A new water‐in‐powder technology: a novel structure for creating unique cosmetic products

IFSCC Magazine, 11 (2008) (1) 31–34 A water-in-powder cosmetic is one in which a large amount of water is encapsulated in a powder. In this study we describe the development of this type of cosmetic. We first focused on the hydrophilic/hydrophobic balance of the nano-sized powder surface. We looked at surface state of powders in the gas adsorption test and discovered functional powders that have an optimized balance of hydrorepellency and hydrophilicity due to fractal surface and free hydroxyl groups, respectively. Using this material we created a new powder technology that can encapsulate a large quantity of water in a stable structure. We also looked at how the powders encapsulated water by observing them with wet-SEM and how the encapsulated water is stabilized by measuring the water mobility with 17O-NMR. Based on these result, we developed a new technology with water and powder. By encapsulating a large amount of water, we achieved a cosmetic with many unique characteristics: The powder cosmetic can become a liquid by application of friction on skin, it is convenient to use and provides moist, cool feel. It also functions as an excellent makeup by spreading smoothly on skin to form a uniform makeup coating.