5 Things to Know Before Buying Mica Powder Wholesale

Author: Harry

May. 13, 2024

Minerals & Metallurgy

The Dos and Don'ts of Using Mica Powder for Soapmaking

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Elevate your soapmaking skills to new heights by learning the secrets of vivid colors and captivating patterns. Mica pigment powders offer a vibrant palette of colors that can turn a simple bar of soap into a visually striking handicraft. Follow the dos and don’ts of using mica powder for soapmaking to enhance the beauty, safety, and quality of your soaps.

Do: Wear Protective Gear

Wearing protective gear is crucial for safely handling mica powder. Gloves protect your hands from possible irritation or prolonged exposure to the pigment. Additionally, a mask prevents inhalation of fine particles that could cause respiratory issues.

Protective gear doesn’t just safeguard your health; it also maintains the purity of your colors. By avoiding direct contact, you reduce the risk of introducing contaminants that could alter the appearance of your product. So, be sure to gear up properly to make beautiful soaps safely.

Don’t: Use Unapproved Mica Powder

While protective gear safeguards you from harm as you create dazzling soaps, using the right type of mica powder makes the soap safe for use. Unapproved mica powders may be suitable for crafts but can contain heavy metals or other harmful substances not intended for skin contact.

Always ensure that the mica you select is labeled as cosmetic or soap grade. This safety requirement doesn’t mean you can’t use pigments for special effects, though! For example, ghost mica powders give soaps a luxurious, pearlescent finish.

Using the correct grade of mica powder ensures that your soap is safe for use. Cosmetic-grade micas have been tested and regulated to be non-toxic and safe for skin contact. Never assume a mica powder is safe for use in soap; instead, always read the supplier’s or manufacturer’s product description to verify it is acceptable for soapmaking.

Do: Experiment With Amounts of Powder

Mica powder can make blank canvas soap bloom with color, but getting the right hue or intensity requires experimentation. Start with a small quantity of mica and mix it thoroughly into the soap base to see the effect. With high-quality pigment, a little powder goes a long way.

Fine-tuning the amount of powder will guide you to the perfect shade without waste. In general, you can use one teaspoon of mica powder per pound of melt-and-pour soap. Use more for more dense colors or less for lighter colors.

Signs You Should Adjust Pigment Amounts

Knowing when to adjust the amount of mica powder in your soapmaking process can be tricky, but there are indicators. If the soap’s color fades significantly after curing, it’s a sign you might need to add more mica in your next batch. Conversely, if the color bleeds or appears overly saturated, consider using less powder to achieve the desired result.

Don’t: Add Too Much Mica at Once

In your quest for the perfect hue, resist the urge to add large amounts of mica powder all at once. Introducing too much powder can lead to clumping, which results in an uneven distribution of color throughout the soap. Instead, sprinkle the mica powder gradually and mix thoroughly to ensure uniformity.

Too much mica powder can also make the soap feel grainy. By adding the mica sparingly, you control the saturation of color and ensure the pigment fully integrates into the soap base. A consistent technique will yield professional-level soap that looks beautiful and feels soft to the touch.

Do: Experiment With Different Colors

The amount of mica powder you add is just one factor that affects the soap’s color. Mica powder is available in a spectrum of colors, and you can create visually stunning, one-of-a-kind soap by mixing mica pigments.

When you start experimenting, you’ll discover how combining different hues can create mesmerizing effects in the finished bars. Don’t be afraid to blend powders to match the season, the scent, or even specific themes you wish to express through your soaps.

Tips for Combining Mica Powders

When combining mica pigments, always mix them in well-lit conditions to ensure an accurate representation of the colors. You can also consult the color wheel to anticipate the results. For example, combining colors opposite each other on the color wheel will result in a brown or muted tone. Keep track of any combinations and ratios you use to replicate successful blends in future batches.

Don’t: Forget the Soap Base Color

Remember that the soap’s base color affects how the mica will appear. A clear base acts as a blank slate, showcasing the mica as it appears in the jar and offering vibrant and bright results. Conversely, a white or colored base will affect the mica pigments, potentially muting them or mixing to create a different shade altogether.

Understanding the properties of your soap base color will enable you to predict and control the final appearance of your soaps when mixed with mica powders. Before adding mica powder to a full batch, mix a small amount with your chosen base and observe the result. This approach ensures that the final product matches your vision and saves you from unwelcome surprises that can occur from overlooking the base color.

