Ingredients to Naturally Color Soap
Herbs, Minerals, Micas, Flowers, & other ways to naturally color handmade soap. Includes natural soap colors listed by color, ingredient, how to use them.
Natural soap making is an exciting craft that anyone can do from the comfort of their own kitchen. Using oils, essential oils, and the extracts of plants, flowers, minerals, and spices, you can be on your way to creating beautifully scented and colored soap for yourself and loved ones.
Listed below are various ingredients that you can use to naturally color your soap. Categories are based on final color and the INCI and brief notes are listed beside each listing. Some I have used and have a lot of experience with and some are ideas I’ve found mentioned elsewhere. Unless otherwise stated, the maximum amount you should use in your soaps is 5%.
Natural Soap Making for Beginners Series
For those new to making soap, please have a look through my four-part soapmaking series listed below to learn how you can get started.
1. Ingredients
2. Equipment & Safety
3. Basic Recipes and Formulating Your Own
4. The Soap Making Process: Make, Mould, and Cure
Soap making instructions and what they mean
- Add to liquid oils – mix with liquid oils before pouring them into your melted hard oils.
- Add at trace – add the natural coloring ingredient after the oils and lye-water in your recipe are mixed together.
- Infuse with oils – add the material to oils that are liquid at room temperature and either allow them to infuse for two to four weeks in that way or heat gently in until the natural soap color has been released into the oils. If you’re choosing the longer and room temperature method, make sure to shake your container everyday.
- Puree– add at a light trace
- Water infusion – infuse the material into water and use the infusion to mix into your dried lye. This is essentially a tea.
Honey gives this soap a natural golden color
Naturally Color Handmade Soap
This post lists many of the extracts you can use to create vibrant colors in your soap without the need for artificial additives. Many might be in your kitchen cupboard or growing in your garden already. Others are more obscure and should be sourced from a cosmetic supplier or herbalist.
Natural Blue Soap Color
Pretty shades of sky blue to dark grey-blue can achieved with natural soap colors. My favourite of the list is Ultramarine blue but the most interesting is Woad. I’ve grown and extracted the powder in the past and you can see more about that process here.
| Ingredient and INCI | Usage and notes |
|---|---|
| Blue Chamomile oil Azulene | Color: Blue - Add a drop or two at trace. Blue Chamomile is extractred from German Chamomile flowers. |
| Cambrian Blue Clay Lilite | Color: Shades of soft greens to blues depending on the color of your soaping oils. Mix in water before adding to your soap making oils or lye water. Use 1-2 tsp per pound of oils. Soap recipe using Cambrian Blue Clay |
| Indigo Indigofera tinctoria | Color: Denim blue to dark green - Add to liquid oils. Used traditionally to dye fabrics, Indigo is what gives blue jeans their distinctive color. Be careful when sourcing Indigo since many of the dyes today are synthetic versions and not suitable for soap. |
| Ultramarine Blue ci 77007 | Color: pastel to vivid blue. Add to liquid oils or at trace. A vivid blue mineral powder that can give a wide range of blue shades. Use 1/16 to 1 tsp PPO and I recommend premixing it in a little oil and then straining it through a sieve whilst pouring into your soap batter. Tiny clumps of un-mixed pigment can leave speckles in your soap if not strained out. This color is considered 'nature identical' but has been created in a controlled lab environment. This is because the truly natural mineral also contains traces of toxic heavy metals that cannot be used in skincare. |
| Woad Isatis tinctoria | Color: Green-blue to grey-blue - Add powder to a small amount of liquid oil and add at trace. Woad is a blue dye plant used traditionally in textiles. Learn how to extract woad powder from fresh leaves. Use 1-2 tsp PPO |
Oil infused with annatto seeds produces this vibrant shade of orange
Natural Orange Soap Color
Bright vivid orange is very easy to get using natural soap colors. You can add specks of orange using pieces of calendula flower petals or go all out for an almost luminous all-over orange. The best orange in my experience is created by annatto seeds. Used in Indian cooking, you infuse the dark seeds into a light oil before soaping.
