Olive leaf powder
Yellow-green. Faiola, Pure Soapmaking primary source
Opens the calculator’s starter recipe, 1000 g of oils, with this additive at the dose it fills in, ready to change.
What it is
Olive leaf powder is the ground leaf of the olive tree. Dispersed in oil and stirred in at trace, it gave Faiola a yellow-green soap whose colour fades in light.
Faiola, Pure Soapmaking primary source
How much
- 2 tsp per pound of soap filled in Faiola, Pure Soapmaking primary source
The calculator fills in 2 tsp per pound of soap: 8.5 g for the 1000 g of oils in its starter recipe.
When and how
- Usually: at light trace.
- Mix it first with a little of the recipe’s oil, about a teaspoon of powder to a tablespoon of oil, so it spreads without specks.
Faiola, Pure Soapmaking 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. Faiola, Pure Soapmaking primary source
- In the EU soap is a cosmetic, and may be coloured only with the colourants in Annex IV of the Cosmetics Regulation. In the US the colour additives allowed in cosmetics do not include this one; a true soap sold as soap alone is not a cosmetic there. Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009; 21 CFR 73 primary source
Spoons and drops
- 1 tsp ≈ 1.35 g
- 1 tbsp ≈ 4.05 g
- 1 cup ≈ 64.8 g
NIH Dietary Supplement Label Database primary source
INCI name
Olea Europaea Leaf Powder
- CAS number
- 8001-25-0
- EC number
- 232-277-0
Guides that discuss it
Sources
Anne-Marie Faiola, Pure Soapmaking (Storey Publishing, 2016), chapter 5, "Herbal and Other Additives for Soap", each at "2 tsp powder per pound of soap": olive leaf powder, "Yellow/green", "Will fade with exposure to light"; comfrey powder, "Light green", "Gel phase enhances the color. Will fade substantially with exposure to light"; nettle leaf powder, "Green"; spirulina powder, "Deep green", "Color is enhanced by a hot gel phase, but will fade substantially with exposure to light"; indigo powder, "Blue/gray", "added as a dispersed powder ... or added directly to hot lye-water before combining oils"; alkanet root powder, "Purple/gray", "Infusion will fade over time; dispersed powder is more color stable"; paprika, "Red/orange", "Gives a speckled appearance"; rose clay, "Rosy pink", "Disperse in distilled water instead of oil"; madder root powder, "Dark red"; yarrow powder, "Yellow/tan", "Dispersed powder can be added at trace, or the dry powder can be infused into lye-water to create a more yellow hue"; cocoa powder, "Rich brown", "Gel phase enhances the color, as does exposure to air". For the chart’s soaps "all powdered additives were dispersed at a ratio of 1 part powder: 3 parts oil"; "The colorants were added at trace and went through gel phase." Oil infusions: "most soapers use at least 2 tablespoons of herb for every 4 ounces of oil. I prefer to use a tablespoon of herb for every ounce." Clay in the water before the lye: "The heat reaction from the lye-water will produce a deeper color than will adding the clay at thin trace".
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.
NIH Dietary Supplement Label Database, Olivus olive leaf powder (label 277282): "Olive 1350 mg per 1 Teaspoon(s)".
One label; a ground leaf varies with the grind.