[Undine]

Oops thank you for pointing that out, sorry for the typical American exceptionalism. 

We are based in the Southern United States and we are focusing initially on the North American Market. It would be great to find someone local but of course this unlikely, we can discuss the options for working remotely instead. 

[Undine]

Sponge said:

Kaolin or calcium carbonate would likely work - so would talc, mica. I don’t know how well these would suspend though. Have you considered silica?

Im not sure these opacifiers will go far though. Especially considering the fluid nature of the product - you wouldn’t want too much. 

Is there a reason for preserving the intense chroma? A tint might be what you need considering the color range most use in airbrush (assuming you’re not aiming for vibrant face/body paint).

Finally, a current ingredients list would help us better assist, as we don’t know what you’re already using and compatibility, etc. 

It will be for a body paint with my main market being cosplay/special effects artists, so the paint has to have good coverage without being noticibly tinted by Ti02. It will be carried in a silicone in alcohol base, and the colorants are common mineral and FD&C lake pigments so I dont anticipate any combatibility issues. 

I will try the talc and silica, I only have fumed silica lying around the studio which wont work. Is there particular grade or particle size you would recommend? 

Thanks for the help! 

[Undine]

Herbnerd said:

I was looking for a non-TiO2 opacifier recently. Talking with a colour chemist ultimately I was told we can reduce the TiO2 but it cannot be replaces easily. Kaolin nor calcium carbonate will do what we require of it.

Ah thats too bad, let me know if you find anything! 

[Undine]

Pharma said:

IPA dries faster and comes, at an affordable price, water-free whilst ethanol is usually no more than 96% or, if anhydrous, is fairly expensive.

Solubility properties aren’t better or worse, they are simply different. Higher hydrophilicity and polarity plus contaminating water and slower evaporation renders ethanol less suitable for airbrushing (higher elution power) unless you like a more ‘diffuse’ colour. Droplets are also tending to dry into coloured circles instead of coloured dots.

Thank you this helps a lot since I will be using an extremely hydrophobic silicone film former, the hydrophilicity of ethanol is problematic. 

Do you find IPA to be more drying to the skin though? 

My other issue with ISA is the smell which may give the user the impression of unhealthy fumes, perhaps blending the ISA with SD in 50/50 or 70/30 might work. 

I appreciate the feedback.