Do: Pre-Mix Mica With Oil or Glycerin

Pre-mixing mica powder with a carrier such as oil or glycerin is essential for achieving an even, lustrous color. This technique prevents the powder from forming clumps and ensures that the color disperses uniformly throughout the soap base.

To effectively pre-mix mica powder, start with a small container and add one tablespoon of oil or glycerin for every teaspoon of mica powder. Blend the mixture thoroughly until you achieve a smooth, lump-free paste before introducing it to your main soap batch. You can add the paste gradually as you stir the soap mixture to control the intensity and distribution of color more precisely.

Don’t: Ignore Mica Powder Quality

If you use low-quality pigment in your soap, you will get lackluster results. High-quality mica powders provide vivid colors, a pearlescent shimmer, and a consistent hue, making it easier to achieve the results you want. Inferior mica powders may fade quickly, dramatically change color during the soap curing process, or simply not provide the polished look you expect.

Additionally, better quality mica powders often have a finer texture, which is crucial in creating a smooth feel for the soap. Poor quality micas may be gritty or unevenly ground, leading to a less pleasant tactile experience when using the soap. The peace of mind that comes with using cosmetic-grade, ethically sourced mica ensures that your final product is safe, gentle, and meets the highest standards of quality.

Mastering the dos and don’ts of using mica powders in soapmaking hinges on adhering to best practices for safety, aesthetics, and quality. Always use high-quality mica powder that is approved for soapmaking and remember to wear protective gear. Have fun exploring different degrees of shimmer and color saturation as you add mica powder to your handcrafted soaps.

Mica Powder

Mica powder is currently very trendy. And when something becomes so popular, two things happen. First, market innovation brings new products. And second, so much buzz about a product means that misinformation proliferates, making it quite difficult to learn how to effectively use the product. Mica powder has been around for a long time. But in the past few years, as the trends for DIY crafts have really taken off, mica powder is suddenly “a thing”. You can use mica powder with resin, soap, makeup, nail arts, painting, paper arts, and much more. But since I write this website about polymer clay, that’s what I’m going to focus on here.

These succulent pots were made with polymer clay and coated with Pearl Ex mica powder. On the left is Knox Gold and the right is Hot Copper.

What is Mica Powder?

Mica is a shiny mineral that’s mined from the earth. If you’ve ever found a sparkly rock, there’s a good chance that it contains mica, especially if it can be peeled apart in thin sheets. This mica is ground into tiny flakes and colored to make sparkly powder. Originally all mica came from the ground, but nowadays there is also synthetic mica that is made from ultra-thin sheets of lab-created glass-like mineral. Even though mica powder is pearlescent, it is not made from crushed pearls or oyster shells. It is also not made from metal or plastic and should not be confused with glitter. Mica powder comes in a variety of flake sizes and the larger the particle size, the more sparkly it is. Very large flakes of mica can very much appear like glitter but are irregular in shape, not punched out of a plastic sheet the way glitter is.

Mica flakes are coated with metal oxides and/or pigments to give them color. This means that you can buy mica powders in a huge array of sparkly, shimmery colors. Mica powders are not, however, the same thing as pigments. Contrary to the confusion that poorly worded online listings have caused, mica powder and pigments are not the same things. You can read my article here to readily see the difference and why that matters when using them with polymer clay.

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Because mica powders reflect the light, the flakes can be coated in such a way to make the light bounce back in multiple colors. This makes duo, interference, and color-shifting mica powders. (For comprehensive coverage of this topic, plus info about pigments, metal powders, and dye powders, check out my Guide to Using Powders on Polymer Clay.)

These Mica Leaf Pendants were made using real leaves and mica powder. The tutorial is available here.

Mica Powder and Polymer Clay

Mica powders are added to polymer clay to make your favorite pearl and metallic colors. You can also buy mica powders and apply them to the surface of your project. Since raw polymer clay is naturally slightly sticky, mica powders stick readily to the surface. Mica powders will not stick to the surface of baked clay, so you’ll need to mix them with your favorite varnish or clearcoat to make a “paint”.

On raw polymer clay, mica powders can be applied with a finger and smoothed (burnished) flat to enhance their shine. Or they can be applied more precisely with a soft, dry paintbrush. For even more precise application, try wetting your brush. Clean your brush as usual, with soap and water.

These polymer clay earrings are decorated with mica and mica crackle effects. (Love these earring shapes? Get the Contemporary Earring Course and Shape Templates here.)

