COSMETICS: analysis of a precipitate observed in a lotion

The cosmetics industry places high demands on the efficacy, stability and safety of products. In addition to safety, stability is crucial for all cosmetic preparations. The aim of stability studies is to find out how a product or component changes under certain conditions (temperature, air humidity, light, etc.) over a certain period of time. The results will determine, among other things, the shelf life and the recommended storage conditions of the finished product.

It is in this context that one of the world leaders in the cosmetics sector recently requested our laboratory to conduct an expertise aimed at identifying the nature of a precipitate observed after aging of a lotion under severe conditions.

Thanks to the information transmitted by this industrialist concerning the formulation of its product and to the know-how of our experts, our team was able to define and implement adapted extraction conditions in order to specifically isolate the observed precipitate. This work then allowed us to consider, in a rather serene way, the implementation of different characterization techniques in order to obtain relevant results for the identification of the precipitate. One can quote in particular the Scanning Electron Microscopy with field effect coupled to a microprobe (SEM-FEG-EDX), the Optical Emission Spectrometry with plasma (ICP-AES), the Mass Spectrometry with plasma (ICP-MS), the Infrared Spectroscopy (IRTF and µ-IRTF), …

The confrontation of the results determined by these various complementary tools of characterization with the data of the formulation made it possible to identify initially the nature of the observed precipitate but also its mechanism of formation at the time of the ageing of the lotion.

Thanks to the human skills and the complementary technical means available in its laboratory, FILAB was able to support this industrialist by proposing a high-level customized technical offer.

FILAB has significant experience in the implementation of chemical identification expertise and can assist you with your study needs in the context of pollution, contamination, precipitation, etc.

For more information, please contact our expert: contact@filab.fr