The Amicolor range includes 4 reference colours, Madder Red, Broom Yellow, Alfalfa Green and Genipa Blue, from which multiple shades can be created.
Colour hair and body products
“The dyes can be used to colour all types of personal care products, including gels, lotions and emulsions,” Alban Muller’s Annie Daste told CosmeticsDesign.com.
They have been designed to replace synthetic dyes in a formulation and the fact the range is preservative free is also likely to appeal to natural formulators.
In addition to possessing colouring properties, the ingredients can also add functional value to the formulation, according to the company.
Madder Red, extracted from the root of the Madder plant, has astringent and antioxidant properties, and Broom yellow, which is derived from Dyer’s Broom flowers, is rich in flavanoids, according to the company.
In addition, the company claims that the green dye, made from Alfalfa leaves, is known for its strengthening and nourishing properties, and Genipa Blue, which is extracted from the Genipa fruit, has soothing and softening properties.
Eco-friendly harvesting
Like many of Alban Muller’s ingredients, the majority of the range is extracted from plants grown in the company’s native France. It is only the Genipa Blue that comes from the Genipa fruit harvested in South America.
According to Daste, however, the company has the assurance that the plants have been harvested in Peru in an eco-friendly fashion.
In fact the company claims the whole range is in keeping with the company’s good farming and picking practices, to ensure the production of the extracts does not harm the environment or man in any way.
However, Daste did explain that although the dyes are plant extracts and a big improvement on their synthetic equivalent they are not 100 per cent natural due to the manufacturing processes used for their derivation.