Soapy Friends

This is what choosing seven colors after a year of soap experiments looks like. 😄

There were a LOT of contenders.

For our October finale, I went back through the soaps we made throughout the Year of the Rainbow and picked the colors I actually want to use again — not just the ones that looked pretty on day one.

We’ll talk about why some made the cut, why others didn’t, and what happened to them over time in our All Members class on October 19.

Then on October 20, Best Friends Club members get the big reveal when we cut the finished rainbow loaf. 🌈

Come soap with us!

Will that gorgeous botanical color survive the soap pot? 🌿🧼

You don’t always have to make an entire batch of soap to find out. One of my favorite quick experiments is a simple lye test that lets you see how a natural colorant reacts when it meets the high-pH environment of soapmaking.

It’s especially handy when you’re experimenting with a new botanical, tea, infusion, or decoction — because the beautiful color you start with may not be the color you end up with once the chemistry gets involved.

I’ll show you how I test natural colors before making soap here:
https://soapyfriends.com/how-to-test-natural-colors-before-making-soap/

Want to see how a year of botanical color experiments comes together? Join Soapy Friends for our rainbow soap class October 19. Best Friends Club members also get the October 20 reveal. 🌈 https://soapyfriends.com/memberships/

We spent 2026 making a whole lot of colorful soap. 🌈

Some botanicals gave us exactly what we hoped for. Some surprised us. Some faded, shifted, or earned a spot on my “probably never again” list. 😂

Now we’re bringing everything we learned together for our Year of the Rainbow finale.

On October 19, Soapy Friends members will look back at the colors we tested, talk about what worked and what didn’t, and see which seven natural colors made the final rainbow.

Then we’re building one seven-layer rainbow soap.

Want to soap with us? Come join Soapy Friends. 🧼🌈

Botanical colors aren’t just for cold process soap. 🌿🧼

Years ago, my Soapy Friend Minal Doshi experimented with a wonderful collection of botanicals in melt-and-pour soap and shared the results with our Facebook group. These are Minal’s experiments with cutch, yellow dock, sappanwood, indigo, ironwood, laccifer lacca resin, alkanet root, and Himalayan rhubarb.

One of the really interesting things about botanicals is that you should NOT assume they’ll produce the same color in melt-and-pour that you’ve seen in cold process. The high-pH environment and changing chemistry of saponification can have a huge effect on plant pigments — and with melt-and-pour, that chemical journey has already happened before you add the botanical.

I included Minal’s experiments in my new article about dispersing and extracting soap colorants, along with more about oil, water, alcohol, glycerin, and why the method matters.

https://soapyfriends.com/how-to-disperse-soap-colorants-oil-water-alcohol-and-more/

Thank you, Minal, for sharing these experiments with your Soapy Friends. ❤️

Are white and black really soap “colors”? 🤍🖤

They may not be traditional colors, but understanding them can change the way you work with your entire natural soap color palette.

White starts with the color of your soap base — the oils and butters that create the canvas underneath every botanical color you add.

And black isn’t just about adding more charcoal. Learning how to deepen color can turn a bright botanical shade richer and moodier, or help you build a deep, complex black without simply piling in more charcoal.

I put it all together in my newest article, with practical tips for making naturally white and black soap:
https://soapyfriends.com/white-and-black-soap/

Happy soaping, my friends! 🧼

Is melt-and-pour really soapmaking? 🧼

Apparently this is one of those questions soapmakers can get surprisingly worked up about. 😆

Yes, with melt-and-pour someone else has already done the original saponification. You’re starting with a finished soap base and turning it into something new. That IS different from formulating and making soap from oils and alkali.

But am I going to pop out from behind a bush when somebody proudly says, ‘Look at the soap I made!’ and yell, ‘ACTUALLY…’?

Nope. 😂

Make the soap you want to make. Learn enough to make it safely and intentionally. And please, for the love of bubbles, have fun.

I wrote more about melt-and-pour, natural colors, mica, fragrance oils, and why there is no prize for making soap the hardest way possible here:
https://soapyfriends.com/is-melt-and-pour-really-soapmaking/