Mica (pearlescent)
Shimmer. A spectrum of bright hues; it shows best in clear soap. Wholesale Supplies Plus supplier or guide, Faiola, Soap Crafting primary source
Opens the calculator’s starter recipe, 1000 g of oils, with this additive at the dose it fills in, ready to change.
What it is
Cosmetic micas are flakes of mica coated with titanium dioxide, iron oxides or both, which give the colour and shimmer: a gold mica is about three quarters mica and a quarter titanium dioxide.
MakingCosmetics supplier or guide
How much
- 2 tsp per pound of soap filled in Soap Queen supplier or guide
- up to 30 % of the batch in rinse-off products, the highest reported use: not a recommendation CIR primary source
The calculator fills in 2 tsp per pound of soap: 9.8 g for the 1000 g of oils in its starter recipe.
When and how
- Usually: at light trace.
- Mix it first with a little of the recipe’s oil, about a teaspoon of powder to a tablespoon of oil, so it spreads without specks.
Soap Queen supplier or guide
What it does to the recipe
- It changes neither the lye nor the water: it is only weight in the bar.
Worth knowing
- Caution: Some micas change colour at soap’s high pH: test a small batch first. Soap Queen supplier or guide
- Cosmetic mica is coated with titanium dioxide, iron oxides or both, which give it its colour. MakingCosmetics supplier or guide
Spoons and drops
- 1 tsp ≈ 1.55 g (1.18–1.92 g)
- 1 tbsp ≈ 4.66 g (3.55–5.77 g)
- 1 cup ≈ 74.5 g (56.8–92.3 g)
MakingCosmetics supplier or guide
INCI name
Mica
- CAS number
- 12001-26-2
- EC number
- 310-127-6
Recipes that use it
Guides that discuss it
Sources
Wholesale Supplies Plus, soap colorants guide: titanium dioxide is "prized for its dense, white opacity", and "A single teaspoon is sufficient to lighten one pound of soap"; "half of this amount or even less for brown oxide and red oxide"; oxides "must be thoroughly mixed with oil before use"; micas offer "a spectrum of bright hues"; ultramarines have "potential to emit sulfurous odors".
Anne-Marie Faiola, Soap Crafting (Storey, 2013): clays, 1.5–2 teaspoons mixed with 1–1.5 tablespoons of distilled water per colour, mixed fresh just before use (Clay Spoon-Plop, p. 166); oxides dispersed in oil first; LabColors diluted in distilled water heated to 140 °F; mica "becomes shimmery, offering a sparkle not seen with other colorants", takes its colours from what it is coated with, and "Mica both reflects and refracts light, so it works best in clear products" (p. 43).
Soap Queen, mica colorants: "start with 2 teaspoon of colorant per pound of soap"; "micas can often morph in the high pH environment".
Cosmetic Ingredient Review, synthetic fluorphlogopite (2012): up to 30 % in bath soaps and detergents; bulk density 0.240–0.300 g/cm³.
The highest concentration reported to CIR in industry surveys: what has been used, not a recommendation.
MakingCosmetics safety data sheets for nine coated micas (2024): mica coated with titanium dioxide, iron oxides or both (Mica Gold: mica 70–78 %, titanium dioxide 19–24 %); bulk density 240–390 kg/m³.