I can't seem to get my royal icing to go right. I follow the recipe and nothing seems to work. It is ok for the first couple minutes then it goes soft. I make sure my equipment is clean and free of any type of shortening. I have tried and tried but it still goes soft. Am I not mixing it enough or what. I made some yesterday and the white was fine, but I needed to make some flowers so I colored some with paste color and after I got it mixed it started to go soft. Please someone help me lol thank you

First, what exactly do you mean "goes soft"? When I make mine, it always seems a little stiffer in the bowl. Once it's in the bag and ready to pipe, the heat from your hands will cause it to 'melt' a little and it becomes slightly thinner the longer you work with it. Once it has a few hours it should be noticably hardening though.

Is yours just not hardening ever? Explain a little more please...

try adding more powdered sugar than usual. about half a cup than usual, more or less as you get the consistency you like.

From what you are explaining the problem is only when you add coloring ? What kind of coloring are you adding, I have never had a problem with the wilton paste colors. You may just need to add more powdered sugar. I saw a thread once where someone was adding the coloring made for candy melts instead and the oil in the coloring was ruining the RI.

Royal icing will feel thick but 'melt' when piped if it hasn't been mixed long enough. How long did you mix it? You want to mix it at least 7 mins with a stand mixer and at least 10 mins with a hand mixer.