| Ingredient | Usage and notes |
|---|---|
| Annatto Seeds Bixa orellana | Color: Buttery Yellow to Pumpkin Orange - Annatto Seed Soap recipe |
| Buriti oil Mauritia flexuosa fruit oil | Color: Light yellow to deep orange - Add after trace |
| Calendula Petals Calendula officinalis | Color: Ranges from yellow-orange to pink-orange - Infuse in liquid oils, add ground to soap, or infuse in lye solution - Calendula Soap Recipe |
| Carrot Daucus carota | Color: Yellow-orange - Stir juice into liquid oils before mixing. |
| Orange Zest (peel) Citrus aurantium dulcis | Color: Orange - Use finely grated zest/peel at about 1 tsp per pound soaping oils. |
| Paprika Capsicum annuum | Color: Peach to light orange to orange-brown - Infuse in liquid oils and discard actual spice or your soap will be scratchy. |
| Pumpkin Cucurbita pepo | Color: Deep orange. Stir in as a puree in at light trace. |
| Tomato Solanum lycopersicum | Color: Orange - Stir in as a tomato paste at light trace |
| Turmeric Curcuma Longa | Color: a common kitchen spice that tints soap light pink-yellow to burnt orange. Can also cause an attractive speckle to your finished soaps but this can be controlled. This tutorial shows you how to use turmeric to color handmade soap. |
Soap coloured with an infusion of Cochineal
Natural Pink Soap Color
Pink is quite an easy color to achieve with natural ingredients. Many of the ingredients used for purple and red will also produce pink in smaller amounts. Of the colorants listed below, you can get one of the loveliest botanical pinks from Madder root. You can either infuse the larger pieces into a light oil before soaping or add powdered madder to your soap at trace. Gelling (insulating) your soap after it’s moulded will intensify the pink.
| Ingredient | Usage and notes |
|---|---|
| Hibiscus flower Hibiscus sabdariffa | Dried flower powder can be added to melt-and-pour soap for a soft pink |
| Lady’s Bedstraw, Galium verum | Color: Coral pink - Infuse the dried roots in liquid oils. |
| Cochineal Cochineal/Carmine | Color: To get a dusky pink you can use an infusion of raw cochineal in your cold-process soap recipes. Please note that this is not a vegetarian or vegan ingredient. |
| Madder root powder Rubia tinctorum | Color: Range of pinks to red/magenta - Infuse in liquid oils or add powder direct |
| Red Palm oil Elaeis guineensis kernel oil | Color: Pink to Pinky-orange - Add to liquid oils. |
| Rose Pink Clay Kaolinite (Rose Clay) | Color: Pink to Brick Red. Use 1-2 tsp PPO. Pre-mix in a Tablespoon of water before adding to your main soaping oils. |
| Sorrel Rumex acetosa | Color: Warm to salmon pink - Infuse the dried roots in liquid oil. |
| Ultramarine Pink ci 77007 | Color: pastel pink - Add to soap batter at trace. Use 1/8 to 1 tsp PPO and I recommend premixing it in a little oil and then straining it through a sieve whilst pouring into your soap batter. Tiny clumps of un-mixed pigment can leave speckles in your soap if not strained out. This color is considered 'nature identical' but has been created in a controlled lab environment. This is because the truly natural mineral also contains traces of toxic heavy metals that cannot be used in skincare. |
Soap naturally colored with Alkanet root
Natural Purple Soap Color
You can get some lovely shades of pastel to bright and vibrant purple using natural ingredients. I highly recommend Alkanet from this list though. You infuse the dried, shredded roots into a light oil such as olive oil. After a few weeks, use that oil as a main soaping oil to get a soft, natural purple soap.
