Roxana Potapovs

Soap Pigments - oxides and ultramarines fall into this category. Pigments, like most colorants out there, do not fall into the natural category. They are manufactured in labs and have been since the 70s. Apparently, pigments (oxides and ultramarines) used to be mined but the FDA stepped in and demanded some purity so since then, those colorants have been manufactured in a lab - same molecular structure just a different way of processing. Some Iron Oxides are still extracted naturally; however, Iron oxides in nature (dirt) are often stuck with toxic metals like lead, arsenic, mercury, antimony and selenium (when they are in nature). This is why the FDA stepped in to regulate cosmetic colorants so the level of toxic metal present are present in such low concentrations that they are considered "safe." In fact, only synthetically prepared iron oxides are approved for use in cosmetics in this country. (Johnson, S.T. & Wordell, C.J. "Homeopathic and herbal medicine: Considerations for formulary evaluation," Formulary, 32, 1167, Nov. 1997. )