Minerals, pigments and optical ingredients

CI 77007 · ultramarines

Deep ultramarine-blue prepared powder forms steep ridges and a winding canyon across warm ivory stone.
About this illustration
CI 77007Ultramarine Blue
The ultramarine canyonUltramarines are a prepared pigment family with more than one colour. This illustrated blue-grade landscape is one direction within a code that can also include pink and violet.

Ultramarine sounds like the name of one beautiful blue. In the material world it opens a broader palette: blue, pink and violet preparations can share this ingredient identity. The surprise is a useful one. Colour words describe what we see, while a material family explains how a colour has been made.

Name on the ingredient listCI 77007

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A quick answer

CI 77007 identifies ultramarine pigments, commonly associated with Pigment Blue 29 and the name lazurite. Modern cosmetic ultramarines are prepared inorganic pigments based on sodium aluminium sulfosilicate chemistry. Official descriptions include several colours within the family, and manufacturer portfolios list blue, pink and violet grades under CI 77007. A specific finished product’s shade therefore cannot be read from the number alone.

The unexpected pink inside ultramarine

A manufacturer’s current cosmetic pigment portfolio lists Ultramarine Blue, Ultramarine Pink and Ultramarine Violet under CI 77007. That is an enjoyable discovery if the word ultramarine has always meant only blue to you. The ingredient family is wider than the everyday colour word.

The number tells you which material family you are following; the grade name gives more information about the shade. This distinction is especially helpful when a coloured solid looks nothing like the blue you expected from a quick ingredient search. The label and the finished appearance are describing different levels of the object.

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Two native name cards, Ultramarines and CI 77007, sit above a vivid fine blue pigment reference.
UltramarinesCI 77007
The familiar colour and its codeUltramarines and CI 77007 connect the familiar name with the colour-family code. The blue material shown is one illustrative grade; the same family also reaches into pink and violet.Visual references: Ultramarine Blue — powder and declared code

Heat turns starting materials into colour

The official identity describes ultramarines made by heating a mixture that can include kaolin, sulfur and sodium-containing materials. That high-temperature transformation produces complex sodium aluminium sulfosilicates. The proportions vary with the colour being produced.

There is no need to carry the formula around in your head. The useful picture is of a prepared mineral-type pigment whose structure is created during manufacture. This gives the colour a more specific story than a vague image of a blue rock being ground. The final material is the result of an intentional transformation.

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An evocative alias with a practical limit

Lazurite and Pigment Blue 29 appear among the aliases attached to CI 77007 in ingredient references. They connect this code to the familiar blue side of the family. They do not establish that a particular cosmetic contains powdered gemstones or a pigment mined from a named location.

That distinction preserves the interesting part of the story without decorating it with an invented origin. Ultramarines have a definite inorganic identity and a documented manufacturing route. A solid can use that prepared colour for appearance while its botanical ingredients, if any, have their own separate journeys.

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An evocative blue art-archive page and a native source-question card stand apart from a modern blue prepared-pigment specimen.
Does the colour name tell you its source?
Not a gemstone provenance claimA colour name can invite an art-history association while the cosmetic material has its own manufacturing story. CI 77007 does not establish a gemstone source or a named mining location.

A prepared powder joins another material

The current blue grade is offered as a cosmetic pigment powder. A maker then incorporates the selected grade into the surrounding formula. The colour powder and the finished solid are different physical stages: one is an ingredient, the other is an object designed for a particular use.

In a bar or compact, the base matters to how the pigment appears. A pale opaque background presents colour differently from a more translucent medium. That is why the same broad family can be used in products with different visual personalities. The shade belongs to the combination, not to a code acting alone.

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A separate blue pigment powder and neutral external paper layers sit beside a uniformly blue generic cleanser-bar cut face.
Blue pigment exampleSurrounding formula — metaphorFinished solid — illustration
A coloured solid’s interiorA pigment joins a wider formula. The separate powder, external paper layers and uniform solid distinguish the ingredient from its surroundings, without predicting which shade a particular amount will produce.

A cool colour has no automatic aroma

A blue or violet solid may suggest freshness, flowers or a particular mood. Those associations are visual. Ultramarine pigment is not the ingredient name for the perfume or essential oil that creates the scent.

Separating those contributions can make choosing a product more satisfying. Use the scent description to understand the aromatic direction, the finished picture to appreciate its appearance, and the colour identity to follow the material behind that appearance. None needs to stand in for the others. A thoughtfully made solid can bring them together while retaining their separate roles.

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Follow the exact shade when it matters

If a brand supplies a grade name such as Ultramarine Violet, keep it beside CI 77007. It adds useful information that the general code does not provide. If only the CI number is available, describe the family rather than inventing a particular shade or source.

That is enough to unlock the central insight. The world of colour ingredients is organised by materials as well as by what our eyes call them. Ultramarines are a particularly memorable example: a blue-sounding name can lead to pink and violet, through variations within a prepared pigment family.

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A blue ultramarine powder reference and a distinctly folded blue paper colour study occupy separate panels labelled CI 77007 and CI 42090.
CI 77007 · Blue powder exampleCI 42090 · Colour reference
Blue is a family resemblanceSimilar colour words can point to different ingredients. CI 77007 names the ultramarine family; CI 42090 is a different blue identity. The right-hand paper is a colour association, not an assumed supplied dye or lake form.
A generic violet shampoo bar stands beside three source-ordered colourant names, highlighting Ultramarines and its complete CI 77007 code.
Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891)Ultramarines (CI 77007)Iron Oxides (CI 77491)
The exact shade declarationThe final three entries in Ethique PURPLE Shampoo Bar’s published list show several colour materials together. This excerpt keeps their order and full codes; it does not reveal the proportions, exact ultramarine grade or each ingredient’s effect.Visual references: PURPLE Shampoo Bar — colourant declaration

Questions you might have

Can CI 77007 really be pink?

Yes. The current manufacturer portfolio lists an Ultramarine Pink grade under CI 77007, alongside blue and violet grades. Official identity information also describes multiple ultramarine colours. The code therefore identifies the family, while a more specific grade name and the finished product show which visual direction was chosen.

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Does the name prove there is lapis lazuli in the cosmetic?

No such origin follows from the CI code. Modern cosmetic ultramarines are described as prepared inorganic pigments, and the official manufacturing identity involves a high-temperature reaction of starting materials. Historical or artistic associations can be fascinating, but they should not replace the material information for the ingredient in the actual product.

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Is this the same blue as CI 42090?

They are different colour identities. CI 77007 is an inorganic ultramarine family, while CI 42090 is associated with the synthetic dye Blue 1. Either may contribute a blue appearance, but similar hue does not make materials identical. The numerical names help keep those stories distinct.

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One useful thought

Ultramarines offer one of the atlas’s nicest colour surprises: a family that reaches beyond blue. The heated preparation, mineral chemistry and selected grade explain the material; the surrounding formula explains the final shade. Keeping those pieces together lets you appreciate the appearance of a solid with a more curious eye.

Sources

References and further reading
  1. CI 77007 – IngredientCOSMILE Europe
  2. 21 CFR 73.2725: UltramarinesFDA / eCFR
  3. Cosmetic pigments portfolioNeelikon
  4. Ultramarine BlueNeelikon