Appreciation post: Nailed my cobalt blue glaze, now I'm stuck on where the color comes from

I finally got my cobalt blue glaze to come out just right after three failed tries. Then I read about how some cobalt is mined in places with bad working conditions. It feels wrong to use something that might hurt people. I bought this pigment from a big supplier without thinking. Now I'm looking for ethical sources, but they're hard to find and cost more. Part of me wants to keep using what I have since it works so well. But I know I should do better, even if it means my glaze might not be as consistent.

3 comments

3 Comments

aaron15010d ago

Been there with ethical mica sourcing, so frustrating.

joseph49110d ago

It's wild that after years of talk, we still can't trust where mica comes from. I read something about how hard it is to track it from the mine to the store. The whole system seems broken, and companies just slap 'ethical' on labels without proof. No wonder you're frustrated, it feels like no one is really fixing the problem. Sometimes I wonder if any beauty product is truly clean. The more you look into it, the worse it gets...

lucassmith8d ago

Madagascar exported almost half the world's mica last year through licensed cooperatives. Maybe @aaron150 the system isn't totally broken if those groups are actually trying to track it properly.