Announcing Affordable Synthetic Mica-based Pigments from Impact Colors

Impact Colors, Inc. of Newark, DE, announces Fiesta Color Effect Pigments, an innovative line of synthetic mica-based pigments that delivers energetic colors and effects, value, and advanced functionality without the risk of heavy metals.

“There are currently forty-eight Fiesta pigments available. These Fiesta products are brighter than mica-based pearl pigments and are available in silver, gold, interference, and metallic colors,” says Joseph F. Senackerib, co-founder of Impact Colors. “They are environmentally pure, being synthetically produced from pure minerals found in nature.”

The Fiesta line is appropriate for eye products, lipstick, facial makeup, and nail polish. The line meets all applicable FDA, EU, and Japanese Health Ministry requirements. These products are currently available through Impact Colors’ worldwide distribution.

Coast Southwest, Inc. distributes Fiesta Color Effect pigments as well as Impact Colors’ other lines of color effect pigments and products to the personal care marketplace in the western and mountain regions of the United States.

Using a synthetic mica substrate imbues the Fiesta specialty pigments with unique features that offer application and marketing benefits to manufacturers and formulators. The line is so-named because of its vibrant and energetic color pigment possibilities, thanks to a synthetic mica base.

Pearlescent pigments and cosmetics depend on reflected and refracted light to create much of their unique and dramatic effects.

“When we make the synthetic mica, it’s laid out, like you make paper on a belt dryer and classified into particle sizes,” Senackerib says. “The material is a single layer thick and less opaque than natural mica so light passes through. As you build substrates of these single layers, you get increased reflection and depth of field. This achieves brighter color, greater luster and accentuates the pearl effect.”

While the color of natural mica ranges from slightly yellow all the way to brown or black and must be carefully evaluated for consistency, synthetic mica’s consistent white color ensures (assuming no other variation in the process or ingredients) that the pearl pigment produced from a formula using a Fiesta product will be the same consistent color. Because the synthetic mica platelets are uniform, it is easy to control the particle size in applications.

The platelets also perform the same way each time. They disperse easily in liquid, oil, or gel and remain uniformly dispersed. They are more resistant to breakage because synthetic mica has a greater ability to flex than does natural mica.

The Fiesta Color Effect Pigments line is extremely versatile.

“If you are doing a completely new line, then you can change the colors as you want,” Senackerib says. “If you are changing a few colors in the line, you can also use these to create a regular color or add a pearlescent pigment to make a brighter color with a different feel. You can create red with a gold undertone or blue with a red undertone. If you are looking for bronze or copper, you can use the Fiesta pigments (iron oxide over synthetic mica) for a strong metallic effect.”

Fashion changes rapidly. “It’s rare that our clients’ colors last more than a couple of years without losing volume,” Senackerib says, “but one thing about it, pearlescent colors and effects never disappear.”

With the Fiesta Color Effect Pigments, formulators and manufacturers in the personal care industry now have brighter, cleaner, deeper looking, more consistent, and greener pearlescent specialty colors with improved quality at an equivalent price to natural mica-based alternatives.

The potential for exciting colors and dramatic effects just increased.

To find out more about Fiesta Colors and other Impact Colors lines, please contact your Coast Southwest representative. Coast Southwest represents Impact Colors in eleven western states from our California, Arizona, and Utah locations.