What's New

The air cleaner that we use here at TKB Trading, LLC is the Friedrich C-90B Electrostatic Air Cleaner, which runs about $450 - $500. This is an expensive air cleaner for "consumer level" (as opposed to even more spendy "industrial level") products. It is also somewhat bulky and not particularly attractive. But we really like it because it seems to be quite effective at keeping the air in our studio fresh, it doesn't have a huge energy demand, and it is easy to clean. The fact that there are no filters to purchase and constantly replace was a big seller for us because we generate a lot of dust. You simply remove two pull-out filters and rinse them down with water before replacing them. We wash ours about once a week and always "ooh and ahh" over the amount of particulants that we send down the drain instead of breathe into our lungs. Also, the unit received a #1 ranking by Consumer Reports (when compared to other consumer level machines). The mac...

The colored micas that we sell can be used "as-is" as eyeshadow. However, you can save money and actually improve the adhesion and feel of the colored mica by extending it with a filler. The cheapest filler that we sell is Kaolin Clay. At $6 per pound (as of this post), that makes it a super-inexpensive filler. It also adds adhesion to the colored mica. Other fillers which we recommend include: magnesium stearate, boron nitride, talc, silica microspheres, ronasphere, authentic silk powder and bismuth oxychloide. Any time you mix a colored mica with a filler, you will change the look of the powder. Typically, the additives will make the colored mica less intense in hue and sometimes less shimmery. This can be a good thing, if it is what you want. You have to experiment. For example, in the photo above, the color to the far right which is deepest in hue is our Deep Blue mica "as is". Below and to the left is the color mixed with equal amounts of our Authentic Silk Pow...

Lip products are essentially a blend of oil and wax. To that, we add color. The 3 kinds of color products used in lipstick includes: dyes, pigments and mica. When you think "dyes", think "food dye", because it is essentially the same thing. The good thing about dyes is that they are very intense and they actually stain the lips, making the color last longer. The down side is that most dyes are chemically manufactured (aniline dyes). Folk who want to sell only a natural lip product tend to avoid dyes. There are a handful of natural dyes, however, which are popular in lip products. Foremost among these is Carmine, a lovely red which, while natural, is unfortunately not vegan as it is derived from insects. An example of a natural lip product company which uses Carmine would be Burt's Bees. Pigments (typically the Oxides) are another color additive used in lip products. When you think pigments, think "like paint". They are opaque, and while they may also s...