Rose Hip Powder- Cold Process Do's and Dont's

Why Use Rose Hip Powder In Soap?

Benefits
Rose hips contain high concentrations of vitamin C as well as A, D and E. They are also rich in antioxidants. All of this makes rose hips great ingredients to combat aging.

Color
Without resorting to micas, oxides, or lab colors, creating a red soap can be challenging to say the least. There are several natural options for creating an orangy/ peachy/ reddish color, but few options for creating a really red soap.

This is where rose hip powder comes in. While far from cherry red, rose hip powder can create a beautiful deep brick red color, but there are some important Dos and Dont's when coloring soap with rose hips:

DO...

• Insulate!- The rose hip powder turns its beautiful earthy brick red color after going through gel phase. If you prevent gel, you will likely end up with a pinkish tan color. Below are pictures of two soaps made from the same batch of rose hip colored soap. The soap on the left did not gel. The soap on the right did.

• Use Sparingly!- Rose hip powder is scratchy. A little makes a nice exfoliant, but too much just feels like washing with sand paper.

Don't...

•  Swirl- I know this sounds weird, but seriously I don't recomend swirling with rose hip powder. I once thought that I would use rose hip powder to create red peppermint scented swirl soap. Bad idea. The rose hip powder is too granular. Rather than looking like red peppermint swirls, it turned out looking like a speckled mess. I personally think rose hip powder works best as a layer, but I'll let you judge for yourself.  Here are some pics of my peppermint mess:

• Get Greedy!- As I mentioned above, large quantities of rose hip powder can turn your soap into sand paper. I like to use about 1 tsp per pound of oil, any more than that is pushing it.

• Make it Complicated!- One of the best things about using rose hip powder to color soap is that it is so easy. Simply bring your batch to light trace and remove a small amount. Stir the rose hip powder into the small bit of soap, then add it back into the rest of the batch and stir until combined. Easy peasy! There is no need to mess with infusions or other complications.

I LOVE using rose hip powder to color soap. If you want to try using rose hips in your soap, some great sources for organic rose hip powder are Organic Creations or Mountain Rose Herbs