Chlorella Vulgaris Powder

Chlorella's government name is Chlorella Vulgaris Powder. It's a tiny single-celled green alga, dried and ground into a powder about as green as anything gets.

Superhero or supervillain?

Superhero. Its superpower is chlorophyll, the same green pigment that colors leaves.

What it does in my soap and clay masks

I use chlorella as a natural colorant. In soap it gives shades of green, from soft olive to deeper green depending on how much I add. Chlorophyll isn't very stable in soap or in light, so the green can soften or drift toward olive over time. In a French green clay mask, it adds extra green to the clay's natural sage.

The supervillain rumor

Chlorella is famous as a "superfood" supplement. That reputation is about eating it. In a soap or a mask, its job is color, and it does that job well.