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Pigment Issues
I’m new to this, so I apologize if this question is silly.
I’ve been making lipstick and lip gloss, but I keep running into the same problem: the pigment makes the formula feel grainy. Consistency wise, it’s almost the same feeling as baking soda when I rub my lips together. When I remove some of the pigment the formula feels great, but there’s very little color payoff.
I have this problem with anything I make that uses pigments or oxides. I’ve tried dispersing them in castor oil, dimethicone, and hydrogenated polysiobutene but have had similar results with all of them. I ended up with gray streaks(??) in the final product when I used the hydrogenated polysiobutene.
Do I need to use more liquid dyes/lakes or pre-ground pigment dispersions to get better color payoff without sacrificing the texture/consistency of the formula? I’ve been hunting for pigment dispersions (or something like DermaGlo DGS), but I’m having trouble finding a company that will cater to a smaller noncommercial supply.
I would really appreciate it if someone could toss me in the right direction and/or recommend a company that will do smaller batches. If this is outside the scope for this forum, would a cosmetic chemist I hired be able to help me track down a supplier?
This is the formula I found through Google:
Phase A:
Triglyceride: (25%) 12.9g
Octyldodecanol (15%) 7.5g
Mineral oil (14%) 7.0g
Microcrystalline Wax (4%) 2.0g
Ozokerite Wax (7.0%) 3.5g
Beeswax (5%) 2.5g
Castor oil (6.8%) 3.4g
IsoLanolin (INCI: Isopropyl palmitate, lanolin oil) (6%) 3.0g
Glycerin (2%) 1g
Talc (5%) 2.5g
Phase B:
This is what they have for colors:
Red No. 40 FD&C (.75%) .4g
Red No 7 FD&C (.3%) .15g
Mica bordeaux (3%) .1g
Mica Pearlwhite (5%) 2.5g
This is what I used:
Red Iron oxide .4g
Carmine (pre-dispersed in castor oil) .15g
Mica (contains titanium dioxide, mica, silica) 2.6g
Phase C:
Fragrance (omitted)
Vitamin E oil (omitted)
**I added .75g preservative
This is their process:
Method: Measure all ingredients of phase A and add to a heat resistant glass beaker. Stir. Prepare the mold by pulling it apart and slightly greasing the inside with an emollient (for example castor oil). Put it back together and secure with a rubber band for a tight fit. Heat phase A to 170F/76C or until melted. Maintain the temperature. Do not overheat. Add phase B and stir well to disperse the colorants. Test the color. If more intense coloring is needed, increase the amount of D&C red 40 and also some of the mica. Add phase C (optional) stir. Give it a good stir before pouring into the mold and let harden at a cool place. Once the lipsticks have hardened, separate the mold and slowly loosen up the sticks by gentle tapping or by pushing softly on one end to make it slide out.
Troubleshooting: If lipstick is too soft increase the amount of ozokerite by 1-2% and decrease triglyceride by the same amount. If lipstick is too hard reduce ozokerite by 1-2% and increase triglyceride by 1-2%.
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(Other possibly relevant information: I know dry pigments won’t dissolve and I just purchased a glass muller.)
Thanks for the help.
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12 Replies
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If you already have a muller, you don’t need to buy pre-dispersed pigments. (Carmine is an exception because it costs so much)
Pigments (not talcs or micas, they’re different) need to be ground to below 4 microns before you can stop feeling them on your lips. You can determine this objectively by using a Hegman gauge, or empirically by rubbing a tiny drop of pigment dispersion on your lip.
Make a pre-mix with 40% pigment and 60% castor oil, then grind it with your muller on a thick piece of frosted glass plate. (Don’t skimp on the thickness - it isn’t fun to break one. Use a rubber mat under it to cushion and immobilize the plate) Depending on the size of your muller, you should be able to grind between 2-6 grams of pre-mix at a time. Grind by rubbing the premix between the muller and the frosted glass plate with a circular pattern while pressing down on the muller. If you can feel the muller rubbing dry on the plate, you haven’t used enough pre-mix - there should be just enough premix to keep that from happening, but not so much that you make a big mess. (You’ll know it when you see it) Stop mulling when you see most of the pigment dispersion in a built-up ring around the edge of your pattern. Scrape the pigment dispersion up with a flexible spatula, put it back in the center of your pattern, and repeat until you can’t feel the pigment on your lip anymore. Then the dispersion can be added to your formula. Left-over dispersion can be stored indefinitely, but should be mulled again before you use it if you haven’t used it after about a week.
