Natural Coloring for soap

There are many options when it comes to coloring your soaps with natural ingredients. Though usually not as vibrant as synthetic colors, natural colorants can be just as lovely.
Many of the ingredients can be found in your kitchen, your grocery, or from soap making suppliers. Many of them are already used to color common foods and drugs. (Annatto is what gives macaroni and cheese its orange color. Cochineal is used to color Hawaiian Punch.)

Here are some of my favorite options, and the color they impart:

Alfalfa – medium green
Alkanet – steep in oil first - deep purple to muted blue
Annatto Seed – steep in oil first - yellow orange
Beet Root – muted pink to red
Ground Calendula Petals - yellow
Carrots, shredded or ground - yellow to orange
Ground Chamomile – yellow-beige
Chlorophyll - medium greens
Cinnamon - tan to brown – can be an irritant
Cloves, ground – brown
Cochineal powder– deep red
Cocoa powder– brown
Coffee/coffee grounds - brown to black
Comfrey Root – light milky brown
Cucumber – bright green
Curry powder - yellow
Elderberries – steep in lye solution – light brown
Henna, ground - olive to deep drab green - brown
Indigo root - deep blues - caution, can stain
Jojoba beads - come in many colors, and add exfoliation too
Kaolin Clay - white
Kelp/seaweed - green
Madder root - rosy red - purple
Milk (goats or cow's) - tan to brown, depending upon sugar & fat content
Morrocan Red Clay - Brick Red
Paprika – light peach to salmon - can be an irritant
Poppy Seeds - Blue-grey to light black specks
Pumice, ground - grey
Pumpkin, pureed - lovely deep orange Example
Rattanjot – lavender to purple
Rose Pink Clay - Brick red
Rosehip seeds, ground - light tan to deep brown
Safflower Petals- yellow to deep orange
Saffron - yellows
Sage - green
Spinach – light green
Spirulina/Blue-Green Algae – blue-green
Titanium Dioxide- bright white
Tumeric – gold to amber
Note: Unless you've used this colorant before, or are following someone else's recipe, it's important to do some simple tests before you throw a bunch of carrots or seaweed into your soap.