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Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Playing with LabColors


I have been having so much fun lately with colors.  I had ordered the sample LabColors from BB a few months ago, but I haven't tried to play with them until recently.  I read the instructions on how to use the LabColors, and while using them diluted is preferred, you can also use them undiluted in drop-sized amounts.

I had 2 new BB scents - Berrywine and Spiced Mahogany - that I wanted to try out for my fall soaps.

First, the Berrywine.  I didn't love this scent out of the bottle - it smelled too similar to red wine that has gone stale.  I used the (undiluted) formulation for Wineberry Mist in my packet (1 part red, 1/2 part emerald), squeezed the color drops directly into the soap, and mixed the color in the soap with the tiny blender.  I wanted to try a color gradation, and I'm really like how the layers turned out.




You can see that there are specs of colors in the layers.  This is because I didn't dilute the LabColors and I just added each drop directly to the soap, instead of mixing the color and then adding the entire color to the soap.  The scent also really mellowed over time, and now it smells really nice and bright - no longer like the day after a party.  I will definitely make this soap again!

Next, I tried Spiced Mahogany.  I was super excited about this, because I've always wanted to smell like Ron Burgundy's apartment (Anchorman reference - I love that movie...).  The fragrance has discolored because of the vanilla.  I made one layer using the suggested formula for Oyster (1 part canary, 1 part peach, 1 part royal purple).  Same spotty problem as the berrywine soap above, but I am really loving this scent!  It's a nice masculine scent, but I don't think it's off-putting.




After this initial run, I found my Germall Plus preservative, some 2 oz bottles I had around (I needed 8 oz for the fully diluted 10 ml LabColor bottles, but 2 oz bottles are all I had, so I scaled the water and the LabColors added down to 1/4 of the instructions).  After all my LabColors were diluted, I made this Wish Upon A Star soap with WSP's Beneath The Stars FO.  I really love this scent.  I wanted to make the soap look like nightfall, so I used LabColors, because they will bleed and blend the layers, and this gave me an excuse to use them, now diluted!



I love how this turned out!  The embeds were nice and sharp, and the layers did bleed, which had just the effect I was looking for!  And the scent is really heavenly (see what I did there?  haha!).

Hope everyone is enjoying their day!

~Chrissy

13 comments:

  1. Your berry wine and wish upon a star soaps came out well! I have not tried the color gradient technique. Looks really cool! I had the same spotty problem with lab colors, but then again, I don't have a lot of experience with it. I like natural colorants and oxides. :-)

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  2. Do you really need to dilute lab colours beforehand,or can you dilute them along the soap making process? I mean it's a lot of preservatitve that you put in, looks like a waste, cos I rather make some cream soap,or lotion,or whatsoever....But's just me, I get those difficult way.
    I love how your soaps turned out, but Wish upon a star is my fave. Like those shades of blue/green!

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  3. Hi Soapjam - I have up until now used mainly natural colorants, oxides, and ultramarines with a few pigments. I like them because they generally don't bleed through layers. I was really happy with the Wish Upon a Star soap - the color layers blended really nicely!

    Maja - I don't think you need to dilute the labcolors, but if you don't, you can get some spots in your soap, or the colors might not be totally blended together in your final soap if you are doing a mix of multiple labcolors. It was a pain to heat up all the diluted water, measure everything exactly (including preservative) and then bottle, especially since I had to do only 1/4 of the labcolors, because I didn't have large enough bottles :(

    I think you can dilute them and then freeze the colors, though, if you don't want to use preservatives? I want to start making lotions and liquid soaps, which is why I have the preservative on hand. One day I'll get to it. Probably in January, after the holiday craziness is over!

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    1. What I meant was - can't you just dilute them at the moment of using? Take 1 drop (or, how much you need) out of the bottle,dilute it and use it.
      I have been seeing many soapers dissolve their pigments into the oils and keep them in the bottles, ready to go, but I don't bother doing that. However,it might be more convenient for someone who often use the same colours and make big batches.

      Sorry for the typing errors in the previous comment (of course it's not 'But's' )!

      Can't wait to see your lotions and liquid soaps,Chrissy!

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    2. Oh, now I get your question :) I'm sure you could dilute as you were making the soap, but I guess you'd need to figure out the ratio and be consistent going forward so that you knew what color you'd get with x LabColors and y water? You can also fully dilute the colorants and then freeze them to be used later, but that seems like a pain to me.

      It took me maybe 20 minutes to get everything diluted, preserved, and bottled. I don't think LabColors will be my go-to colorants for many reasons, but I like having the flexibility they offer. I will probably still mainly use micas, oxides, ultramarines and certain pigments, but it was a fun experiment!

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  4. Your gradiant colors soap is gorgeous, Chrissy!
    Love the embeds soap, so perfectly done!

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    1. Thanks, Natalia! I am really proud of how it turned out. It looked very green when I first poured the soap, but it turned a really nice blue-green after gelling.

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  5. Just love how your soaps turned out and I'm glad to hear that you were having fun experimenting with our LabColors! =)

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    1. Thanks, Anne-Marie! It's nice to have a few more tricks up my sleeve for coloring soaps.

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  6. The Ron Burgundy part made me laugh! I've always wondered about Spiced Mahogany...is it too "cologne-y" smelling? Masculine scents are always difficult for me to choose. The Wish Upon a Star turned out beautifully! I haven't worked with Lab colors in CP or tried the gradient technique...well done, love the layers!

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    1. Thanks Kalla! I like the Spiced Mahogany FO, but I want my husband to also do a "man sniff-test" to see what he thinks when he's back from his trip.

      I love Anchorman! I actually just watched it about a week ago - after making the soap, I needed a little Ron Burgundy :)

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  7. All three soaps are gorgeous, Chrissy, and I especially like the Wish Upon A Star soap. I love the Spiced Mahogany FO. (And Anchorman!)

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    1. Thanks, Jenny! I also like all three, but I would probably rank them: Wish Upon a Star, Anchorman, then Spiced Mahogany :)

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