Does Mica Powder Stain Skin? What You Should Know

Mica powder is a common craft supply that artists use in various ways, from making custom candles to staining furniture. Since it adds color and shine to so many kinds of projects, many people wonder if mica powder stains skin and what they should know before using it. While it’s not a traditional dye, you should always know the health and safety properties of a supply before using it. Keep reading to learn more about mica powder.

Mica Powder Shouldn’t Stain Skin

The short answer for whether mica powder will stain your skin is no. Mica powder is natural and has natural colors that shouldn’t leave a permanent stain on your skin. However, some manufacturers add dyes and colorants to mica powder to brighten the natural color or give it a specific feature, such as color-changing properties. Manufacturers should use safe dyes and colorants when doing this so that the mica powder doesn’t stain artists’ skin. However, some may not act with such discretion, which means their mica powder could stain your skin.

Using Polysorbate 80 To Avoid Stains

While most mica powder shouldn’t stain skin, you can use Polysorbate 80 in bath and body products to help ensure no staining occurs. Polysorbate 80 is a surfactant in many cosmetics, which means it helps decrease the surface tension or interfacial tension between liquids, liquids and gases, or liquids and solids. It is a viscous, water-soluble liquid that you can add to bath and body products so that the mica powder, which is a solid, is less likely to stain skin. You may find this especially helpful when working with dark colors that run a higher risk of staining, even though no good mica powder should stain skin.

Eye Candy Mica Powders

As we mentioned above, no good mica powder should stain skin, but some manufacturers may add dyes that change this safe property. Eye Candy Pigments provides mica powders that are highly pigmented, and some have unique properties, such as color-changing abilities. However, our mica powders are always safe, nontoxic, and cruelty free. While all our colors are stain free, we do recommend using Polysorbate 80 in bath, body, and cosmetic products if you’re worried about accidental staining.

Mica powder should not stain skin, but you should know about using Polysorbate 80 to avoid accidental staining just in case. Now that you can set your worries about stains aside, we can help you find the color-changing mica powder or other pigment products that you need for your next project. As we mentioned above, all our pigments are safe, nontoxic, and cruelty free, so you can feel confident using them in any creative project.