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Recently, I had a Mom from Florida call to order our mineral makeup kit for her daughter. The daughter wanted to explain the making of cosmetics in a science exhibit for her school. Brilliant! In addition to selling them the kit, I immediately directed them to this very excellent, non-commerical website about pigments, Pigments Through The Ages: http://webexhibits.org/pigments/ This site has lots of pretty pictures and easy-to-read historical info about pigments but it also drills down into fascinatnig details on chemical structure and manufacture. The sister sites include Causes of Color and Color http://webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/ , Vision and Art http://webexhibits.org/colorart/ , both wonderful sites for your budding scientist/artist.

Where I stumbled last time I was websurfing . . . Trae Bodge, a New Yorker has partnered to create a business called Three Custom Color Makeup. She started as a tiny mail order lipstick and blush biz and started going gang busters after just a year. read her technique for custom-making lipsticks at $50 a pair. Trae's business site, which www.threecustom.com . She has some very interesting information there about how to i.d your "cool vs. warm" tones, and what will look best on on you as a result. I was also nicely wow'd by her "Press" section. You can see why her business is booming -- she's got some savvy PR partners working with her, getting the company name into lots of flashy magazines. And Trae was even featured in Elle magazine in April! Be sure to visit our site at www.wholesalecolors.com (or www.tkbtrading.com ).

There is a fascinating article in the December 2005 Popular Science magazine about the invention of colored soap bubbles. You will no doubt see this unique invention on the market by next summer -- at the latest. These soap bubbles are vivid colors -- purple, pink, etc., and yet, when they burst the dyes do not stain or color. Instead, they simply disappear. Read the article to understand the science behind this, it is fascinating. FASCINATING! What's the use of this new invention? Aside from the joy of colored bubbles, and the use of colored bubbles for special events (think pink bubbles at a breast cancer awareness fundraiser), the invention is mostly a breakthrough in dye technology. For example, imagine having a sponge that leaves behind a trail of color to show you where you have wiped . . . and after a few minutes the color disappears. Or a toothpaste that colors the inside of your kid's mouth to show where they have brushed, until it disappears. Be sure to visit our site

Interesting blurb in Business 2.0 magazine about nanotechnology as used in color cosmetics (November, 2005, pg. 36). It says that L'Oreal will release a new line of lipstick, eye shadow and nail polish in 2006. The products will look white in their packages, but when they are applied and interact with light, the makeup will shimmer with vivid colors. What's happening is that the color in the makeup will not come from dyes and pigments (as is the case now). Instead, liquid crystals will be microscopically layered in such a way that they will reflect light and thereby produce different hues. Think of how an oil slick reflects light, or a soap bubble.Wow! Be sure to visit our site at www.wholesalecolors.com (or www.tkbtrading.com ).

In our weblog, I will be posting things that I find interesting about the industries of color, crafts and color cosmetics. I also plan to post some of the more interesting questions which I get, along with my answers. Feel free to add your comments. Be sure to visit our site at www.wholesalecolors.com (or www.tkbtrading.com ).