Saponification Sunday...Help Wanted

I have the blues this week.

I really love blue soap, but I'm in a bit of a rut. Having a hard time finding the all natural colorants I prefer (as I snack on a a Hostess "Scary Cake" which is filled with many scary ingredients), I find myself returning over and over again to my two blue standbys: Indigo and Woad Powder.

Indigo powder comes from the ground up leaves of the Indigo plant  which originates in Southeast Asia. Woad is a plant native to the Mediterranean Area and a relative to the Brassica family of veggies like broccoli and cabbage. The plant is know for its neon yellow flowers. The leaves are harvested in their first year for use as a colorant.

I love them both for the deep, earthy blues that will pop up in your soap, the shades varying with the type of oil you use and the concentration of powder of course. Colors will range from light blue to deep purple-red. Both mix well with oils and I usually mix all my oils together first then pull up about 2 Tablespoon to mix with 1/2 to 1 Teaspoon of colorants . This concentration will easily color four pounds of soap.


To get the two shades, in the bar I made above, I just mixed up my soap (oils plus lye) poured off 2 cups and mixed in 1/2 Tbs of the oil/Indigo mix. Mixed. Then to the remaining soap I added the rest of the oil/indigo mix to get a deeper blue.

I poured a small amount (from on high) into my pot of lighter colored soap and poured half of that into my long  4 pound  mold. Then poured a bit more of the darker blue soap into the lighter blue soap and swirled it around in the pot as I poured it in a swirly motion into my mold which would explain the swirls of soap splashed all over my kitchen cabinets.

I have read about some individuals who actually have a separate office/building/room for their soap making but what would be the fun in THAT?

But still my problem for the blues remains. What other natural colorants are out there to color my soaps blue? Send your suggestions right here on my blog in the comment section or feel free to email me at opies99@gmail.com. Many thanks.

Scent? Well I used Ylang Ylang essentail oil don't Yknow Yknow.