Collection: All Colorants

Blending the three main colors - red, blue, and yellow - is how you create a whole range of other colors. These are your base colors, and by mixing them together, you can build almost any shade you want.

When you mix red and yellow, you get orange. Yellow and blue make green. And red and blue together create purple. These new colors are called secondary colors because they come from combining two of the primaries.

You can also take things a bit further. If you mix a primary color with a nearby secondary color, you get what’s called a tertiary color. So red and orange make red-orange, blue and green make blue-green, and yellow and green make yellow-green. You can keep adjusting the amounts to get softer or bolder tones, warmer or cooler shades - it’s really flexible.

Whether you’re painting, making soap, or blending micas, experimenting with these combinations is a fun way to come up with your own custom colors.

We make things easy with our Color Blender!

Blending the three main colors - red, blue, and yellow - is how you create a whole range of other colors. These are your base colors, and by mixing them together, you can build almost any shade you want.

When you mix red and yellow, you get orange. Yellow and blue make green. And red and blue together create purple. These new colors are called secondary colors because they come from combining two of the primaries.

You can also take things a bit further. If you mix a primary color with a nearby secondary color, you get what’s called a tertiary color. So red and orange make red-orange, blue and green make blue-green, and yellow and green make yellow-green. You can keep adjusting the amounts to get softer or bolder tones, warmer or cooler shades - it’s really flexible.

Whether you’re painting, making soap, or blending micas, experimenting with these combinations is a fun way to come up with your own custom colors.

We make things easy with our Color Blender!

Colorants can be made in a few different ways depending on the type - whether it’s a dye, pigment, or something more specialized like mica. The process really depends on where the color comes from and how it's intended to be used.

Natural colorants

Natural colorants come from things found in nature - plants, minerals, insects, or even clay. For example, beetroot can be used to make red tones, turmeric gives yellow, and spirulina produces a soft green-blue. These materials are dried, ground, or extracted into a liquid or powder form. Mineral-based colorants, like oxides or clays, are often purified and processed to make them safe and consistent for use in soaps, cosmetics, and more.

Some natural pigments like ultramarines and iron oxides were once mined from the earth, but many of these are now lab-made to avoid impurities and ensure safety - especially for skin contact.

Synthetic colorants

Synthetic colorants are made in labs and are designed for consistency, brightness, and long-term stability. Synthetic dyes are created using chemical reactions that produce molecules capable of dissolving in liquids - so they blend easily into things like liquid soap, lotion, or bath bombs. These are often labeled with names like FD&C or D&C, especially in cosmetics and food.

Synthetic pigments, on the other hand, are made from stable particles that don’t dissolve but stay suspended. These include bright neon pigments, some cosmetic glitters, and synthetic mica. They're often chosen for their bold color payoff and the ability to hold up in high-pH or high-heat environments, like cold process soap.

Mica colorants

Mica starts as a natural mineral, mined and ground into a fine, shimmering powder. On its own, it's a pale silvery color. To turn it into a colorful shimmer powder, it's coated with colorants - usually iron oxides, ultramarines, or dyes. This layering process gives mica its signature sparkle and range of hues. Some micas are natural, but many on the market are synthetic mica (sometimes called fluorphlogopite), made in a lab for extra purity and ethical sourcing.