Whether the goal is to be bold or casual, romantic or professional, color cosmetics using advanced silicone technology are helping women and men create a look, capture a mood, and look and feel their best.
“Cosmetics have always been an important aspect of fashion and accessorizing,” said Stewart Long, Dow Corning Skin Care global marketing manager. “The difference today is that consumers demand cosmetics and skin care products that specifically address their unique needs, which now may include wrinkle-masking, sun protection, and moisturizing.”
As performance of cosmetics products improves, so have sales. According to market researcher Mintel International Group, sales of color cosmetics have increased 11 percent since 2004, with eye makeup sales up 38 percent. Seventy-six percent of their survey respondents picked lipstick and lip gloss as their most popular color cosmetic products.
To help cosmetics formulators develop products optimized for their customers’ wide-ranging needs, Dow Corning, a global leader in silicones, silicon-based technology and innovation, offers a broad line of performance-enhancing ingredients to address specific challenges.
“Silicone technology is playing a more important role in helping manufacturers introduce new and better product formulas that can be worn longer, be more comfortable, and offer greater options,” Long said. “The objective is to offer a combination of pleasing effects with multifunctional performance.”
Approximately half of all new make-ups, hair and skin care, and underarm products contain silicones because of their different functional benefits such as the ability to create uniform, non-occlusive and long-lasting films, to reduce skin shine or enhance gloss on lips, to mask wrinkle and absorb sebum while providing a distinctive smooth, silky, powdery feel, Long said. In 2009, a global average of more than 70 percent of color cosmetics introduced contained at least one silicone material.
Long also noted that silicones help meet the growing demand for multifunctional products, such as foundations that moisturize the skin, eye shadows that firm, and lipsticks that soothe dry lips.
“When combined with high-demand ingredients such as vitamins, antioxidants, minerals, and lipids, silicones enable cosmetic formulators to go beyond the ordinary to develop more innovative cosmetics and skin care products,” he said. “Consumers are continually seeking enhanced cosmetics and skin care products so they look and feel their best, which means the industry must provide increasingly innovative solutions.”
For example, the newest technology from Dow Corning, a novel silicone flake resin, blends two resins that form a flexible, durable film that is resistant to transfer, allowing cosmetic formulators to create long-lasting, comfortable color cosmetics, skin care, and sun care products.
“The new silicone resin helps color cosmetics maintain a fresh look, with enhanced color intensity and shine,” Long said. “This is the kind of new technology that meets aesthetic needs as well as delivers the practical benefits that consumers want to make them look and feel their best.”
Source: http://www.dowcorning.com/