| Ingredient | Usage and notes |
|---|---|
| Alkanet root Alkanna tinctoria and also called Ratan Jot in Indian cuisine | Color: Pink to deep Purple - Infuse in liquid oils. Recipe for Alkanet soap. Cold-infuse 30g dried root or powder into every 454g (1lb) oils for one month. Strain and use the oil as part or the entire soap recipe. You need at least 20% of your soap recipe to include the infused oil to achieve a good purple colour. Anything less and it will come out pink to grey. Use light colored oils as well -- extra virgin olive oil in the recipe will contribute its green colour to the final product. Use light coloured olive oil or pomace olive oil, and other light oils such as coconut, sunflower, and shea butter. |
| Gromwell root Lithospermum erythrorhizon | Color: Natural purple. Similar in shade and usage to Alkanet root. Cold-infuse 30g dried root or powder into every 454g (1lb) oils for one month. Strain and use the oil as part or the entire soap recipe. You need at least 20% of your soap recipe to include the infused oil to achieve a good purple colour. Anything less and it will come out pink to grey. Use light colored oils as well -- extra virgin olive oil in the recipe will contribute its green colour to the final product. Use light coloured olive oil or pomace olive oil, and other light oils such as coconut, sunflower, and shea butter. |
| Red Sandalwood Pterocarpus santalinus | Purple when soap is higher PH - Add powder direct to liquid oils. |
| Ultramarine Violet ci 77007 | Color: Light to vivid violet. Add to soap batter at trace. Use 1/4 to 2 tsp PPO and I recommend premixing it in a little oil and then straining it through a sieve whilst pouring into your soap batter. Tiny clumps of un-mixed pigment can leave speckles in your soap if not strained out. This color is considered 'nature identical' but has been created in a controlled lab environment. This is because the truly natural mineral also contains traces of toxic heavy metals that cannot be used in skincare. |
Soap tinted a pastel purple using Ultramarine purple
Natural Red Soap Color
It’s difficult to get a true, bright red when using natural soap colors. The ingredients below will give you more natural shades of red-pink to brick red. My favourite in the list is probably Red Iron Oxide. It’s easy to use and reliably gives a pale terracotta to deep brick red.
| Ingredient | Usage and notes |
|---|---|
| Cochineal Cochineal/Carmine | Color: Orange to pink and red - Add powdered to liquid oils or at trace. You can also use an infusion of raw cochineal in your cold-process soap recipes. Using this recipe you can get a lovely dusky pink this way. Please note that this is not a vegetarian or vegan ingredient. |
| Moroccan Red Clay Kaolin | Color: Warm-brown to brick-red. Use 1/2 to 2 tsp PPO. Pre-mix in a Tablespoon of water before adding to your main soaping oils. |
| Red Iron Oxide ci 77491 | Color: Pale terracotta-pink to deep pink-red. Add to soap batter at trace. Use 1/32 to 1 tsp PPO and I recommend premixing it in a little oil and then straining it through a sieve whilst pouring into your soap batter. Tiny clumps of un-mixed pigment can leave speckles in your soap if not strained out. This color is considered 'nature identical' but has been created in a controlled lab environment. This is because the truly natural mineral also contains traces of toxic heavy metals that cannot be used in skincare. |
| Red Sandalwood Pterocarpus santalinus | Color: Red when soap is lower PH - Add powder direct to liquid oils. |
| Rose Pink Clay Kaolinite (Rose Clay) | Color: Pink to Brick Red. Add to soap batter at trace. Use 1/4 to 1 tsp PPO and I recommend premixing it in a little oil and then straining it through a sieve whilst pouring into your soap batter. Tiny clumps of un-mixed pigment can leave speckles in your soap if not strained out. |
| St Johns Wort Flowers Hypericum perforatum | Color: Red - Infuse fresh flowers in liquid oil. |
Natural White Soap Color
If left un-colored, most handmade soap takes on a creamy shade. That’s because it’s picking up on the original soaping oils’ color. If you’d like a bright white soap, use white or clear soaping oils like coconut oil and less yellow oils. If all else fails, you can add a whitening powder to your soap at trace and Titanium oxide is probably the best of the ones listed below.
