Multi-functional Additives for Personal Care Formulations
The cosmetic industry requires nimble product innovation to meet quickly evolving customer demands and retail trends. Grace’s SYLOID® silica and SYLOSIV® zeolite powder deliver multi-functional benefits by offering a wide range of qualities to enhance formulations and help you deliver superior products within the cosmetics industry.
Grace creates micronized silica particles with highly-defined pore structures, resulting in porosity that can be tailored to specific needs. That means fewer formulation ingredients, simplified manufacturing, and superior product performance.
Anti-Caking Agents
Keeping products from caking during processing and storage is critical to providing a quality product to your customer. Grace’s SYLOID® and PERKASIL® silicas can act as anti-caking and free-flowing agents and serve the following functions:
- Prevent clumping
- Maintain free-flow behavior
- Improve processability and homogeneity
- Control moisture
Extend the shelf life of powdered feed products and ingredients
Carriers
The main challenge in oil-based formulations is converting oily solutions and liquid formulations into compressible solid or semi-solid formulations. SYLOID® XDP silicas have been specifically designed for converting lipids, oily drugs, and drugs in oil solutions into free-flowing powders. They can be effective as adsorbents in techniques such as solid dispersion, semi-solids, and in lipid-based technologies such as self-emulsifying drug delivery systems (SEDDS).
Exfoliating Silicas
Exfoliants have become popular to promote the shedding of dead skin cells and help improve skin's texture and youthful appearance, and to remove debris to prevent clogged pores and blemishes. Grace's odorless, tasteless, and chemically inert synthetic micronized silicas are an innovative alternative to polyethylene microbeads and other microplastics for mild exfoliation in cleansing products.
Multi-functional benefits include:
- High Purity
- High Particle Integrity for Efficient Exfoliating
- Easily Dispersed
- Suitable for Clear Gel Formulations
- Controlled Density
UV Blocking Agents
In sunscreen formulations, the pore structure and surface characteristics of SYLOID® silica allow it to be utilized to enhance product properties such as skin-feel and film consistency. SYLOID® silicas can be effectively utilized in emulsions, especially in High-Sun Protection Factor (SPF) formulations comprised of a water-in-oil emulsion. Due to its internal porosity, hydrophilic surface, and fine particle size, SYLOID® silicas are effectively wetted by both oil and water, making them highly compatible with these systems.
SYLOID® silica function in sun care formulations:
- Non-Greasy Skin Feel
- Residual Skin Film Uniformity
Viscosity Modifiers
Grace’s SYLOID® silicas can be used to achieve the desired consistency, silky texture, mattifying, and soft focus effects in liquid and cream formulations. Unlike waxes and polymers, SYLOID® silicas can be used to effectively prevent softening under elevated temperature conditions in solid formulations like lipsticks and other cosmetic products. Their viscosity behavior is not affected by pH and ionic strength and/or polyvalent ions.
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Use SYLOID® silicas to help achieve the desired consistency, silky texture, mattifying, and soft focus effects in liquid and cream formulations. In addition, SYLOID® silicas can be used to add abrasive properties for mild exfoliation in cleansing products. SYLOSIV® zeolites also provide unique self-heating therapeutic properties that help enhance the active ingredient’s availability.
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SYLOID® silicas have a high level of internal porosity and significant capacity to absorb oils present in sunscreens, resulting in non-greasy skin-feel. SYLOID® silicas can be effectively utilized in oil-in-water and water-in-oil emulsions to produce High-Sun Protection Factor (SPF) formulations
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SYLOID® silicas as free-flow and anti-caking agents help prevent clumping and facilitate processing in the manufacture of powders and powdered cosmetics. SYLOID® silica helps maintain homogeneity and even dispersion of colorants in cosmetic formulations. Since SYLOID® silicas have excellent oil absorptive properties and tightly controlled particle size, they can provide soft focus and skin mattifying effects in demand for premium cosmetic products.
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SYLOID® silicas can function as effective oil absorbers in powdered shampoos. Use SYLOID® silicas in powdered hair bleach preparations to help keep them free-flowing.
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Use SYLOID® silicas for rheology control and to help keep nail polish pigments in suspension and prevent them from settling at the bottom of the container. SYLOID® silicas also act as mattifying agents to help achieve the desired surface appearance.
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SYLOID® silicas can be used to prevent softening under elevated temperature conditions in solid formulations such as lipsticks and other cosmetics. They can also be used in products such as mascara to prevent smudging and running after application in a warm and humid environment. SYLOID® silicas are also effective in maintaining the integrity and stability of solid anti-perspirant products.