There is a huge variety of polymer clay techniques that use mica powders to add shine or sparkle in a controlled manner. You could apply them through a silkscreen. Or you could apply the mica powder to a texture sheet or stamp that is then pressed into a sheet of raw polymer clay. I’m particularly fond of using them in crackle effects, which are covered extensively in my Crackle Compendium exploration guide.

Lined, cracked, distressed

Crackle is a versatile technique that can make a fine web, deep crevices, or even interesting animal skin effects. This guide takes you on an adventure of discovery into the limits of polymer clay’s magic.

Learn More

Sealing Mica Powders on Polymer Clay

Mica powders applied to raw polymer clay stick very well and do not need to be sealed unless they will be handled. Thick applications of the powder can lie on the surface and make you assume it’s brushing off. No, this is excess mica powder that is not attached. Clear coats will, however, give additional protection and even enhance the brilliance of the sparkle. Be very careful using a gloss spray varnish. Most are not compatible with polymer clay and will never dry, ruining your project. Instead, use a very light-bodied sealer such as Swellegant Sealer or Final Coat. I also like Pledge Floor Care (known by many names including Future and Johnson’s Klear). You can learn more about these clearcoats in my articles on sealers here, here, and here.

Is Mica Powder Safe?

Mica powder is non-toxic. It does not cause cancer. It does not contain asbestos and does not cause lung fibrosis with casual exposure. You do not need to wear a mask while applying mica powders to a project. This is the same material that is in eye shadow, blush, and face powder, after all. But please remember that you should never breathe any particles (of anything) if you can help it. Take care to minimize the amount that “floofs” up, and if you’re going to make a big cloud or if you are repackaging them, (or work with them occupationally), you should wear an N95 mask.

Pigments, mica, and powders are magical

Don’t be intimidated by those little jars and packets of colorful powders. Learn to use them effectively in your projects.

Learn More

Mica Powder Translucency

There’s one more thing I should mention about mica powders, and that’s translucency. Some of them have high coverage and you cannot see the color of the polymer clay underneath. Others are very sheer and have poor coverage. Sheer colors will look very different on a light base than they do on a dark one. In addition, duo and interference colors show up VERY different on a dark vs a light base. Because I got frustrated knowing which jar of Pearl Ex to grab, made a color chart with all 54 colors, and hung it on my wall. I have made the file available for download (for free) here so you can get it printed and have one, too. The page also has an interactive Pearl Ex comparison tool so you can pick the colors you’d like to see side-by-side.

Where to Buy Mica Powders

Well-known craft product manufacturers such as Ranger and Jacquard have their own dedicated lines of quality mica powders that come in a huge range of colors. Ranger makes a powder called Perfect Pearls and Jacquard makes a line of mica powders called Pearl Ex.

Perfect Pearls contains gum arabic so that you can wet it to make a paint. But the gum arabic causes the Perfect Pearls to be gritty and can make it hard to smooth the powder onto raw polymer clay neatly. Contrary to a (very) popular misunderstanding, Perfect Pearls do not contain a “resin” that allows them to bond better during baking. All mica powder bonds well to polymer clay during baking. Gum arabic does not enhance this effect.

Because of the grittiness in Perfect Pearls, I prefer using Jacquard Pearl Ex with polymer clay. In addition, Pearl Ex has many more colors in its range, including duo and interference colors (54 in total). On July 1, 2020, Jacquard released 5 new colors of Pearl Ex. You can read about them and see them being used here.

Buying Mica Powders Online

Because mica powders are wildly popular at the moment, and because it’s easy to buy them in bulk from China, there are thousands upon thousands of small businesses selling mica powders. They’re often packaged in sets of colors sold in tiny baggies or vials. These sets are a great way to get a large number of colors cheaply. Be aware, however, that if you need a specific color for an ongoing project, the colors are not usually labelled accurately or become unavailable. (I have several colors of nail powders that I can’t get more of, much to my dismay.)

In addition, mica powders are often sold as “pigment, dye, mica powder” or other such words in the listing title. This “keyword stuffing” is misleading and it also means that you aren’t going to be sure if you’re getting pigments, mica powders, or mixtures. (They won’t be dyes, btw. Dyes are very different.)

In addition to the named colors of Perfect Pearls and Jacquard, you can also buy mica powders from cosmetic suppliers. I like Brambleberry because they give a lot of information about each one, making your choice easy (or harder due to the choices)!

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