Liquid chlorophyll (copper chlorophyllin)
Mossy to bright grass green. Failor, Making Transparent Soap primary source
Opens the calculator’s starter recipe with this additive in it. No source gives a dose to fill in, so enter your own.
What it is
Liquid chlorophyll is a solution of copper chlorophyllin, the copper complexes of chlorophyll that the EU lists as colourant CI 75810. It comes in greens from mossy to bright grass.
Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009, Annex IV primary source, Failor, Making Transparent Soap primary source, 21 CFR 73.2125 primary source
How much
- 1 tbsp per pound of oils Lovely Greens supplier or guide
No dose to fill in: enter your own.
When and how
- Usually: at light trace.
- Stir it in as it is.
Failor, Making Transparent Soap primary source
What it does to the recipe
- It changes neither the lye nor the water: it is only weight in the bar.
Worth knowing
- Its colour fades with light and time. Lovely Greens supplier or guide
- The EU allows copper chlorophyllin (CI 75810) in any cosmetic. The US lists it only for toothpaste, at up to 0.1 %, so it is not an approved colour in other US cosmetics; a true soap, sold only as soap, is not a cosmetic. Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009, Annex IV primary source, 21 CFR 73.2125 primary source, Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009; 21 CFR 73 primary source
Spoons and drops
- 1 tsp ≈ 5.67 g (5.42–5.91 g)
- 1 tbsp ≈ 17 g (16.3–17.7 g)
- 1 cup ≈ 272 g (260–284 g)
Aroma-Zone supplier or guide
INCI name
CI 75810 (Colour Index number)
- CAS number
- 11006-34-1, 8049-84-1
- EC number
- 234-242-5, 232-471-5
- US colour additive name
- Potassium Sodium Copper Chlorophyllin
Guides that discuss it
Sources
Catherine Failor, Making Transparent Soap (Storey, 2000), chapter 6: "Many dyes take a battering from the high initial pH of cold-process soaps and are often altered beyond recognition"; "Because of its neutrality, transparent soap can be tinted in either subtle earth tones or bright primary colors"; "Too much food coloring results in a soap that will stain your hands or washcloth"; "Liquid chlorophyll comes in various shades of green, from a mossy hue to a brighter grass-green".
Lovely Greens, natural soap colorants: cinnamon, "use up to 1 tsp ground cinnamon powder PPO. Be aware that cinnamon leaves a slightly gritty feeling"; beetroot, "Warm to dull brown", "Unfortunately, beets do not color CP/HP soap red"; black walnut hull powder, "Add powder at trace and be aware that they create a scratchy or exfoliating texture"; red sandalwood, "Add 1/4-1/2 tsp powder PPO at trace after premixing in a little oil. Can be very scratchy if you use more than this"; woad, "Add 1-2 tsp powder PPO to the lye solution"; rose hips, "Up to 1 tsp ground rosehip powder PPO"; nettle leaf, "muted green", "Premix dried and powdered nettle leaf with a little water and add at trace. Use 1-3 tsp PPO"; kelp, "Dark green", "at trace at up to 3 tsp PPO. Pre-mix in an equal amount of distilled water"; sage, "muted green that fades with time", or "1 tsp PPO dried sage at trace for dark speckles"; peppermint, "1 tsp PPO finely ground peppermint leaves at trace"; liquid chlorophyll, "stunning greens from using about 1 TBSP PPO", fading "into a greeny-yellow"; cucumber, "initially green but usually fades to a muted yellow"; chamomile, "Infuse flowers in distilled water and use the strained liquid to make the lye solution"; green tea, "Brown-green"; rhassoul clay, "Brown"; French green clay, "pale pastel green to earthy green"; "plant-based greens tend to be fugitive". PPO is per pound of oils.
Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009, Annex IV (colourants allowed in cosmetic products), consolidated text of 18 May 2026: entry 98, CI 73000 (indigo), blue; entry 116, CI 75810, the copper complexes of chlorophylls, green; entry 148, "Beetroot red" (E 162), red. None carries a condition that excludes rinse-off products.
US 21 CFR 73.2125: "Potassium sodium copper chlorophyllin may be safely used for coloring dentifrices that are cosmetics subject to the following conditions: (1) It shall not be used at a level in excess of 0.1 percent."
EU: Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009, Article 14(1)(c), a product may contain as colourants only those in Annex IV. US: 21 CFR Part 73 Subpart C lists the colour additives for cosmetics, and turmeric, paprika and spirulina are listed for food only; under 21 CFR 701.20 a true soap, sold only as soap, is not a cosmetic.
Aroma-Zone, liquid chlorophyll (INCI: Glycerin, Aqua, Chlorophyllin-copper complex), technical sheet: "Densité : 1.10-1.20".