Wow! Finally maybe I would be able to make my Sea Salt soap blue!
The Indigo colouring doesn’t look natural. It is a vibrant royal blue powder. I will research how “natural” this is. I have also heard that indigo may stain later and the suds turn blue... will try it out when the soaps are ready. In the meantime, I have really enjoyed doing 3 Sea Salt soap experiments.
Sea Salt 1
As I wasn’t sure when to add the indigo, I added it with the sea salt at the end, probably too late as it produced some little blue speckles. But I also got a very nice faint blue. There is a greenish tinge that has not come through in the photo well, which I think may be due to the EO blend being slightly yellow or maybe because of the Olive Oil I am using.
Sea Salt 2
This time, there is no Olive Oil, only clear liquid oils. I added the indigo to the heated oils and stirred well before mixing with the lye solution. When I was bringing it to trace, the mixture was a beautiful sky blue and I was sooooooo disappointed when I added the Eos and it went ugly greeny grey (a colour I know all too well...!). Again the Eos were even more yellow this time. But the soap turned out a nice greeny blue colour. I don't think the green comes out in this photo either.
Sea Salt 3
I did everything the same as for Sea Salt 2 except the EO blend was clearer. Just slightly off clear. Here is the result. I really like this blue. And the scent is really intriguing. Not sure if it reminds me of the sea... but I love it all the same. Can't WAIT to shower with this soap!!
Happy soaping!!
xo
Jen
8 comments:
Great post Jen. Indigo is natural. It is made from plants belonging to the Indigofera genus and Indigofera tinctoria is the one mostly used. I have been dabbling in natural dyes (for yarn and cloth) and have read several descriptions of how to produce the indigo dye. I would classify it as a natural colour and not be worried about anything other that blue suds :) I need to try it again in soap, what quantity did you use?
Because this is natural Indigo, you will always have a slight gray shimmer going on in the end result. It is important that you oils/fats/eos are light in tinge and not yellowy. Blue and yellow will always result in green/gray. Mix the Indigo with a little bit of oil, then add at the end to your soap pudding. Use 1tsp per kilo soap (I've gone up to 1 1/2, but that's too intense for my liking). The gelphase w/Indigo colored soap is important, as it will intensify the color. You will get beautiful results of blue by adding a bit of TD - no worries there either, Jen, TD is also natural ;)
Jen, your experiments never cease to fascinate and intrigue me! What marvelous blues you've produced. :) Sometimes the camera doesn't capture all the nuances in the soap, but these photos are lovely. What a nice job!
The blue colors are great, it is amazing how many factors there are to getting the color right, isn't it! The 3rd one turned out a very pretty blue on my computer.
I love your experiments in the packaging department. It is not one of my favorite parts because I have the half round shape. I would love to just box it up and be done with it! :-)
Michelle in NV
Sometimes the third time really is the charm! Good job with the process of elimination to figure out how to get just the right blue. :)
Glad you are enjoying my experiments!
Ambra - I used approximately 1/16 teaspoon for 166grams of oils in the salt soap, with 166 grams of salt. I would say about 1/16 teaspoon for 200 of oils in a normal soap. xo Jen
The third one really is beautiful! Great job! I don't know you find the time to experiment so much, but it sure is fascinating! :)
Hi Jennifer,
First of all, I like your desire to experiment. Very cool! I vote for the Sea Salt 3 in that it is so stunning in the way it shows off the qualities of sea perfectly. The color blue glistens off this version of the soap better, too. It makes you want to soak in the sea. Great job!
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