Basic optics and Pearlescent Pigments

The effects which are produced by pearlescent pigments are intimately connected to optics and the interaction of light with matter. Pearlescent pigments are optical filters which reflect and transmit light which falls upon them. In order to understand pearlescent pigments, therefore it is first necessary to understand some of the basic laws of optics. I would like to review some of these laws to talk about light and its interaction with matter, how it can be separated into its components, the laws of reflection and refraction and how all of these laws apply to pearlescent pigments.