Colours from Nature

Okay so nature’s got some really lovely colours that we wish we had in our hair, eyes, lips, skin etc. But over the years, our dreams have been brought to life by the birth of an even brighter and wider range of colours made available in our little colour pots and jars, all thanks to artificial colour pigments.

But we know those come at a price, a financial one, a health one and an environmental one. So what does the sustainable green woman do? She turns to Mother Nature to ‘borrow’ their colours that’s what we do.

Similar to scent, colour pigments too can be extracted from natural sources – plants, insects, minerals...Let’s introduce you to some of the most popular ones:

• Cochineal

Cochineal is a traditional red dye of pre-Hispanic Mexico that is obtained from the carminic acid of female scale insects . The deep maroon pigment is stored in the insects body fluids and tissues – which means the dye is obtained by first killing the insects through the process of hot water immersion then drying them either by exposure to sunlight, steam, or the heat of an oven. Each drying method produces a different shade/intensity of colour but the insects must be dried to about 30 percent of their original body weight before they can be stored without worries of decay. Insects are tiny so it takes about 155,000 insects to make just one kilogram of cochineal! Hardly for the animal friendly.

• Aleppo Gall

Also known as Turkey gall, Levant gall, gall-nut, gall of commerce and ink marble, the Aleppo Gall is obtained from a kind of wasp (Cynips tinctoria). Its’ main content is tannic acid which gives a brown to black colour. Aleppo Gall has traditionally been used in ink making, dyeing furs and leather as well as hair colour black.

• Annatto

Annatto pigments are redish orange in colour. They are named annatto because these pigments are derived from Annato shrubs, specifically the seeds of Achiote trees. Sometimes called Roucou,  achiote dye is prepared by simply stirring the seeds in water.

• Indigo

The leaves of the indigo plant are a major source of natural indigo, the traditional blue dye once used for dying textile and in printing. Pure natural Indigo is a difficult dye to use because it is not soluble in water thus when a submerged fabric is removed from the dyebath, the indigo once combinesdwith oxygen in the air quickly reverts to its insoluble form. What was the old day solution? Either stale urine or a heated vat in which a culture of thermophilic, anaerobic bacteria were maintained! Fascinating facts don’t you think?
Well those natural pigments explained above are a bit out or our kitchen range so here’s a neat tip for home made natural blush.

Mix some vitamin E oil with rose petals blended with rose water.  Alternatively if the colour that rose petals give aren’t your thing then you can always try beetroot, strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, pomegranate  and any other fruit or berry whose colour you love.