Specification and Mesh
Technical Specification
| Parameter |
Plant nila |
Mineral nila |
| INCI |
Indigofera Tinctoria Leaf Powder |
Ultramarines |
| Colour Index |
— |
CI 77007 |
| Appearance |
Deep blue fine powder |
Bright blue fine powder |
| Odour |
Faint earthy |
Effectively odourless |
| Solubility |
Water-insoluble; disperses |
Water-insoluble; disperses |
| pH behaviour |
Shifts in high-pH systems |
Stable across pH |
| Batch consistency |
Varies with harvest |
Highly consistent |
| Mesh |
Milled to your specification |
Milled to your specification |
The full numeric specification — mesh, moisture, pH, heavy metal limits and microbiological results — is issued with your quotation and again on the Certificate of Analysis for the lot you receive. A specification tied to your own lot number is worth more than a generic figure published on a web page.
Download the full spec sheet →
Mesh Options
Tell us the application and we recommend the mesh rather than defaulting you to whatever is in stock.
Coarser
Slightly gritty. For exfoliating scrubs, hammam pastes and cold-process soap.
Standard
Smooth. For clay masks, dry powder blends and rinse-off products.
Fine
Very smooth, low grit. For creams, leave-on products and colour cosmetics.
What We Never Add
No anti-caking agent, no flow aid, no extender or bulking agent, and no synthetic colour to correct a weak lot. A weak lot gets re-graded instead. That occasionally means we cannot fill an order in the week you wanted it — and it is why the hundredth kilo matches the first.
Working With Nila in Your Formulation
Four Handling Rules
It disperses, it does not dissolve
Nila is a pigment, not a soluble dye. Wet it out with glycerin, oil or part of the water phase into a smooth slurry before it joins the main batch, or you will chase specks through the whole mix.
A very small amount goes a long way
Overdosing is the most common error in this category and the most common cause of returns. Start at the bottom of your trial range. The colour in the beaker is not the colour on skin.
It stains
Textiles, grout, unsealed worktops, nail beds and filling equipment. Plan the line before the first production run, not after.
Colour shifts with pH
Plant nila moves noticeably in high-pH systems and keeps moving through cure. Mineral nila is far more stable. Match the material to the system.
By Application
Clay and powder masks
The largest single use. Blends into rhassoul, kaolin and bentonite. Blend dry, sieve the blend, then test wet on skin before signing off the ratio.
Hammam and body ritual
Traditionally paired with Moroccan black soap before exfoliation. These sell on provenance, so your documentation becomes part of the product story.
Cold-process soap
Holds colour through saponification better than most botanicals. Disperse in the oil phase, never dry into traced soap.
Hair products
Used in henna blends to shift results toward cooler brown and black tones. Outcome depends heavily on starting hair colour, so set expectations on pack.
Colour cosmetics
Mineral nila almost without exception — consistent shade, pH stability and predictable behaviour in anhydrous systems.
Dosing and Common Mistakes
Start low and build
Nila has real tinting strength, so begin at the bottom of your trial range and work up across successive batches rather than correcting downward from too much.
Sieve every dry blend
Unsieved blends leave specks that look fine in the jar and appear as dark spots the moment the mask is wetted.
Test wet, on skin
The colour of a dry powder blend is not the colour on skin. Sign off the ratio only after a wet test on the actual application area.
Judge soap late
In cold-process soap the shade keeps moving through cure. Approve colour at week six, not at cut, and keep a cured reference bar for the next run.
Request Pricing
Packing and Documentation
Powder ships in foil-lined pouches and kraft bags with an inner liner, with fibre drums available for larger volumes. Every bag carries the lot number, manufacture date, material type, INCI and mesh. Store sealed, cool and dry, out of direct light.
Each order ships with a lot-specific Certificate of Analysis, Safety Data Sheet, Certificate of Origin, commercial invoice and packing list. We keep a sealed retained sample of every lot, so a question about a batch months later is settled against real material rather than memory.
Minimums and Lead Time
Minimum order quantities and lead times vary by grade, mesh and volume, and both are confirmed with your quotation. A custom mesh adds a short milling window to a standard lead time.
Tell us the material type, the mesh, the volume and the destination market. We quote against the real requirement, with a full specification sheet rather than a list price to negotiate down.
