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The best opacifiers for concealer and foundations - HYPE VS EFFECT
Titanium Dioxide Effect
Hype 
Talc Effect Hype Your vagina will get cancer.Zinc Oxide Effect
Hype 
Calcium Carbonate Effect
Hype What else can work well as opaque, white, opacifiers in foundations/concealers? As you can see in my little effects vs hype chart, I haven’t found any that get good hype AND are effective - a sad trend I know. Any suggestions for a hype sensitive formulator? Do certain starches work? -
17 Replies
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Mica, Sericite Mica, Kaolin, various precipitated silicas and silicates, Barium Sulfate (blanc fixe), calcined clay(s).
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Boron Nitride, also microspheres made of various materials.
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Bismuth Oxychloride, Alumina Trihydrate, nylon powder, cotton fiber, various starches and flours,
How exotic do you want to get? -
As unexotic as possible, calcium bentonite should work well then? Any other options you would recommend in particular for a somewhat thick concealer? I’m sure all of those aren’t equivalent!
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Many things will give you cancer. If you avoid all present and known cancer causing substances to date, you will eventually live long enough to get cancer from something else that is yet to be known as a cancer causing agent.
Regarding talc, as long as you dont apply talc to your genitals, you shouldnt get any form of vaginal cancer. Plus, any talc distributed in the U.S. has been asbestos free for decades. And I think people should be more concerned about the number of different sex partners they have throughout their lives as it pertains to increased cancer risks as opposed to fretting about talc powder in cosmetics.
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@mike hehehehe good one
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Since you are not able to use the most efficient opacifiers, you will have to use much more of the less efficient ones. (at least 2 - 3 times as much) As a result, you will need to consider skin feel of the powders.If you can afford it, the Boron Nitride has the best skin feel, then the Bismuth Oxychloride, then the micas.Calcium Bentonite is probably going to feel like rubbing sandpaper on your skin.
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You can use Styrene/Acrylate co-polymer also as an Opacifying agent.
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You’d be shocked to know how many women use concealer on their vaginas, @mike !@Bobzchemist thanks for the explanation, what about just using more zinc oxide replacing Ti diox? Boron nitride looks promising, I can afford it, what particle size would be good for a concealer? And how does it compare to Titanium dioxde as an opacifier?@cosmochem interesting, know any good sources to get it from?
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@Zink Antara from Ashland, Acusol OP 301 and 305 from Univar (check the parent company though as Univar is a distributor in my region) and so on and so forth.
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@zink, you can absolutely use zinc oxide to replace TiO2. Make sure you get a pigmentary grade, though, since many of the sunscreen grades try to minimize opacity, and you are trying to maximize it.
I happen to think that Boron Nitride is awesome, (but then I’m biased since I was one of the people who introduced it to the cosmetic industry). You can use any particle size you want, but since it is a platelet-type material with a high aspect ratio, if you go too small, you will loose all of the platelet slip. -
Concealers on that private part? I learned something new today!
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@milliachemist, Acusol OP 301/305 are from Dow (formerly Rohm & Haas) - they only sell it in IBCs, so unless you’re using huge amounts of it you’re better off sticking with Univar
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@Bill you would be amazed to know that they are selling the same product to me in 120 kg drum, though I am surely surprised at the quantities you have mentioned.
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@Bobzchemist great advice, currently I have this: USP grade, particle size 0.2-1 µm http://www.makingcosmetics.com/Zinc-Oxide-p196.html not sure whether it’s pigmentary grade? Where do you get yours?
What kind of usage rate is typical if say using Zinc Oxide and Boron Nitride together? (assuming there is something to be gained over using only ZnO) -
Zink:
The greater the difference between the refractive indices of the cosmetic vehicle and the pigment/filler, the higher the opacity. That’s why hollow microspheres work - the air in the middle of the bubbles gives so many layers that light must go through and through so many dissimilar indices of refraction that the coating becomes more opaque. Also, opacity increases as the thickness of the layer, and the higher the filler loading, but we’ll ignore those for now.
A paint chemist might use a combination of TiO2 and calcined clay to take advantage of the spacer effect of the clay between particles of TiO2. There’s also a ceramics opacifier that is a mix of titanium and strontium pigments, but I don’t know anything about health effects.
Ken Wiener
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@milliachemist sorry, I meant that Dow/Rohm & Haas only sell them in IBCs - if we’ve wanted less than 500kg we’ve always bought it from Univar
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