Pearl pigment is an important coloring agent for facial, lip, eye, and nail beauty cosmetics. The use of pearl pigments has expanded from classic color cosmetics to personal care products, including skin and hair care products, and provides unique aesthetic effects.
Pearlescent pigments are composed of substances with higher refractive indices, which act as interference filters in low refractive index environmental media. These filters divide the incident light that reaches the interface between materials with different refractive indices at a suitable angle into complementary reflected light and transmitted light parts (incident light at other angles can also be absorbed and reflected). This effect is similar to phenomena observed in our daily lives, such as soap bubbles, spilled oil, and the color of pearls.
Pearlescent pigments are a layered system composed of a substrate and a covering layer, with the substrate generally being natural muscovite, silica, or aluminum sheets; The covering layer is titanium dioxide or iron oxide, or CI 77510 (pigment blue 27, ferrous cyanide), or carmine red, etc. The substrate is crystalline, flexible, and has a smooth surface. The thickness and refractive index of metal oxides determine the interference effect.