| Ingredient | Usage and notes |
|---|---|
| Bentonite Clay Bentonite | Color: White to green-white. Use 1-2 tsp PPO. Pre-mix in a Tablespoon of water before adding to your main soaping oils. |
| White Kaolin Clay Kaolin | Color: Off white. Use 1-2 tsp PPO. Pre-mix in a Tablespoon of water before adding to your main soaping oils. |
| Titanium dioxide | Color: Bright white. Add to soap batter at trace. Use 1 tsp PPO and I recommend premixing it in a little oil and then straining it through a sieve whilst pouring into your soap batter. Tiny clumps of un-mixed pigment can leave speckles in your soap if not strained out. This color is considered 'nature identical' but has been created in a controlled lab environment. This is because the truly natural mineral also contains traces of toxic heavy metals that cannot be used in skincare. |
Soap colored with daffodil flower petals
Natural Yellow Soap Color
Though one of the easiest natural colors to use to get a soft to vibrant yellow is Yellow Iron Oxide. If you’d like to try something more unusual though, I’d recommend some of the flowers — in particular Daffodils. Although the bulbs and other parts of the plant are toxic when ingested, you can still use the yellow petals to safely color soap a buttery yellow.
| Ingredient | Usage and notes |
|---|---|
| Annatto Seeds Bixa orellana | Color: Buttery Yellow to Pumpkin Orange - Annatto Seed Soap recipe |
| Carrots, puree Daucus carota | Color: Yellow to orange |
| Curry Powder | Color: Deep yellow. Add powder mixed in a little oil at trace. 1/4-1 tsp per pound soaping oils |
| Daffodil flowers Narcissus tazetta | Color: soft pastel yellow - use as a water infusion and/or puree. Daffodil soap recipe |
| Goldenrod Solidago virgaurea | Color: Pale to buttery yellow - Use an infusion of the fresh flowers in lye solution. Here's a good recipe for Goldenrod soap |
| Lemon zest Citrus limonum | Color: Yellow - add finely grated lemon peel, either fresh or dry, after trace |
| Red Palm oil Elaeis guineensis kernel oil | Color: Creamy yellow - Use at 1% in liquid oils. |
| Rudbeckia Petals Rudbeckia Hirta | Color: Yellow - Infuse petals in lye solution. Also called Black Eyed Susan |
| Safflower Carthamus tinctorius | Color: Yellow to Orange-yellow - Add powder at light trace. |
| Saffron Crocus sativus | Color: Yellow. Infuse with oils before soap making or directly into the lye-water. |
| Turmeric Curcuma longa | Color: a common kitchen spice that tints soap light pink-yellow to burnt orange to a dark warm brown. Can also cause an attractive speckle to your finished soaps but this can be controlled. This tutorial shows you how to use turmeric to color handmade soap. |
| Yarrow Achillea millefolium | Color: Muted yellow - Use dried yarrow leaves and flowers to infuse your oils or add powder direct to soap at trace. |
| Yellow Iron Oxide ci 77492 | Color: Vivid yellow - Add to soap batter at trace. Use 1/16 to 1 tsp PPO and I recommend premixing it in a little oil and then straining it through a sieve whilst pouring into your soap batter. Tiny clumps of un-mixed pigment can leave speckles in your soap if not strained out. This color is considered 'nature identical' but has been created in a controlled lab environment. This is because the truly natural mineral also contains traces of toxic heavy metals that cannot be used in skincare. |
Adding honey to your lye-water will give a rich golden brown
Natural Brown Soap Color
There are many ingredients that you can use to get soft beiges to chocolate browns in soap. One I use regularly in my own soap is honey. Add a teaspoon of honey to your lye-water and the heat will immediately caramelize it. Not only does it tint soap a rich fudge brown but it smells delicious too.
| Ingredient | Usage and notes |
|---|---|
| Beet root Beta vulgaris | Color: Warm to dull brown - Add as powder or infuse dried material in liquid oils |
| Black Walnut Hull powder Juglans nigra | Color: Deep brown - Add at trace |
| Chamomile (Roman) Anthemis noblis | Color: Yellow-beige/brown - Infuse in water/lye solution |
| Cinnamon powder Cinnamomum zeylanicum | Color: can add speckles of brown color but can also be scratchy in feeling. Add only to exfoliating soaps and it's not recommended to use more than 1/4 tsp per pound of soaping oils |
| Cloves (ground) Eugenia caryophyllus | Color: Brown - Add to liquid oils or at trace |
| Coffee, liquid Coffea arabica seed extract | Color: Medium brown - Add as part of the lye solution |
| Comfrey root Symphytum officinale | Color: Light brown |
| Cranberry puree Vaccinium macrocarpon | Color: Red-brown with specks |
| Green Tea Camellia sinensis | Color: Brown-green and if leaves left in then soap will be speckled - Infuse in water/lye solution |
| Red Moroccan Clay Red Kaolin Clay | Colour: use 1/2 tsp to 1.5tsp per pound of soaping oils to get a chocolately brown colour. Add the clay to the lye water and make your soap as normal. You can see the colour in this recipe for Natural Cinnamon Soap |
Natural Green Soap Color
You’re spoiled for choice when it comes to natural green soap colors! They can give you anywhere from pale pastel to vivid grass green and come in a range of plants, clays, and minerals. My top pick would have to be French Green Clay which gives a soft and natural green.
