Colour and minerals
Mica
Mica is a family of silicate minerals that split into very thin, reflective flakes. Ground fine, it gives eyeshadows, blushes, highlighters and powders their shimmer and a silky feel.
- On a list as
- Mica (CI 77019)
- What it does
- Shimmer and slip
- Where it comes from
- Mineral
- Vegan?
- Yes
Why it’s in a formula
It reflects light, which reads as glow or shimmer, and helps a powder glide and cling.
- Natural mica mining has been linked by investigative reports to child labour, particularly in parts of India. An ingredient list can’t tell you where a batch was mined.
- “Synthetic fluorphlogopite” is lab-grown mica, used as an alternative. L’Ombre’s list names it among the ingredients some shades may contain.
Where you’ll find it at Divina
Read from each piece’s published ingredient list. 11 pieces.
L'Éclat
Lip Gloss
$44
Listed as Mica · some shades
Not vegan: lanolin and beeswax, and some shades may contain carmine
Le Rouge
Liquid Lipstick
$48
Listed as Mica
Not vegan in every shade: a synthetic wax rather than beeswax, but some shades may contain carmine
La Teinte
Lip Gloss Stain
$40
Listed as Mica · some shades
Not vegan in every shade: beeswax in sixteen of its twenty-two shades, and most may contain carmine; Shy, Cinnamon, Rose, Firedown and Dazzle read vegan
Questions
Is mica vegan?
Yes. It is a mineral.
Is mica safe in makeup?
Cosmetic mica is considered safe on skin. Loose powders shouldn’t be inhaled, as with any fine powder.
What is the difference between mica and synthetic mica?
Natural mica is mined; synthetic mica, listed as synthetic fluorphlogopite, is grown in a lab. The synthetic kind is purer and often brighter, and it sidesteps the questions about how natural mica is mined.
How we know: every ingredient list on this site is the manufacturer’s own, read piece by piece and shade by shade, and the pieces above are worked out from those lists each time the site is built. Ingredient names and functions follow the EU’s CosIng database. This page describes cosmetic ingredients; it isn’t medical advice.
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