Purple micas…

[madde hughes]

Hi guys. I am struggling very much to get a vibrant shade of purple in my CP recipes. I’ve used TD to turn the batch white first and then added my dispersed mica mixtures. I use the ratio of 1 teaspoon of mica to 1 tablespoon of sweet almond oil. I have used any different CP recipes and I struggle in a lot of them to get the shade of purple I am going for.
The biggest mica I have found issues with is Brambleberrys Queens Purple but I’ve seen other people posting raving reviews. I just need some advice. I want to be able to achieve deep, vibrant purples. Or bright vibrant purples. Any advice is welcome. Thanks in advance

 

[NewlyCreative]

Bramberry’s Queen’s purple went from dark shimmery purple in the pre-pour batter to pale lavender in the mold overnight for me. I didn’t use titanium dioxide.

You’re not alone with this result.

 

[A-Polly]

Hmm, the times I've used Queen's Purple my results quite closely matched the samples shown on BB's product page, which is what I wanted (it's one of my favorite purples to use). But sounds like you're looking for something super vibrant, so perhaps you'd want to try neon pigments instead of micas? Mad Micas has a bunch, and so does Nurture Soap. Also, I'm pretty sure I saw a soaper on YouTube add a bit of neon pigment to his mica-colored batter when he wanted to boost color without going full-on neon, but I can't recall who it was (and it wasn't purple). Good luck finding something that suits your design!

 

[dibbles]

Is there a reason you are adding TD? This will lighten your colors. Most of my micas are from Nurture. My favorite for a deep purple is Cheshire Cat. That one has violet/blue undertones. Queen for a Day is also good and has more red undertones. Purple Vibrance and Jam Session are both nice purples. As A-Polly mentioned, you can add a pinch of neon if you want to make the color brighter.

 

[dmcgee5034]

I agree with @dibbles - try skipping the TD; and with @A-Polly - add a smidge of neon.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Here are a couple of suggestions that I can offer in addition to the good advice given above. Purple is tricky in soap because of the slight yellow tint of a lot of soaping fats. Yellow is ”complimentary” to purple on the color wheel and when the two are mixed the result is brown. What color is your base recipe? It could be that switching to less colored fats would help. How much mica are you using per pound of oil? I didn’t check the usage rates for Brambleberry micas but Nurture recommends 1-2 tsp per pound of oils for many of their micas, which at the high end of the range is not far from 1 tsp per cup of soap batter. If you’re using a tsp or less of mica ppo, you could try adding more.

 

[GGMA0317]

Hi guys. I am struggling very much to get a vibrant shade of purple in my CP recipes. I’ve used TD to turn the batch white first and then added my dispersed mica mixtures. I use the ratio of 1 teaspoon of mica to 1 tablespoon of sweet almond oil. I have used any different CP recipes and I struggle in a lot of them to get the shade of purple I am going for.
The biggest mica I have found issues with is Brambleberrys Queens Purple but I’ve seen other people posting raving reviews. I just need some advice. I want to be able to achieve deep, vibrant purples. Or bright vibrant purples. Any advice is welcome. Thanks in advance

Do you have a photo of the color you're looking for? I've used a couple of purples that I think came out very nice. I don't use colorants very often so I'll have to check my supplies to find the source. I believe it was ultramarine from WSP or Make-your-own.buzz

 

[KiwiMoose]

I tend to use half and half mica with neon pigment. Neon provides the bright, clear colour, and mica provides the depth. Unfortunately we don't get the full range of mica colours here in NZ, so i have to blend to get the desired results.