How to measure performance and textural properties of personal care products

INTRODUCTION

Before paint was ever splashed onto canvas or cave walls, it was daubed on faces and bodies, not only for symbolic purposes but for decoration too.

Today, a plethora of beauty products are seen lined up in the display windows and shelves of shops and stores everywhere.

The cosmetics and personal care market is extremely crowded, making it an extremely competitive arena. In this industry, the combination of good marketing and product quality must be compelling to gain shelf space, consumer attention and repeat purchase.

Formulating a Personal Care Product

Today, the many differently formulated personal care products use several thousand ingredients, both natural and synthetic. New personal care ingredients come about from time to time and the real usefulness of an ingredient is determined by evaluating a material compared to similar materials already on the market.

The formulator is faced with the challenging task of developing new, aesthetically appealing, formulations which deliver functional properties, such as cleansing, conditioning, skin moisturisation, viscosity and mildness, all at a price affordable to the consumer. There is a growing use of polymers in cosmetic and personal care formulations such as natural gums, as well as modified cellulosics used for their ability to modify viscosity. Whilst higher viscosities do not always provide the best textural properties and aesthetics, some polymers act in a synergistic way to provide dramatic viscosity enhancement.

The quality and appeal of a personal care product is decided by factors such as its texture, appearance, odour and performance.

Assessing Personal Care Product Performance

Increased attention has been focused on the objective evaluation of personal care products to improve their performance and to fulfil the requirements in legislation demanding proof of certain product claims. Advances in personal care products consist of a succession of small improvements. Companies often need to start at an early stage of product development to evaluate products for verifiable changes. 

Minor improvements in product performance require carefully conducted experiments in order to provide definite information. Likewise, it is important to obtain knowledge about competitors’ products and to reach competitive advantages; this comparison with competitors is useful for product positioning.

Information about the product’s performance can be obtained by texture analysis testing using a TA.XTplus/TA.HDplus Texture Analyser. Texture analysis can play a pivotal role in measuring product conformity and compliance with standards, as well as analysing and controlling the desired textural features of any new or existing product for the market. Analysis of the way in which different types of personal care products respond to the tests provide the manufacturer with vital information: which combination of ingredients is the ideal for a particular product; which processing methods/times produce the best results; whether the quality is consistent.

Many techniques have been developed to measure the performance and textural properties of personal care products. The Penetration Test (Figure 1 & 2) is one of the simplest, fastest, and most versatile techniques used for measuring the textural properties of many types of products. Properties of interest include such parameters as: hardness, stickiness, consistency, peeling characteristics and spreadability.

The following posts attempt to provide some insights into typical measurement applications for the wide range of textures that might need to be measured, covering a large array of material types and stages of their processing. 

There is a Texture Analysis test for virtually any physical property. Contact Stable Micro Systems today to learn more about our full range of solutions.

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For more information on how to measure texture, please visit the Texture Analysis Properties section on our website.

The TA.XTplus texture analyser is part of a family of texture analysis instruments and equipment from Stable Micro Systems. An extensive portfolio of specialist attachments is available to measure and analyse the textural properties of a huge range of food products. Our technical experts can also custom design instrument fixtures according to individual specifications.

No-one understands texture analysis like we do!

To discuss your specific test requirements, click here...

Watch the video below to see a summary of the types of testing possibilities that are available for the measurement of cosmetic and skincare products.

You can also visit our website's Cosmetics and Skincare Applications page...