ABSTRACT
Pigments are ground into tiny dry particles and are insoluble. This means they can be mixed and suspended into paint binders while still retaining their color properties. Make-up is fabricated from a similar process by suspending pigments or dyes (that are safe on the skin) into cosmetic binders, which create different products, including those with cream bases, silicone bases, water bases, wax bases, and alcohol bases. Dyes can be made into pigments, but pigments cannot be made into dyes. If a dye is bound with a mordant (typically a metal ion used for binding a dye to a material), then it can become an insoluble pigment. In the ancient world, pigments like blue and purple were very scarce and almost impossible to acquire. Egyptians controlled the supply of a pigment known as Ultramarine Blue, which was highly sought-after. Tyrian Purple was another sought-after color that was made by the Phoenicians from sea snails.
