Designing High Performance Color Cosmetics through Optimization of Powder Flow Characteristics | AIChE

Designing High Performance Color Cosmetics through Optimization of Powder Flow Characteristics

Authors 

Liu, X. - Presenter, MANHATTAN COLLEGE
Amin, S., Manhattan College
Powder cosmetics constitute a large class of products which are increasing in popularity with consumers. Some newer product formats such as cream to powder or powder to cream products are also making their entry into the cosmetic market. In spite of the importance of color cosmetics, there hasn’t been a systematic understanding of how powder flow and powder particle characteristics impact the final performance of these products ,such as pay off and cake strength. By using a Powder Rheometer, powder flow is quantitatively tested through flowability, compressibility, and shear tests. In this study, the composition and concentration of a powder foundation formulation was varied for a foundation formulation containing: Talc, Mica, TiO2, yellow, red, black iron oxide. Ten formulations are prepared. The experimental variables were the concentration of TiO2, Red iron oxide, and Talc. The results highlight that the formulations which has higher compressibility has the better cake strength, and the formulations which requires lower total energy has better pay off. Future studies will include exploration of the impact of addition of flow additives and variation in particle size and particle shape. We acknowledge the contribution of Freeman Technology for making this project possible.