Today we will start with Alkanet Root Powder. Alkanet Powder is dark purple in color. It reminded me a little of blueberry fiber. It also smelled earthy and slightly fruity. I don’t expect the earthy woody odor to come through the soap but I could be wrong. Let’s go find out what happens!
Notes: I must admit, I was surprised at how bold the color was with only 1 teaspoon of alkanet powder. I noticed there was not any staining of the skin during use. I was really worried that this soap would at least stain a wash cloth. Good news! It doesn’t! The lather is white although the water does have a mild blue tint from the soap. I didn’t notice any strange odors coming through. It smelled like a plain bar of unscented soap. I am in love with the color though. I do want to use it at a lower usage rate and see how much that changes the color of the soap and if it still colors the soap with a nice blue without being quite so intense. I plan on doing that at a later date down the road. How does that sound? Would you make it with a lower percentage of alkanet or would you keep it the same? I am really excited to make this soap with fragrance oils now. I am thinking bold fruity scents like Juicy Grape, Red Grape and Blueberry and Huckleberry. What fragrances oils do you want to pair with this beautiful and bold coloring botanical?
Recipe:
Weigh all of the oils into a microwave safe container. Heat gently until liquid. Add the Sodium Hydroxide to the water to form a lye solution. Allow the oils and the lye to cool to a lower temperature. We do not want to have the soap overheat and volcano. Mix the oils and lye solution and blend until trace is achieved. Add the botanical at this point. Stir well. Pour into a mold and allow to sit for 24 hours. Cut the soap. Allow the soap to cure. Longer curing time will result in a harder bar. Enjoy!
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I use alkanet root powder mixed with madder root powder to get a nice lavender color for my lavender scented soap. I mix both powders with a couple of ounces of olive oil and let it sit for a few days so the olive oil can absorb the color from the powders. I pour off the oil leaving the “sludge” of the two powders behind. I use this oil as part of my soap recipe. The color is blueish at first but becomes a nice lavender as the soap cures.
What a fantastic idea! Thank you for sharing this!
Does using the powder give any type of texture to the soap?
Carrie, good question! I don’t believe at the usage rate of 1 tsp per lb that any texture would be noticeable. I will ask Taylor to pop in here and let us know though.
Tina
You mention that Alkanet Root Powder is deep purple in color. What color is the soap? On my monitor it is the color of steel wool.
For the rest of this Botanicals series, would you mind telling us your interpretation of the color so we can judge both by our computer monitor’s color and by your description?
Thanks, that would be a help.
I believe the color is a blue/grey that has lavender tones to it. When using a color like this it will appear more grey when not enough color is added. It will appear more brilliant if more color is added. I hope that helps.
Now I’ll get some alkanet. Thanks for the testing.
That was easy!!! I can’t wait to try these!
Thank you
Juicy Grape would be a good choice!
Wow! I am happy to hear you can put the Alkanet root powder right into the soap at trace! I infused 1 ounce of Alkanet root into 16 ounces of Sunflower oil and just use a bit of that oil in a recipe. Thanks for the post! I am going to have to try it this way!
This would be pretty with a blueberry scent… think I need to go get busy.
I LOVE alkanet root powder! I use it in my Twilight soap (Jacob fragrance) and swirl it with activated charcoal colored soap. It’s one of my most popular soaps, too.
OOh, I’ve only used alkanet by infusing the oils. I’m glad to see it turns out so lovely by just adding the powder.
I have used alkanet root before to make a pink to lavender soap. I cant remember what I did though! I think I infused a portion of the oil with root pieces and not the powder.. that I’m pretty sure of. I know infusing the lye water doesn’t work, that batch was just ugly.. So this time I infused oil with the root powder added that at trace. Then I decided, after reading this, to add more of just the powder. We will see… hopefully we will get a lavender when it cures.
How did your soap turn out?
Tina