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Pigments & Powders

Mica Powders & Pigments

The Perfetto collection of premium quality metallic powders and Pearlescent powders are the finest MICA made. The collection consists of 28 different colors and particle sizes.
  • Easily incorporated into all water-based systems
  • Bold and highly reflective
  • Offer the ultimate durability
  • Incorporate easily into Faux Finishing Glazes or clear acrylic fine art mediums
  • Useful for a virtually infinite number of decorative finish effects
  • Non-toxic and non-reactive which means they can be incorporated into virtually any medium
  • Available in 40 grams and One Pound 
Frequently Asked Question

Tinting Metallic Mica Paint 

Perfetto's line of Faux Colorants, universal colorant, and Dispersion colorants can all be used to tint paint. 

Faux Colorants are the milds Line of pigments. Followed in concentration by Universals, and the most concentrated is the Dispersion line. 

These high-quality pigments tint the acrylic base around the mica powder Adding to the dimension and depth effects metallic paint offers.  

 

What Makes Mica Shiny or Metallic?

For most materials, light will either hit an object and bounce off of it (while some energy absorbed as heat), such as a door, or pass through it, such as a window. However, there are a small number of materials that do both. 

Reflective Mica & Refractive Mica

Iridescent mica powders have a couple of very unique characteristics. What makes a mica "iridescent" rather than shiny or metallic in appearance comes down to some interesting science behind how light interacts with different surfaces and materials. 

When light strikes an iridescent mica, it is refracted. Just as in a prism, the wavelengths of light are split apart and sent in somewhat different directions. The resulting effect this generates varies greatly from material to material. But in practical effect, this means the colors achieved from each type of mica vary greatly.    

Iridescent Mica will change the color it appears to be based on the angle from which you are viewing it. Some iridescent Micah is intermixed with purely reflective Particles of mica flake and those colors are refracted differently based on the angle of view. 

Iridescent mica and its color changing abilities are a keystone of faux finishing and decorative coatings. mixable with Perfetto Universal and Faux colorants. an even broader assortment of amazing mica colors can be achieved. 

 

Iridescent Mica Powder - Uses

Mica is a form of silicate, relatively inert, naturally occurring mineral, available in a number of different colors, textures, and sizes. Natural mica is found in many different types of rock but decorative mica is primarily found in thin crystalline layers of near granite 

You can find it in a wide range of products from concrete to joint compound to makeup.

In decorative and faux finishing applications we use small medium and large flake mica and virtually every size particle in between. While mica is found in many places around the world. Good quality colored mica comes from just a few of the mica mines around the world.  

Scrap and flake mica

Many countries produce some form of mica, Russia Finland south Korea united state India Canada France china all have mica reserves being mined today.
Nearly all of the worlds most abundant mineral is turned into drywall compound cercut board and electrical insulators. 
 
Q: Can I add pearlescent MICA powders to my latex house paint to get a Pearlescent or metallic paint look?
A: The short answer is not exactly.
 Latex house paints typically contain a white pigment called Titanium Dioxide or Tio2. Tio2 is one of the major factors which give paint its coverage or opacity and also contributes to UV stability. However, Tio2 will dramatically reduce the pearlescent appearance or reflection of the MICA pigment and therefore we typically do not recommend it be added to house paint. A better approach would be a metallic glaze.