Brief Introduction Of Cosmetic Powder-Skin Feel Regulator

①Coloring pigments for adjusting color (such as iron red and iron yellow);

②White powders for covering, whitening and blocking ultraviolet rays (such as titanium dioxide and zinc oxide);

③Pearlescent pigments for improving gloss (composed of mica coated with several metal oxide thin layers. Changing the metal oxide thin layers can produce different pearlescent effects);

④Physical powders for adjusting product spreadability, adsorption, skin adhesion and texture (such as talcum powder, starch, polymethyl methacrylate).

Today we will introduce the fourth type - body powder, which can also be said to be a skin feel regulator. It includes three categories: inorganic powder, organic powder and natural powder:

① Inorganic powder, commonly used are silicon dioxide, talc, mica;

② Organic powder, commonly used are polymethyl methacrylate, polymethyl silsesquioxane, vinyl polydimethylsiloxane/polymethylsiloxane silsesquioxane cross-linked polymer, nylon powder, polyurethane powder;

③ Natural powder, commonly used are corn starch, cassava starch, modified starch, etc.

1. Inorganic powder

1). Silicon dioxide (silica)

Silica is also called silica. There are two types of crystalline silicon dioxide and amorphous silicon dioxide in nature. Crystalline silicon dioxide is divided into three types: quartz, tridymite and cristobalite due to different crystal structures. Pure quartz is a colorless crystal. Large and transparent prismatic quartz is called crystal. If the crystal contains trace impurities, it has different colors, such as amethyst, tea crystal, black crystal, etc.

Silica for cosmetics is colorless, transparent, shiny crystals and amorphous powders. It has high hardness, is odorless, chemically inert, insoluble in water and acid (except hydrofluoric acid), soluble in concentrated alkali solution, very stable within the pH range of cosmetics, and has good lubricity and oil absorption.

2). Mica

Mica is a general term for mica minerals. It is an aluminum silicate of metals such as potassium, aluminum, magnesium, iron, and lithium. It is a layered structure, monoclinic system, and the crystals are pseudo-hexagonal flakes or plates, occasionally columnar. The mica powder used in cosmetics is mainly muscovite and sericite. Muscovite is soft and shiny, and sericite is soft and smooth to the touch. The particles will not agglomerate. Because it is a very thin flaky crystal (0.2~0.5 μm), it is almost transparent when applied to the skin and will not turn white.

Due to its molecular structure, mica has strong adhesion and moderate gloss and softness. After special processing, it can be made into synthetic mica, which improves the brightness and durability of makeup while improving whiteness.

2. Organic powder

1). Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)

PMMA, also known as acrylic or organic glass, has a lower hardness than silica. It can adjust the fluidity of the product and improve the formability of the product. It has no covering power and a smooth skin feel. It has a lubricating effect in powder and scented powder, improves the dispersion of the pigment, avoids unevenness during use, forms a uniform lubricating film on the skin surface, and provides a soft powdery feel in base makeup and skin care products.

2). Polymethylsilsesquioxane (PMSQ)

PMSQ is a spherical powder with a very uniform particle size distribution. The smaller the particle size, the more matte the makeup, and the larger the particle size, the smoother the skin feel. PMSQ has the stability of inorganic powder, and at the same time has excellent spreadability, smoothness and fluidity, and has good waterproofness and certain oil absorption performance. By increasing the light diffuse transmittance and changing the light path, it brings a soft focus effect to the skin, helps to cover wrinkles and blemishes, and creates a matte natural makeup.

3. Natural powder

Natural raw materials generally have good safety and environmental friendliness, but have great limitations in application functions.

Starch:

There are more than 40 kinds of cosmetic raw materials related to starch in the "List of Used Cosmetic Raw Materials" (2015 edition), including modified starches such as hydroxypropyl starch, carboxymethyl starch, esterified starch and starch copolymers, as well as some special native starches such as oat starch and kudzu starch.

Modified starch can be used as a matrix raw material for cosmetics to give the product suitable fluidity and dispersibility, and improve the stability and spreadability of the product; modified starch can also be used as a carrier for functional cosmetics to adsorb, embed and slowly release active ingredients, and improve the stability and effect of active ingredients; some modified starches have moisturizing and conditioning properties and can be directly used as functional ingredients in cosmetics.