Soap Making Instructional: Painting with Mica Powder
Dry Brush Painting Technique Using Mica Powder
You can create elegant, beautifully colored soaps using a dry brush painting technique. We recommend professional sable art brushes in fan, round, and liner sizes. Cosmetic brushes (such a blush and eye shadow brushes) also work well.
Before painting unmolded soaps, practice some brush strokes on a few scraps of soap cubes. Use both white and clear melt & pour soap base to get a feel for the effects of the dry brush application.
When ready, place the unmolded soap on a paper towel sheet. A flat working surface is essential as well as a few extra sheets of paper toweling (for removing excess mica particles from the brush between colors). Determine the various size brush tips needed for the project. Use a smaller tipped brush for more intricate areas. And a wider brush for the larger areas. Dip the dry brush into the mica powder. Placing the mica powder in a zip lock plastic bag makes this process easier. Carefully apply the mica particles to the area you wish to color. Dabbing the powder onto the soap often works better than "stroking", particular when working with small areas. Once color is applied to a given area, gently blow on the soap to remove excess mica particles. Adding multiple layers of mica will intensify the color tone of many colors. Just be sure to apply the mica evenly in all areas.
Continue coloring each area of the soap with mica colors until the desired effect is reached. You may also blend mica colors. For example, you can apply a layer of pearl pink mica and apply a layer of pearl blue mica on top of the pearl pink. Have fun experimenting!
Do not use water to clean brush between color changes. Instead, wipe the brush tip repeatedly on a clean sheet of paper towel to remove particles.
Clean brushes with soapy water and allow to air dry once painting project is complete.
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