chemistry

Ingredients of cosmetics

Ingredients of cosmetics is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Ingredients of cosmetics rather than just read about it. In short: Cosmetics ingredients come from a variety of sources but, unlike the ingredients of food, are often not considered by most consumers. Cosmetics often use vibrant colors that are derived from a wide variety of sources, ranging from crushed insects to rust.

Key takeaways

Ingredients of cosmetics belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Ingredients of cosmetics to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Ingredients of cosmetics from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Cosmetics ingredients come from a variety of sources but, unlike the ingredients of food, are often not considered by most consumers. Cosmetics often use vibrant colors that are derived from a wide variety of sources, ranging from crushed insects to rust. Cosmetics in a variety of forms date back to early civilizations, with the need to improve ones personal appearance being an important factor in attracting a mate. Over the years the ingredients have changed dramatically as we discovered how to manufacture our own scents and cosmetic formulas. The realization of the dangers of many common ingredients also greatly affected the growing industry. Ancient Egyptian aristocracy made use of minerals to provide colour and definition to their facial features. During the era of the Greek Empire it was common to use face paints, while cosmetics in ancient Rome contained starch, olive oil, beeswax, saffron, rose water, and lead.

Common ingredients Castor oil and its derivatives are found in many cosmetics as it is "non-comedogenic" (does not exacerbate or contribute to acne). Cerebrosides (cells from the nervous systems of cattle or swine) were once used in some high-end skin-care products to increase moisture retention and to create a smooth skin surface, however the BSE controversy has put an end to this practice. In many countries colors in cosmetics are listed as numbers from the Colour Index International. The scheme covers colors used in food, personal care products, cosmetics, household products and fabric dyeing. For example, tartrazine is not normally listed as such in lipstick ingredients, but as C.I. 19140. Erythrosine will be listed as C.I. 45430, and so on. In US and Canada colors are listed as FD & C colors. Tartrazine (E102) is FD & C Yellow 5 and erythrosine (E127) is FD & C Red 3.

Visual effects Strong red colors for eye products have been produced using the dye carmine, made from carminic acid extracted from the crushed bodies of the cochineal insect. Carmine was once the only bright red color permitted by the FDA for use around the eye.

Pearlescence, also sometimes spelled as "pearl essence", is a shine or gloss effect commonly used in a wide variety of cosmetic products. The most usual source of pearlescence is the natural mineral mica covered by a thin layer of titanium dioxide. This coating causes goniochromism – the color appears through interference effects with the naturally translucent mica, and varying the thickness of the titanium dioxide changes the color. Alternatives exist, including the suspension of tiny flakes of a suitable material within the product, often a wax such as glycol distearate. A shimmery substance found on fish scales, most usually obtained from herring and one of many by-products of commercial fish processing, can also be used for pearlescent effects, primarily in nail polish, but is now rarely used due to its high cost, bismuth oxychloride flakes being used as a substitute instead.

Types of cosmetics

Facial cosmetics The Romans and ancient Egyptians used cosmetics containing mercury.

Foundation Women of Roman Britain used a foundation made from animal fat, starch and tin oxide. Today foundations come in a wide variety of formulas and finishes, most being either water, silicone, or mineral based. Foundations on today's market come in cream, liquid, pressed powder, loose powder, or mineral form. They also come in different finishes such as matte or satin depending upon the desired look.

Lipstick

Lipstick is known to have been used around 5000 years ago in ancient Babylon, when semi-precious jewels were crushed and applied to the lips and occasionally around the eyes. Ancient Egyptians extracted purplish-red dye from fucus-algin, 0.01% iodine, and some bromine mannite, which resulted in serious illness. Cleopatra had her lipstick made from crushed carmine beetles, which gave a deep red pigment, and ants for a base. The red color of modern lipstick can come from synthetically derived pure iron oxide (common iron rust), however most leading brands use the more economical synthetic colors. In the United States, every batch of synthetic dye and pigment must have a sample sent to the US FDA for testing and certification that the batch is pure and its contaminants are below the levels specified by law. Synthetic colors are listed in the ingredients as a code (e.g.: F &D red no 6) and may contain up to 10 parts per million of lead / 3 parts per million of arsenic. There is some controversy over the presence of these trace ingredients, especially since makeup worn on the lips is not just absorbed through the skin, but also swallowed with drinking and eating. Since lowering these levels would make the production and sale of practically all lipstick illegal, and since the FDA has determined that the existing levels are safe, the cosmetic industry continues to produce and sell lipstick. Typically, the pigment is crushed very finely (7 to 10 micrometres) while being mixed with castor oil and is then mixed with a wax base to form a finished lipstick. Lipsticks may be sheer or dense, matte or shiny. In their thinnest and most fluid consistency they are given their own category, lipgloss.

Perfume

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Ingredients of cosmetics

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Ingredients of cosmetics claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Ingredients of cosmetics before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Ingredients of cosmetics ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Ingredients of cosmetics

In research: Ingredients of cosmetics appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Ingredients of cosmetics in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Ingredients of cosmetics is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Cosmetics chemicals, History of cosmetics, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Ingredients of cosmetics outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Ingredients of cosmetics in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Ingredients of cosmetics means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Ingredients of cosmetics out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ingredients of cosmetics in simple terms?

Why does Ingredients of cosmetics matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Ingredients of cosmetics?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Ingredients of cosmetics.