| Ingredient | Usage and notes |
|---|---|
| Alfalfa Medicago Sativa | Color: Medium green |
| Avocado puree Persea Gratissma | Color: Shades of yellow-green. Add at trace. |
| Burdock leaf Arctium lappa | Color: Natural green - Infuse in liquid oils |
| Green Chromium Oxide ci 77288 | Color: pastel to garden green - Add to soap batter at trace. Use 1/16 to 1 tsp PPO and I recommend premixing it in a little oil and then straining it through a sieve whilst pouring into your soap batter. Tiny clumps of un-mixed pigment can leave speckles in your soap if not strained out. This color is considered 'nature identical' but has been created in a controlled lab environment. This is because the truly natural mineral also contains traces of toxic heavy metals that cannot be used in skincare. |
| Hydrated Green Chromium oxide ci 77289) | Color: Minty green - Add to soap batter at trace. Use 1/32 to 1 tsp PPO and I recommend premixing it in a little oil and then straining it through a sieve whilst pouring into your soap batter. Tiny clumps of un-mixed pigment can leave speckles in your soap if not strained out. This color is considered 'nature identical' but has been created in a controlled lab environment. This is because the truly natural mineral also contains traces of toxic heavy metals that cannot be used in skincare. |
| Comfrey leaf, (powder) Symphytum officinale leaf | Color: Natural green - Add at light trace or infuse into oils. More on using comfrey leaf in soap |
| Cucumber Cucumis sativus | Color: Bright Green - Add as a puree at light trace. |
| Dandelion leaf (powder) Taraxacum officinale weber | Color: Natural green - Stir in as a powder at light trace |
| French Green Clay Montmorillonite | Color: Soft, natural, green. Use 1-2 tsp PPO. Pre-mix in a Tablespoon of water before adding to your main soaping oils. |
| Grass (Barley) Clippings Hordeum vulgare | Color: Green - Infuse fresh clippings in water and use in lye solution. |
| Kelp, powder Fucus versiculosus | Color: Dark green - Add to liquid oils or at trace. Pre-mix in a little oil before adding. |
| Nettle leaf (powder) Urtica dioica | Close to Lime-green - Add direct to liquid oils or infuse oils with the leaf and discard. |
| Parsley Carum petroselinum | Color: Green - Add to liquid oils or at light trace. Use fresh, powdered, or in dried flakes. |
| Sage - Salvia officinalis | Color: Green |
| Spinach | Color: Light green. Use as a puree or powder and stir in at light trace. |
| Spirulina Spirulina maxima | Color: Light green - Stir in as a powder at light trace or infuse into oils. More on using spirulina in soap |
| Wheatgrass juice Triticum aestivum | Color: Deep vivid green |
You might like this article: Essential Oils in Soap Making + how much to use in a batch
Natural Black Soap Color
Black soap looks incredible and in some cases can add skin benefits. Activated charcoal is said to have cleansing and purifying properties and can tint soap a light grey to dark black. You’ll need to use quite a lot of it to acheive darker shades though.
