MB Herbals Alkanet Root Powder 8 oz / 227 Gram | Alkanet Powder | Ratanjot/Alkanna tinctoria | Natural Coloring Agent for Cosmetics & Fabrics | Hair Growth

I purchased this product specifically for my melt and pour soap making, primarily to add vibrant color to my creations. The pigment performs exceptionally well, and I am thoroughly impressed. It will undoubtedly become my preferred colorant moving forward. For fellow soap makers, I highly recommend giving this product a try.

To all reviewers having a hard time getting a ruby red oil extract out of alkanet root, I highly recommend that you let it sit in oil for at least 24 hours up to two weeks. The day you soak it in oil you’ll get a grayish black extract and the next day it should start turning red. I hope that helps.

Dyer's alkanet is a traditional natural dye, although it is not very lightfast and has only been used for indoor items that will be protected from sunlight, such as tapestries and soap. It produces a range of colors from a pale lavender to a deep purple-blue color, with some red tones achievable, all depending on HOW you use it. Simmering will absolutely kill the red tones and push the blue into the ascendancy, sometimes even resulting in green or brown shades (especially if there is iron in your water). An alcohol soak for a week will release more of the purple hues of the root powder, but this is typically used for dyeing cotton and other bast fibers, not wool. Note that this is one of the smelly dye baths and you really want to work with it outdoors! Get the pigment soak accomplished first before trying to add this as a colorant to soap, and be sure to add the color to your soap after saponification, not before. Too much heat and the alkanet color is ruined. If you do apply heat, be sure to keep it below a simmer.

Please do not be like me - read and believe the bad reviews. I don't know if this is mislabeled or if it is simply old, poor quality or overprocessed. However, regardless of the reason, you cannot use this powder to extract pigment for dye or cosmetics. It is a dingy brown color and will not extract in oil or alcohol the way true alkanet should. I also did an alkalinity test and it did not react properly.

Still learning how to use this for natural soap making but it did yield a lavender color. A little on the gray side though. Seems it is a trial and error. These results came from use an oil infusion of the alkanet. I will do more research to find a better method