Natural Colorants for Oil-Based Facial Massage Oil and Castor Oil Availability
Question
I am interested in natural colors that can be mixed into oil. I want to make a facial massage oil with a reddish-brown color, similar to Red Iron Oxide. Do you have any ingredient recommendations? Would Astaxanthin and Red Yeast Rice Color work? Please suggest other options if you know of more than I do. Also, another question: Do you not sell Castor Oil here?
Answer
Natural Colorants for Oil-Based Formulas
You're looking for natural colorants to create a reddish-brown color similar to Red Iron Oxide in a facial massage oil.
Regarding the options you mentioned:
- Astaxanthin: Yes, Astaxanthin (specifically the oil-soluble version like Astaxanthin (10% Algae Extract, Oil)) can provide a red color and is suitable for oil-based formulas. The shade might be more purely red than reddish-brown depending on the concentration used.
- Red Yeast Rice Color (Monascus Pigment): Based on the product information, Red Monascus Pigment from Mosaus (powder) is water-soluble, not oil-soluble. Therefore, it is not suitable for directly coloring an oil-based product like massage oil.
Other natural or naturally-derived options for oil-based formulas that can provide red or reddish tones include:
- ReadyMix™ Iron Oxides Red (Polyglyceryl-2 Triisostearate Based): This is an oil-dispersed pigment designed for easy mixing into oil-based formulas. It provides a red iron oxide color, which can give you the reddish-brown or rust red shade you're looking for.
Other colorants like Beta-Carotene Red Color are also water-soluble and not suitable for oil.
Castor Oil Availability
Regarding Castor Oil, based on the available products, we have Hydrogenated Castor Oil (a wax) and PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil (a surfactant). We do not appear to have standard liquid Castor Oil available in the catalog at this time.
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