| Ingredient | Usage and notes |
|---|---|
| Activated Charcoal (powder) | Color: Deep black - add to liquid oils or to soap at light trace. You have to use quite a lot of it to get darker shades of gray and black. Mix with a small amount of liquid oil first and add at trace. |
| Black Iron Oxide ci 77499 | Color: Grey to black. Black mineral powder that blends without any texture. Mix with a small amount of liquid oil first and add at trace. |
| Coffee Grounds Coffea Arabica seed | Color: Black specks. Add fresh or used coffee grounds to your soap at trace. A teaspoon per pound of oils is plenty. |
| Dead Sea Mud (powder) Maris limus | Color: Grey - Mix with a small amount of liquid oil first and add at trace |
| Poppy Seeds Papaver somniferum | Color: Blue-grey to black specks. Add about a teaspoon per pound of soaping oils and stir the seeds in at trace. A lovely speckled effect. |
Hi, im so blessed to have found your website. I am creating a natural at home skincare line that i would like to sell to my community. I have the products i would like to make and oils along with it. I wanted to know do you mentor?.
I didn’t see measurements for Rhassoul clay. I want to assume it’s the same answer as French green clay. I’m trying to achieve a brown color with it.
FYI, Hibuscis flowers do NOT keep a pink or red color. They turn a dark bluish purple. I hate seeing incorrect information because it makes me doubt everything.
Hi Teresa, natural soap colorants can give differing colours depending on the technique, temperature, and amount used. Saying that, this is one colour that I’ve not yet tried personally. There are accounts online of people using hibuscis and getting everything from a red colour to brown. Dark bluish purple is a new one to me! What technique do you use?
I hand mill soap and get a lovely brick color with hibiscus…dark red
Thanks for letting us know Alison 🙂
WOW, SO EXCITED TO HAVE FOUND YOUR WEBSITE!!! THANK YOU!!
I want to make soap using red wine. Which natural red soap color would you recommend for a burgundy/maroon color?
Red Iron Oxide mixed with Ultramarine Violet or Blue could give you the shade you’re after
Thanks for the quick response. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
I’m curious if I could use zucchini juice in place of water in soap? Or will it do something gross to it?
You could but I can’t really imagine a reason why you would. What’s your idea?
I have found that lightly scented waters don’t really hold up once the lye is made. Things like aloe juice and rose water are overcome by the chemical reaction taking place. You would probably get better results from putting peel shreds into your soap at heavy trace.
Beer and wine, on the other hand, hold up really well and produce some really interesting soaps. I just made a batch of Tangerine IPA with orange zest and it might be my favorite yet.
hey. whatsup!? have you ever try to make red soap with St Johns Wort infused oil?
I’ve not yet tried but have seen it referenced as a natural soap colourant.
very nice suggestions for natural soap coloring
Great information. Thank you. How can I print this page?
I do love the daffodil colour and was all set to pick some this spring. BUT then somebody mentioned that daffodils are poisonous….So, would it be a good idea to put it in soap??
Hi Heike! Many things that are toxic when eaten are safely used in skin and hair care. Imagine what would happen if you ate some shampoo. On the other hand, Daffodil extract is used in many high end skincare formulations and is known by the name narcissus tazetta in the ingredients. It’s used as an antioxidant and is touted as being a youth-reviver. I won’t make such claims though.
The poison in Daffodils mainly comes from lycorine, an alkaloid that’s most concentrated in the bulb but is also present in the leaves and flowers. When ingested it can cause severe sickness and vomiting. The bulbs also contain oxalates, microscopic needle-like structures similar to the ones that you find on Nettles. When ingested they can cause a lot of discomfort and on the skin they feel like a nettle burn.
Can I use these colorants in melt & pour soaps
Hi Tanya: Thank you for posting these great Soap Making instructions.
Love the beautiful, fresh colors of all your soaps. I love making soap with herbal based colorants and essential oils.
Thank you so much Anne-Marie 🙂 I really like subtle and feminine colours and think natural ingredients can be so effective in creating them.
Informative as ever ! I made a batch recently using alkanet and its more of a vanilla fudge colour i guess i should have used more?
Yes, you could use more but Alkanet changes colour over time so wait first and see what colour it is after about a month.
Just wondering which of these can be used for hot process soap? I have having an extremely hard time finding hot process soap colorant information. Thank you.
I’ve made hot-process Ashely but it’s not my area of expertise. However, I don’t see why you couldn’t use any of these for HP as well as CP. The colour will probably deepen with HP but your best bet is to try and see.