Chemistry Behind Makeup

|
Chemistry Behind Makeup

Chemistry Connections

Episode #7

Welcome to Chemistry Connections, my name is Victoria Villagran and I am your host for episode #7 called The Chemistry of Makeup Today I/we will be discussing what exactly is going on in our makeup chemically. 

Segment 1: Introduction to Makeup Chemistry

What is Makeup?

  • Cosmetics that are used to enhance or alter someone’s appearance
  • Lipstick, eyeshadow, powders, and creams
  • They contain water, emulsifier, preservative, thickener, emollient, colour, fragrance and pH stabilisers (buffers)
  • The water dissolves other ingredients, it helps them mix together, acting as a solvent to dissolve other ingredients and forming emulsions for consistency. 
  • Oil and wax help makeup go on smoothly, and is often used to help skin stay soft 
  • Many other chemicals go into makeup. Normally, an emulsifier is included, a chemical that makes oil and water mix together or keeps unlike substances from separating
  • Most makeup has preservatives, as well. These keep the makeup usable longer, preventing the growth of microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi, which can spoil the product and possibly harm the user; they can be natural or synthetic 
  • Emollients soften the skin by preventing water loss. They are used in a wide range of lipsticks, lotions and cosmetics. 
  • Thickening agents work to give products an appealing consistency from four families; lipid thickeners, naturally derived thickeners, mineral thickeners, and synthetic thickeners.
  • Chemicals, both natural and synthetic, are added to cosmetics to provide an appealing fragrance. Even ‘unscented’ products may contain masking fragrances to mask the smell of other chemicals.
  • Manufacturers do not have to list these individual fragrant ingredients or chemicals as fragrance is considered to be a trade secret.
  • Many types of makeup also have a coloring agent. Any makeup with a color contains a coloring agent. These come from minerals, plants, and even animals.
  • This is why some people have certain reactions to different colors of makeup as they may come from a source that the user is allergic to
  • Ingredients can be naturally occurring or artificial, but any potential impact on our health depends mainly on the chemical compounds they are made of.

So Makeup can be Harmful?

  • There is a lot of controversy as hundreds of internet sites relating to potentially toxic substances present in cosmetics and the dangers they pose to the public.
  • These include parabens, aluminium, triclosan, formaldehyde, phthalates, and other possible chemicals that could affect someone’s skin condition or surface

Segment 2: The Chemistry Behind Specifically Lipstick

Now let’s go into the chemistry concepts specifically behind lipsticks. 

The chemical properties of water have a major role in lipstick

  • Somewhat Universal Solvent: Water is used as a solvent in cosmetics and personal care products in which it dissolves many of the ingredients that impart skin benefits, such as conditioning agents and cleansing agents. It allows for addition for many ingredients in the products, and allows for them to be combined uniformly. 
  • Water is a polar molecule with partially-positive and negative charges, it readily dissolves ions and polar molecules. It is therefore referred to as a solvent: a substance capable of dissolving other polar molecules and ionic compounds. The charges associated with these molecules form hydrogen bonds with water, surrounding the particle with water moleculesWhen ionic compounds are added to water, individual ions interact with the polar regions of the water molecules during the dissociation process, disrupting their ionic bonds.
  • Since many biomolecules are either polar or charged, water readily dissolves these hydrophilic compounds. Water is a poor solvent for hydrophobic molecules such as lipids. Nonpolar molecules experience hydrophobic interactions in water: the water changes its hydrogen bonding patterns around the hydrophobic molecules.
  • Like in the picture provided, you see how the negatively charged Cl- ion is attracting the positive sides of the water molecules
  • Surface Tension: Water also forms emulsions in which the oil and water components of the product are combined to form creams and lotions, this is the emulsifier, it reduces the surface tensions between the oil and water, (hydrophobic and hydrophilic parts). These are sometimes referred to as oil-in-water emulsions or as water-in-oil depending on the ratios of the oil phase and water phase. 
  • Surface tension is the property of the surface of a liquid that allows it to resist an external force, due to the cohesive nature of its molecules. In other words, the cohesiveness of the oil and water particles resist each other’s external forces from their surfaces, but the emulsifier breaks this or decreases the amount of force being exerted. 
  • Emulsifier molecules work by having a hydrophilic end or a polar end(water-loving) and hydrophobic end or a nonpolar end (water-hating). The hydrophilic end of the emulsifier molecule is attracted to the water and the hydrophobic end is attracted to the fat/oil. By vigorously mixing the emulsifier with the water and fat/oil, a stable emulsion can be made.

Segment 3: Personal Connections

This topic interests me because I hope that one day I can create my own line of skincare and makeup products. It is my goal to create a line of products that is inclusive to everyone’s needs, that is vegan, cruelty free, and has little impact on the environment. I wanted to learn more about what goes into making makeup such as what determines its shelf-life, the color in creams, powders, and eyeshadows. In addition, how certain ingredients contribute to the state of matter of creams, how they are uniform with no clumps. If you really think about it there’s chemistry behind everything in makeup. This is important because we need to learn what is in the products that we use daily, and what we put on our faces. There are certain ingredients that can harm our skin, which I also find interesting that in small portions it wouldn’t harm us. 

Thank you for listening to this episode of Chemistry Connections. For more student-ran podcasts and digital content, make sure that you visit www.hvspn.com. 

Sources:

Music Credits

Warm Nights by @LakeyInspired

Learn about the chemistry of makeup, makeup colors, and makeup product with your host Vikki.

About the author, Hopewell Valley Student Publications Network

The Hopewell Valley Student Publications Network was created to empower students to become content creators in a digital-rich world. The views and opinions expressed within the digital content are the views of the content creators.

Tagged