This is something I practice religiously. I don't believe in doctoring up my soaps and products with synthetics just to bring in customers. In my eyes, that's a distasteful practice. It's dishonest not just to nature, but to the very people who buy my products.

The very word synthetic is almost like a foul language because such substances defeat the mere purpose of a natural product. Many soap makers tend to use synthetics such as fragrances (fake scents) and colorant to doctor up their products not to just attract customers but to save on costs. Unfortunately, providing these synthetics in their products harms their customers instead of helping. I have done extensive research which I have documented on synthetics of all kinds of colorant and fragrances. In my store, only herbs are used for colors and infusions.

Colorants is today's topic. Many products can produce color. Herbs, Oxides, Pigments, Mica, Ultramarines. I will break down each of these to better help you understand what's real and good to what is not.

Herbs, or herbal powder is all I use. Herbal powder does not produce vibrant colors. Instead, the after product in soap is more matte or pastel or muted. I use a variety of herbs from around the United States. Spirulina, which is seaweed, gives me green. Nettle leaf powder also gives me green but it's more olive. Beet Root gives me pink or red depending on how much I use, even brown. Madder Root, a growing vine, gives me light red, Cinnamon makes brown, as does Cocoa (not to be confused with cocoa for hot chocolate), Spinach Powder is light green, Turkey Rhubarb gives me pastel pink, Calendula makes orange, as does orange zest and carrot powder, Annatto seed infused in oil gives me anywhere from buttery yellow to orange, Daffodil flowers bring out pale yellow, as does Black Eyed Susan petals in lye solution brings out yellow die from the petals. and Goldenrod also yellow. Yarrow, muted yellow, Hibiscus flower gives soft pink, Woad or Indigo brings out blue, Activated Charcoal gives black, Lady's Bedstraw is more coral or salmon pink. Alkanet, depending on usage rate gives dark purple to pastel purple, Black Walnut is a very dark brown, Chamomile can give beige to brown, Coffee, brown, Henna (a difficult dye to work with) is green to brown. As one can see, I use an assortment for different colors and tints.

Now most soap companies protect their ingredients, but I allow customers to look at my colorant. Why? The store is about education, and I want people to learn that flowers and plants can be used to color. Rose for instance can be used to color as well and many people have roses in their yards. Making soap is not just an art, it was once a weekly or monthly practice and most people want to learn, even if they never make soap at home, knowledge is a powerful tool. Am I afraid of people taking my ideas? No. Again, I am open about teaching. I don't teach my secrets; I teach basic generalization of making soap.

Pigments and oxides are usually made in a lab to prevent any chance of bacteria or other compounds from contaminating the mix. Although they are synthetic, they are often made with natural ingredients, and are made to mimic things from nature. Only Titanium Oxide in its natural form produces an almost white soap. To get an understanding of Pigments think easter egg coloring. The egg is white, usually, then you add a powdered synthetic to liquid, and it makes a dye. Pigment is a dry powdered synthetic. Remember this word "Pigment", it's going to come up a few times more in this article.

Mica. If you do a search on Mica alone, the results are scary. Mica in its natural form is off-white and sometimes beige. Mica is also used in everything from the paint industry to wallpaper coloring. It's a very complicated to define mineral. Mica is a rock that naturally occurs in the ground almost anywhere. There are several types of mica, but Muscovite mica is mainly used for soap making because of its lack of color. Pigments are used to make mica into a rainbow of colors, thus when you add a synthetic to a natural, it's no longer natural. The synthetic version of mica is called fluophlogopite. This synthetic mica is made in a lab which is made with dyes and pigments and this type is also available to soap makers and candle makers because its cheap to buy. It creates very vibrant, very bold colors and its these colors that attract people to the product. Cheap products raise the prices of the products, but there is nothing healthy or natural about mica in soap. Just because a soap looks bold and beautiful doesn't mean it's healthy.

Ultramarines are not natural in any way. Ultramarines, that very word is all synthetic. It's synthetic pigments (blue, green, pink, red, and violet) of sodium aluminum sulfosilcate. In cosmetics and personal care products, Ultramarines are used in the formulation of a wide variety of product types.

Soap when made to sell in a store, must have the ingredients listed as per FDA regulations. When a company uses Mica, pigments, or marines in the ingredients, it's fake soap. When a company states, "madder root (for coloring)" or "(color)", you know its herbal powder, an herb. Thus, its good for you. Very few companies will use herbs and fake ingredients. Why? They don't go very well together. Either its all-fake ingredients or all healthy ingredients. If soap has a hefty price tag, chances are, cheap materials are used. Now my soaps are moderate priced, my products are both expensive and cheap, but not too cheap. Herbs don't cost much, right? Wrong. I use what I can locally grow and harvest from the herbs in Marathon County, wild harvested, free of poison. But there are some herb powders I buy because I cannot get locally like Spirulina, Turkey Rhubarb, Lady Bedstraw, and a few others. Each year, weather depending, some herbs grow, others don't. What doesn't, I buy from well-known herbal stores in the United States and those stores are regulated and USDA certified. I'm very picky as to what goes into my products because I want to offer the very product I can create for you, the customer. You are important to me, not just to help my business grow, but because I want only the very best for you and your health. To be less dependent on medical crap that only kills you faster and instead be healthier and happier with your everyday lives. Tomorrow I will discuss carrier oils and why I'm not a palm nor palm kernel oil user. Until then, be well my friends.