Soap and Candles

Micas are the classic soap colourant, and most of our pearl and shimmer range works in melt-and-pour and cold process. Candles are more selective. Here is what to use where.

Soap

  • Melt and pour: about 1 teaspoon of mica per 500 g of base. Disperse the teaspoon in a tablespoon of 99% isopropyl alcohol first so it does not clump, then stir into the melted base half a teaspoon at a time until you like the colour. Clear base shows shimmers and effects; white base gives solid pastels.
  • Cold process: about 1 teaspoon per 500 g of soap, dispersed in a tablespoon of a light liquid oil before it goes into the batter. Test first: the high pH of fresh soap can shift some colours.
  • Mica swirls and painting: dry mica brushed on top, or mixed with alcohol and sprayed or painted on a set bar, gives the metallic surface finish.
  • Bath bombs: a small pinch of mica, blended into the dry mix. A little polysorbate 80 in the recipe helps the colour disperse in the water instead of ringing the bath.

Candles

  • In the wax: micas do not dissolve in wax, they suspend in it, and too much clogs the wick and can make the candle tunnel or go out. If you must, keep it tiny (a rule of thumb is a sixteenth of a teaspoon per two cups of wax) and test burn. For colour in the wax, use a candle dye and keep mica for shimmer.
  • On the surface: the safe use. Dust or paint mica onto the outside of the finished candle, or onto a pillar mould before pouring, for a metallic or pearl finish that never meets the wick.
  • Wax melts: no wick, so mica in the wax is fine. Shimmers and multichromes look good in clear or pale wax.

Which pigments

  • Micas: soap, bath bombs, melts, candle surfaces.
  • Aurora and iridescent shimmers: clear melt-and-pour and melts, where the colour travel shows.
  • Pure pigments: strong matte colour in cold process where micas fade.
  • Not suited: glitters, flakes and thermochromics in candle wax; mirror chromes anywhere here.

Good to know

Colour strength varies pigment to pigment, so start low and add. Our pigments are colourants, not fragrances or dyes, and the amounts above are starting points from our own testing rather than a formula. If you sell what you make, the labelling and safety rules for your product are yours to check.