Our Commonly Used Butters and Oils
- Cocoa Butter - Lays down a protective layer which holds the moisture to the skin, so it is an excellent skin softener.
Also used to make soaps harder.
- Coconut Oil - Naturally antibacterial due to its high amount of medium chain fatty acids (MCFA). A saturated fat which makes soaps lather beautifully but can be drying if too much is used. It will make a very hard, white bar of soap with abundant lather. It even lathers in very hard water (or even sea water).
- Grapeseed Oil - A lightweight oil that absorbs into the skin quickly without leaving a heavy greasy feeling.
- Jojoba Oil - An excellent emollient for skin conditions like psoriasis, because it has a chemical composition very close to the skin's own sebum. It is suitable for all skin types, beneficial for spotty and acne conditions, and good for sensitive and oily skin. It also helps to unclog the pores and remove any embedded grime, restores and conditions hair.It helps to promote a stable lather and is great at conditioning skin.
- Olive Oil - prevents the loss of your skin's natural moisture, softens skin and attracts external moisture to your skin. It helps keeps your skin soft, supple and younger looking.
- Shea Butter - a wonderful superfatting agent and contains a large percentage of ingredients that do not react with the lye thus remaining in the soap to nourish your skin.
- Sweet Almond Oil - A great moisturizer, makes a stable lather and helps condition the skin.
- Wheat Germ Oil - This oil is thick, sticky and antioxidant. It's also very rich in vitamin E. Can be used to nourish dry or cracked skin and soothes skin problems such as eczema and psoriasis. Helps to prevent and reduce scarring and may prevent stretch marks. Mature skin, in particular, will benefit from wheat germ oil.
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Natural Colorants
- Alfalfa – medium green
- Alkanet – deep purple to muted blue
- Annatto Seed - yellow orange
- Beet Root – muted pink to red
- Calendula Petals - yellow
- Carrots - yellow to orange
- Chamomile – yellow-beige
- Chlorophyll - medium greens
- Cinnamon - tan to brown – can be an irritant so we just don't use it.
- Cloves – brown
- Cochineal powder - deep red
- Cocoa powder– brown
- Coffee - brown to black
- Comfrey Root – light milky brown
- Cucumber – bright green
- Curry powder - yellow
- Elderberries – light brown
- Henna - olive to deep drab green - brown
- Indigo root - deep blues - can stain so we just don't use it.
- Jojoba beads - various colors
- Kaolin Clay - white
- Kelp/seaweed - green
- Madder root - rosy red to purple
- Milk (goats or cow's) - tan to brown, depending upon sugar & fat content
- Morrocan Red Clay - Brick Red
- Paprika – light peach to salmon - can be an irritant so we just don't use it (anymore).
- Poppy Seeds - Blue-grey to light black specks
- Parsley Powder - grey
- Pumpkin - lovely deep orange
- Rattanjot – lavender to purple
- Rose Pink Clay - Brick red
- Rosehip seeds - light tan to deep brown
- Safflower Petals- yellow to deep orange
- Saffron - yellows
- Sage - green
- Spinach – light green
- Spirulina/Blue-Green Algae – blue-green
- Titanium Dioxide- bright white
- Tumeric – gold to amber
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