From Purple to Zen - in One Simple Step

Even veteran soap makers make mistakes. The response to the Layered Container Candles project was so good, I decided to use it as inspiration for a new batch of layered soap. I picked out two of my favorite essential oils (lavender and bergamot mint), two yummy botanical additives (lavender buds and spearmint), and two appropriate oxide colorants (ultramarine violet and hydrated chrome green.) However, instead of the jar of ultramarine violet, I picked up the jar of manganese violet. You wouldn't think to look at them that there would be much problem - they're both lovely purple colors - and ultramarine oxides - however - manganese violet is not stable in an alkaline "environment" - and there are few things more alkaline than lye and oils mixed together - so my lovely purple color quickly turned brown - a lovely taupe-ish beige-brown - but still brown. The moment it happened, I realized that I had grabbed the wrong colorant. (Groan!) However, all was not lost. Though brown, there's nothing wrong with the soap, and when a friend saw the soap, he said "oh, what a cool brown-green combination - very trendy - very ZEN! I saw a whole line of home-decor items in just that color combination the other day." So...it seems that my mistake, while it didn't give me the whimsical purple and green layered soap I intended, it did impart a "cool" factor that's just as fun. Check out the recipe and my "trendy" Lavender-Mint Layered Soap. It actually is pretty zen! In the meantime, be sure to check your ingredients carefully, to make sure YOU don't go from purple to zen with your soap or candle projects.