Personal Care

The effects of dry, itchy or scaly skin conditions can be managed with the use of emollients. While emollients and moisturizer are terms often used synonymously, emollients are combinations of ingredients used in moisturizers that help make the epidermis softer and more flexible. They are applied directly to the skin to soothe irritated skin and hydrate it. Emollients modify the rate of water loss from the layers of skin.

Chelating agents, also known as sequestering agents, assist in protecting valuable personal care ingredients from undergoing oxidation. Chelating agents prevent metal ions from undesirable reactions. They form stable bonds with the metal ions and prevent them from adhering to skin or hair surface or causing contamination.

Colourants in personal care products need to pass more than just a great looking colour test. Colourants need to adhere to strict quality controls and meet global compliance standards. Colourants in skin care that meet these standards also need to ensure they add to excellent skin feel and smooth application. Colourants should not be subject to pigment fading and need to have long lasting shelf life in its original packaging. Colourants should also not cause products to harden or clump.

Free radicals are unstable molecules derived from normal metabolic processes. They are also derived from external sources such as exposure to ultraviolet rays, air pollutants, radiation, industrial chemicals and poor diet choices. While the immune system uses free radicals to fight off pathogens, the cell-damaging qualities of free radicals will cause healthy cells to break down over time and interfere with the cell’s natural repair process. Antioxidants interact with free radicals and stabilise them, helping protect the skin’s surface from oxidative stress. Antioxidants help skin cells to repair themselves, correct visible damage and decrease inflammation of cells.

Active ingredients are added to skincare products to address specific skin problems or concerns. These concerns may include oily or dry skin, skin prone to eczema or the desire to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Active ingredients are integral in skincare product formulation and can have several benefits for the user.

Essential oils are aromatic chemicals that have been extracted, mostly by either steam or pressure, from plants and combined with a carrier oil to create a product ready for use. These highly concentrated extracts can be applied or massaged into the skin, inhaled or immersed in water.

Every month our skin sheds dead skin cells and forms new ones. Dead skin cells prevent skin care products from being absorbed, lowering the benefits these products provide. Some of these dead skin cells need help to be removed from the outermost layer of the skin. Exfoliants are substances that help remove dead skin cells and promote healthy skin. There are two main types of exfoliants, physical and chemical.

A physical exfoliant contains a granular substance used to manually buff or abrade the skin’s surface removing dead skin build-up. Chemical exfoliants make use of enzymes or acid-based solutions to dissolve the protein bonds between dead skin cells.

The consumer’s sensory experience can be elevated when the right fragrance is used to accompany a product. Fragrances can evoke a particular mood, entice a sensation or forge an emotional connection. Alongside the consumer’s journey, fragrances should meet technical requirements such as not causing product discolouration, interacting with the other ingredients or unpleasant changes in aroma. Fragrances can be entirely naturally sourced, a mixture of both natural and synthetic aromatics or completely synthetic in composition.

Consumers are increasingly aware of the damaging effects of UV radiation to our skin. UV absorbers are compounds that absorb the energy of UV rays and release them in the form of heat. This prevents the skin from being penetrated and burned by the UV rays.

Surface active agents are widely used in the cosmetics industry and are extremely beneficial in function due to their varied chemical properties. Surface active agents can have a foamy reaction for use in soaps, shaving creams and shampoos. They can be used as thickeners and emulsifiers and facilitate the penetration of products into skin and hair. They enable fine dispersion of colour pigments in makeup and evenly disperse fragrance in a variety of personal care products.

Solubilising Agents:
A solubilising agent is completely water soluble and increases the solubility of substances that would not normally dissolve in particular solutions. Solubilising agents have the ability to create particles so small that light is able to pass through. This enables solutions to remain clear. Typically solubilisers support low concentrations of lipophilic ingredients.
The absence of a solubiliser will result in the separation of lipophilic and hydrophilic ingredients. While the appearance and the aesthetics of the product will be affected, the function and safety of the product may be compromised.

Surfactants
Surfactants are present in cleansers, moisturisers and makeup products. They are active at the interfaces, such as an oil-water interface. They have a hydrophilic head that aligns itself with water molecules and a hydrophobic tail that is able to align itself with oil and fat molecules. Due to the molecules being amphiphilic, the surfactant has the ability to alter the surface tension between two fluids. The hydrophobic tail can trap oil or dirt and loosen these particles from the skin’s surface. These particles can then be easily removed from the skin.

Emulsifiers
Emulsifiers allow molecules that are normally unable to mix , to form an emulsion. They are used to reduce the surface tension between hydrophilic and larger lipophilic molecules. This results in the formation of finely dispersed mixtures. These mixtures are often opaque or milky white. Emulsifiers are not water soluble.

The rheological properties of a product refers to the stress-point at which a material starts to flow, the time taken for it to return to its pre-stress equilibrium, the materials resistance to flow and the tolerance of the material. When it comes to personal care, the materials resistance to flow or viscosity is particularly important. Rheology modifiers often referred to as thickeners or viscosifiers improve the appearance and skin feel properties of personal care products and provide product consistency for spreadability, sprayability, levelling and flow. They may be natural or synthetic polymers.

Preservatives in skin care products prevent bacterial or fungal growth and slows the rate at which the product breaks down. Bacteria and fungi may compromise the effectiveness of the product and can be harmful to our skin or cause infection. Products containing water based ingredients are particularly susceptible to microbial growth. Preservatives may be natural or synthetic based ingredients.

Opacifiers turn clear or transparent products opaque. They prevent the transmission of light and ensure the ideal whiteness to products and slows the rate of yellowing. Opacifiers may also impart a luxurious, creamy and rich feel and appearance to body wash and shampoos. They have excellent stability in formulations.

Oleoresins are natural or artificial mixtures of essential oils and resin. Oleoresins are unique due to their high concentration and uncompromised texture and aroma during the evaporation process. Oleoresins are typically natural plant, herb or seed extractives or oils and exist in liquid form. Oleoresins retain the same properties as the original spice or plant matter they are extracted from. They are more heat stable and have a longer shelf life than raw plant material.

Humectants are substances that bind with water from moisture in the air or water deeper in the skin and draw it into the skin’s surface, hair or nails. The water Humectants add, add hydration without leaving our hair, skin or nails feeling heavy or oily. Our outermost layer of skin serves as a barrier, humectants strengthen this barrier protecting it against outside elements and retaining moisture. Many humectants have added functionality such as exfoliant properties.