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The Secret History Of Ultramarine Blue
Ultramarine blue has to be one of the most widely used pigments in cosmetics and has been in the painters pallette for many centuries.
The name ultramarine is derived form the latin word ultramarinus which literally means beyond. Thus ultramarine means beyond the sea which is relevant because the pigment was imported from mines in Afghanistan to Europe.
The origins of ultramarine blue can be found in a range of mountains in Afghanistan named the Sar-I-Sang which means the “Valley of the Stone”. This is where lapis lazuli (a semi-precious stone), the original source of ultramarine blue pigment is from. Lazurite is the compound found in lapis lazuli which imparts the vivid blue colour it is famous for.
It is in the Sar-I-Sang 6000 thousand years ago that this expensive semi precious blue stone was exported to Egyptian traders. Lapis Lazuli was worn only by the wealthiest in Egypt often in jewellery and elaborate head-dresses. After failed attempts by the Egyptians to turn lapis lazuli into a decent paint, 3000 years later it was finally accomplished.
Lapis Lazuli paint (natural ultramarine blue paint) initially appeared in al fresco paintings in Afghanistan and once the secret as to how it was made reached Europe there was no stopping its use. It was greatly prized by the church and there was a large demand for the paint for use in paintings depicting the Virgin Mary in particular. As lapis Lazuli paint was the most expensive of all it was reserved for the Virgin Mary’s robes to denote how precious she was.
Until a synthetic form of ultramarine blue was invented in 1826 it continued to be extremely expensive. But now ultramarine blue is a very economical pigment and features in many products including cosmetics. It imparts a beautiful and eye catching blue shade and is very easy to work with. This is why it is often preferred to ferric ferrocyanide (iron blue) or prussian blue because it is much easier to disperse in post cosmetic applications.
Ultramarine blue is a complex compound from the sodium aluminum sufosilicate family. It is excellent for use in cold process soap as it is stable in alkali environments however it does decompose in an acidic environment and thus evolves into hydrogen sulfide owing to a very sulphuric (rotten egg smell). However this smell can sometimes be present when ultramarine blue is used to colour cold process soap.
Eye makeup is one of the main cosmetic categories for the use of ultramarine blue. It is not as strong as iron blue which has a very dark masstone but it is so much easily dispersed and easy to use thus making it a fantastic blue pigment for cosmetic manufacturers, paint makers, crafters and artists to name a few.
