Making soaps with natural colourants
Soap making is an interesting art. Sometimes you can make soap and it can come out looking great and other times you follow the same recipe and do everything according to the books but the soap disappoints you. I really do enjoy making soap particularly when I use natural colourants. I am finding a lot of people are moving away from synthetic ingredients and embracing anything natural. I also prefer using natural things since my skin is very sensitive.
In this case I use different natural colourants such as madder root which I am going to discuss further in details. I fell in love with madder root for its colour and herbal look. My satisfaction with the root is that it comes from a plant grown naturally without any chemicals involved. The plant grows in neglected areas therefore not much of effort is required to grow this beneficial plant.
Madder root, is widely grown in Mediterranean and southern Europe. It is a herb even though there is a lot of controversy on its oral consumption. However, it is well known for dying cloths particularly in India, Turkey and Iran. Research undertaken in 2014 showed that Madder root has been used for years by Indians and Chinese to treat different ailments such as haematemesis (vomiting blood), haematuria (blood in urine), ulcers and skin diseases (International Journal of pharmaceutical, 2014). The author also states that the research discovered that in modern times madder root is used to treat acne and wound healing due to its, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effect.
Therefore, with all these healing aspects it is deemed fit for the skin. Like everything else everybody is different and for those allergic should not try it out.
Variations of madder root colours in soap 
Depending on your taste of colour, you can play with madder root to get the desired colour. I like my soap pink and at times a bit deeper. The more madder root you add to your recipe the darker pink or red the soap will be. If you do not put too much of madder root in your soap the colour will be lighter.
Madder root does cope with most fragrance oil, again everyone is different the way they make their products. I use fragrance oil rather than essential oil in my products. Madder root does not make the soap to change the ph neither does it disrupt the smell of my oils. I find it easy to work with. I use distilled water to mix madder root before I add it to the other ingredients, making a nice paste then mixing it all up.
A small packet of madder root goes a long way and it looks rough with herbal elements in the powder. It does not stain cloths making it safe to put in soap. You can only play with madder root to get the desired colour.