014/06/island-breezes-soap.html
Thanks for these links Lois! I have also used infused alkanet root powder in CP soapmaking. It does make a lovely purple due to the reaction with the lye. I don’t think it would turn purple with melt and pour.
I want to ask..how to prevent two color from mixing?
If layering, allow one layer to cool a bit before adding the next layer and pour gently. If you are pouring both colors simultaneously then you could pour from opposite ends of the mold, slowly and evenly. The more you let the soap cool down and thicken up, the less mixing you will have as well. Hope that helps – good luck!
Hello, just looking for a guide for hot process soaps all natural colorants. Thank you
This blog is focused on melt and pour. Hope you find what you’re looking for!
From what I’ve read, all micas and ultramarines are found nature, but any sold for use in cosmetics (i.e. Soap) is manufactured and dyed artificially. So my question is would you consider cosmetic grade micas to be natural?
Hi Amy. Everyone must come to accept their own definition of “natural.” From what I understand, in mica colorants there are usually a few ingredients: Mica plus other ingredients that give them color like FD&C Dyes or oxides etc. I believe the mica is naturally derived and mined. However FD&C Dyes are not natural to me, they’re created in a lab. Oxides are a gray area because for cosmetic use they are usually created in the lab to be nature-identical. So for instance iron oxide could technically be mined but it would not be pure and could contain other natural materials. I suppose it could be purified or filtered but I assume that would make it pretty cost prohibitive. So personally, I’m somewhat on the fence about nature-identical colorants. I feel they are safer than dyes and preferable to mica + FD&C color, but not as natural as herbs.
Can you tell us more about this? I’d love to find
out more details.
Anything specific you’d like to know? 🙂 For the most part I have had great results with finely ground coffee or ground oatmeal added right to melted soap. I’ve also had great results with activated charcoal and rose kaolin clay by dispersing and mixing well with rubbing alcohol before putting it in the melted soap. Hope that helps! I will be posting a layered rose clay tutorial sometime in the next month. Stay tuned