Mica, Iron Oxides, and Reading a Colorant's Full INCI

Somebody sent me a supplier spec sheet last week for a "champagne shimmer" pigment used in an eyeshadow, and the trade name was doing a lot of hiding. One name, five ingredients underneath. This is normal for colorants, and it trips up more filings than almost any other ingredient category, because a pretty name on a jar label is rarely the whole story on an INCI list.

Why coated mica isn't just "mica"

Mica on its own is a natural mineral, and its INCI name is simply Mica. But most cosmetic shimmer pigments aren't raw mica. They're mica particles coated with something to create color, sheen, or opacity, most often iron oxides, titanium dioxide, or a colored lake. The coating is a separate ingredient with its own INCI name and its own CAS number, and it needs to appear as its own line, not folded silently into "mica."

So when a supplier sells you "Champagne Shimmer Pigment," what's actually in that jar might unpack into something like:

INCI Name	Typical CAS Number	Function	Notes
Mica	12001-26-2	Base substrate, provides shimmer/sheen	Natural mineral, several CAS variants exist depending on source
Titanium Dioxide	13463-67-7	Opacifying agent, adds brightness	Also has UV-filtering properties in some formulations
Iron Oxides (CI 77491)	51274-00-1	Red-brown colorant	CI number identifies the specific oxide shade
Iron Oxides (CI 77492)	51274-00-1	Yellow colorant	Often paired with CI 77491 for warm tones
Tin Oxide	18282-10-5	Adhesion layer between coatings	Common in high-shimmer or interference pigments

That's five lines from one trade name. If you list "Champagne Shimmer Pigment" on your Cosmetic Notification Form as though it were a single ingredient, you haven't actually notified Health Canada of what's in your product. You've notified them of a marketing name.

CI numbers versus INCI names

Colorants carry two identifying systems that often show up together. The INCI name tells you the chemical identity, something like Iron Oxides. The CI number, short for Colour Index number, is a separate classification that pins down the exact shade and crystal structure. CI 77491 and CI 77492 are both "iron oxides" in plain English, but they're different colors and, technically, different substances for labeling purposes. When you're mapping a colorant, you generally want both identifiers captured, since the CI number disambiguates which oxide you're actually using.

Getting the concentration right

The other place these pigments cause trouble is math. If your supplier blend is 100% pigment and you're using it at 3% of your total eyeshadow formula, that's straightforward. But if the "pigment" itself is a pre-diluted blend, maybe 40% active mica-oxide complex suspended in a binder, you need to multiply that 40% by your 3% use level to get the real concentration of the colorant complex in the finished product. Skipping that step is one of the most common ways concentration ranges end up wrong on a filing.

Practical steps for handling a coated mica colorant:

1. Ask your supplier for the full INCI breakdown, not just the trade name. Most legitimate cosmetic ingredient suppliers will provide this on request or in their spec sheet.
2. Note the CI number for each oxide or colorant layer if the supplier discloses it.
3. Confirm whether the product you bought is the pure pigment complex or a pre-diluted version, and get the real percentage of active colorant.
4. Multiply that percentage by your use level in the finished formula to get the true concentration of each component.
5. List each component separately by INCI name with its concentration or range.

When the supplier won't give you a breakdown

This happens more than it should, especially with smaller or overseas suppliers selling "cosmetic grade mica" in bulk online. If a supplier can't or won't provide an INCI breakdown, that's a signal to look elsewhere, because you can't file an accurate notification for an ingredient you can't identify. A certificate of analysis or a technical data sheet should list the components, and if it doesn't, ask directly before you commit to a formula built around that pigment.

Some botanical extracts genuinely have no CAS number, which is expected and fine. But mineral pigments like mica and iron oxides almost always do, and a supplier who can't produce one for a mineral colorant is worth a second look.

This is exactly the kind of unpacking Cosmetic Comply automates. You hand it your ingredient list, including trade names, and it maps each one to its INCI name and CAS number, expanding blends like coated mica pigments into their real components with the math already done on concentration. Then a compliance reviewer checks the result before anything gets filed. It saves the back-and-forth of chasing down supplier documentation for every shimmer and lake in a color cosmetic line.

If a specific pigment's regulatory status looks unclear for your market, it's worth checking the current ingredient hotlist or restricted list directly, since colorant rules can vary between Canada, the US, and the EU in ways that aren't always obvious from the trade name alone.