An option to reduce your mulling time/effort is to make a dry pre-blend of some of your talc plus your pigments in a spice blender or something equivalent before you mull. This will require making at least 10-20 grams or so, more if you have a larger blender, so you might not want to do this until you are ready to make a fair amount of lipsticks.
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Bob, is a muller better than a ceramic pestle and mortar? Just curious, I have no intention of getting into colour cosmetics.
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@Bobzchemist, Thank you so much! That was extremely helpful.
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@Belassi, mullers are much better at grinding down hard particles in a fluid/semifluid base, primarily because you can put much more downward pressure on a muller. There’s a reason artists have used mullers to make paint for hundreds of years.
Mortar and pestle is just a muller and plate curved up so that the plate is a bowl (mortar), and the pestle is somewhat similar to a muller, but with the grinding surface extended up towards the handle. It’s designed that way, as far as I know, so that you can grind/crush larger quantities without them going all over the place, the way that they would if you were grinding on a plate. It does a poor job of grinding pigments in oil initially, because it’s harder to exert a lot of force with one, but you can get similar results if you work at it long enough. It takes 3 or 4 times longer with a mortar and pestle, though.
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If you win the lottery, or own a pigment company, you can even buy a motorized automatic muller:
http://www.hoovercolor.com/products/muller/
(Normal cosmetic chemists would be better off buying a mini 3-roll mill http://exaktusa.com/dispersion-equipment/basic-models/)
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Just for completeness, a Hegman or Fineness Of Grind gauge can be found and explained here:
https://www.gardco.com/pages/dispersion/fg/finenessofgrind.cfm
You really don’t need one unless you are doing QC for a lipstick company, though. Testing by touch works fine unless/until you’re grinding pigments all day long.
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Interesting (but mostly useless) fact:
Before Hoover came out with their automatic muller, all pigment companies used hand mullers to test their new batches of pigments. It turned out that they needed to keep track of when during the day the grinds were made, and only compare morning grinds to morning grinds, and afternoon grinds to afternoon grinds. Why? Because as the technicians who made the grinds got tired as the day went on, they didn’t grind the pigments as well, so the morning grinds had much smaller particle sizes than the afternoon grinds did.
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OK, last tip, I promise.
Your pigment grind should be the consistency of soft butter. When you put it at a 45 degree angle, it should not flow. If it does, you need to increase the pigment the next time you make it. You should also be able to spread it with a spatula like it’s butter - if it spreads more like frosting, you need to increase the liquid. If it’s more of a stiff paste, like spackle, you really need to increase the liquid.
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@Bobzchemist, Thanks for the tips! I really appreciate it.
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Please Tell me step by step,
1) do I need to both wet and disperse iron oxides as well as D&C lakes
2) I purchased a glass Muller to better grind the pigments (they weren’t fine enough and crumbled the formula I could feel the pigment on my face / lips) should I put it in the spice blender and then grind using the glass muller?
3) wetting agents and dispersing agents what is the difference?
4) how do I choose the right dispersing agent for a liquid matte formula that is free of water and oil?
How do I choose a dispersing/wetting agent for oil based cream foundations & silicone foundations?Thank you
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1) yes
2) What oil are you dispersing the pigments into?
3) Same thing
4) Experimentally. You will need to make many trials with different dispersing/wetting agents in order to find the one you like best.In the future, please start a new discussion, even if you are asking questions very similar to the original one.
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I can’t use oil but I am using isododecane it dries faster and is perfect for my formula . Thank you!!
Sorry I will make a new one (new to this ) .
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