Micas are among the most user friendly of colorants and come in a rainbow of vivid colors. Micas are made by bonding lab-created pigments to a naturally-mined mineral, mica, or synthetically derived fluorphlogopite. Lab-created and natural micas perform identically. Micas come in a variety of different micron sizes. The larger the particle sizes, the more sparkly the mica will be. Smaller micron micas are smoother and more opaque.

Micas are oil soluble pigments and do not work well in water-based products like room sprays, shampoos, or body washes. The mica sinks to the bottom of these products rather than disperse evenly.

Micas work well in cold processed soap and are among the most user-friendly pigments to use. Micas blend easily into soap batter. You can directly mix micas into your soap batter, if you like, though you may need to stick blend your batter more than you’d like for your planned design. Many soap designers like to pre-disperse mica in a bit of a light weight oil such as olive, sweet almond, or rice bran oil. You can also use a bit of your soaping oils. It is recommended that you disperse one teaspoon of mica in one tablespoon of carrier oil (1:3 ratio) to color one pound of soap. You can use more or less mica depending on your desired soap design. You can mix your micas in a small paper cup with a plastic spoon or popsicle stick. Our resident soap expert Teri Endsley likes to mix her micas with a palette knife on a piece of plexiglass.

Micas also work well in melt and pour soap. Instead of oil, pre-disperse your micas for melt and pour in 91% Isopropyl Alcohol. Disperse ½ teaspoon of mica in 1 1/2 teaspoons of alcohol (1:3 ratio) to color one pound of soap. Again, you can use more or less to create the look you like. Micas used in melt and pour soap will create a sparkly or pearly product. Micas used in white melt and pour will look more opaque.

Micas can be used in bath bombs, but be aware that they can leave an unpleasant ring around your tub. Using polysorbate 80 at a rate of at least 2% of your total oils and other liquids can help mitigate this. Even so, it’s best to use a light hand with micas in bath bombs. I like to reserve them for decorative purposes only and use other colorants to color my bath bombs.

Micas can be used to color lotions and whipped body butters. You’ll want to use a very light hand or you may end up with sparkly skin! (Unless you want shimmery, sparkly skin, in which case, use more!) Try using about 1/16 teaspoon of mica in 16 ounces of lotion and adjust according to your taste. Micas are also spectacular in lip products, too! Try using 1/16 tsp of mica per lip balm or lip gloss and see how you like it. Micas themselves won’t provide much color, but will give you lips plenty of sparkle. 

Not all micas are safe for all applications. You need to check whether a particular mica is lip safe before using it in a lip balm. Micas containing chromium oxide, hydrated chromium oxide, or ultramarines (this includes almost all blue and green micas) are not lip safe. Micas that are not lip safe are also not safe to be used in bath bombs. Some micas can color morph in cold process soap, especially some pinks and rose golds that contain carmine. Be sure to check that the mica you are interested in is recommended for a particular application before you use it.

Micas can easily be blended to create new colors, so get creative! You can lighten micas with Titanium Dioxide or darken micas with Smooth Coconut Carbon (activated charcoal). You can also mix neons or oxides with micas.

Titanium Dioxide is one of the most commonly used pigments in soap making. It is a very opaque, white pigment that is naturally mined. It is safe to use in all products, though it’s hard to imagine using it in bath bombs! Titanium Dioxide can be dispersed in either water or oil for cold processed soap, at a 1:3 ratio. It is easier to disperse in water, but you will need to stick blend it into your soap batter. You will have to very patiently mix all of the lumps out to disperse titanium dioxide in oil, but the resulting mixture will mix very easily into your soap batter with no additional stick blending. One teaspoon of titanium dioxide will whiten one pound of soap.

If used in excess, titanium dioxide can cause “glycerin rivers” where the soap takes on a crackled appearance. You can control for this be reducing the amount of water in your soap recipe. Titanium dioxide cannot whiten soap that has turned dark brown due to the presence of high vanillin content in a fragrance oil. It can whiten slight discoloration or a recipe that is not naturally white, however. Be aware that titanium dioxide can also speed up your trace a bit.

Titanium dioxide can also be used in melt and pour soap. Disperse your titanium dioxide at a 1:3 ratio in glycerin. You may never need titanium dioxide in melt and pour soap because you can always just use white melt and pour if you want either white soap of opaque soap.

Titanium dioxide is used commercially in formulating sunscreens. Do not rely on homemade products for sun protection or make sun protection claims in your marketing, however. Sunscreens must undergo rigorous lab testing and FDA (or other governing body) certification in order to be considered effective. Titanium dioxide is useful in lightening cream cosmetics and lip products, however and is effective at creating opacity in lip products. You can experiment with adding a tiny amount of oil-dispersed titanium dioxide to mica-colored lip products to give them a more opaque look and make the mica color stand out more.

We hope you have enjoyed this guide to using colorants and that you feel inspired to create all of the beautiful, vibrant products in your dreams. Be sure to read the product information an individual colorant before you use it in a particular application.