A question of mica

[DMack]

Before I dip a toe into the colourful world of mica - I’ve been watching the soap queen and I feel patterns are in my future- I would like advice on how much mica in approx 1kg soap -2lb ish- and roughly how much I would expect to pay for some decent ones. I am in the UK but just ball park advice really appreciated. I checked Amazon and of course it’s flooded with suggestions and I don’t know where to start.

 

[Zing]

Buy your micas from reputable soap supply companies and make sure they are okay to use in cold process soap -- I would avoid Amazon. Soap companies will list their usage rates as well. When I started, I liked ordering sample packs before I invested in larger amounts. I do favor micas over other colorants because you can just dump it in your batter -- other colorants require pre-mixing. Go ahead and dip that toe!

 

[Tara_H]

I ordered some micas from Micamoma (Lisa from I Dream in Soap uses them) and they recommend 0.25g to 1g per 100g of soap batter, which I've found to give decent saturated colours. (That being said I've had some very strange issues with their website, and I still can't figure out how they arrived at the total for the order, so I don't necessarily recommend them and probably won't use them again.)
Like Zing said, if you get them from the right kinds of places they'll tell you what the recommended amounts are.

 

[DMack]

Thanks both, much appreciated

 

[ImpKit]

I've never used them but Mica Moma seems to be a popular supplier in the Uk? I Dream in Soap uses them a lot at least.

I agree with Zing though. Pick a reputable company that gives you the info up front. Nurture Soap may not be financially viable for you but they are a good resource to see what you want in a listing. They tell you the application it's good for (MP, CP, bath bombs, etc), they have a clear picture showing what it should look like in CP soap after saponification, and they advise (you DO have to look for this) how many teaspoons per pound of oils you need. I think they also list their test recipe so you can gauge what sort of base they're working with and how the natural color of soap might affect the mica impact.