What Are Effect Pigments?

Pearlescent, shimmering and metallic effect pigments are a staple of cosmetics and toiletries. They enhance color cosmetics with a sparkling and shimmery appearance, give iridescent effects to shampoos and soaps and add lustrous sparkle to lipsticks and foundations. They are also an important part of car paints and other industrial coatings, printing inks and construction materials.

The special optical effects of these pigments are created by the parallel alignment of a multiplicity of platelet-like semi-transparent particles with different particle sizes. The resulting light-reflection phenomena cause an impression of optical depth, color travel and strong angle dependency in the applied material. These effects cannot be duplicated with other methods such as sandblasting, spraying or grinding. This is what makes them unique.

Compared to conventional color pigments, which have average platelet diameters of 0.1 to 1 mm and therefore absorb only a fraction of the light that hits them, effect pigments have average platelet thicknesses significantly above the wavelength of visible light. As a result, they reflect most of the light that hits them like lots of tiny mirrors, creating the desired effect.

Depending on the manufacturing process and the type of effect pigment, different types of color effects can be achieved by varying the layer thicknesses and their composition. For example, silver metal effect pigments based on mica can be produced in various colors such as gold or blue by changing the layer thickness. In contrast, alumina pigments based on aluminium oxide are only available in a very limited range of colors such as white or silver because they have absorbing elements that change the color.