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change in skin care routines, as consumers focus on upper facial care and daily ‘touchless’ maintenance when wearing masks. This paradigm shift in traditional


thinking offers an opportunity for the beauty industry to evolve and flourish in the new normal. We need to believe we can make a difference with what may be limited supplies and tools at our disposal. Formulators need to start working smarter, not harder. Brands must think creatively, sustainably and understand the consumer market as it is now. That is not to say formulators can no longer create products via traditional means, or that brands should build a new portfolio; it is about remaining open-minded to radically new product development strategies. Let us take a look at ‘fast beauty’! A


trend that was catapulted into the market by the younger generation’s ‘must-buy’ mantra back in 2018, it enabled beauty brands to speed up time to market in new ways. It is a term not to be confused with ‘fast fashion’ however, which is often represented in a negative light with sensitive claims surrounding labour practices and sustainability. While fast fashion’s aim was to disrupt the cycle of seasons and deliver immediate low-cost solutions for consumers, fast beauty considers improvements to machinery and production time as a different way to boost speed to market, as well as enabling consumers to apply skin and beauty products with speed. Fast beauty is also backed by sustainable methods, without compromising on quality control. In a similar vein to fast beauty, the


Korean ‘skip-care’ trend has also been on the rise. It is a skin care regime that allows consumers to identify the essential ingredients for their skin, strip back on unnecessary products and make way for much simpler morning and evening routines. So, instead of one product being purchased for each step of the process - exfoliation, hydration, detox and so on - you have one or two products that cover a range of steps and, most importantly, they deliver the same results. This idea of paring back on skin care products and ingredients is the type of next generation thinking the beauty industry needs to embrace.


Delivering the difference with PEG- 7 Dimethicone Ether As an independent European manufacturer, we are embracing this new wave of thinking at Cornelius. Inspired by current trends in simplicity, sustainability and stability, we asked our beauty and cosmetic formulating customers to share what they wanted to


PERSONAL CARE EUROPE


achieve with silicones and silicone-based emulsions if they were unrestricted by time, cost and process complexity. The responses set in motion a chain of events that led to the development and production of PEG-7 Dimethicone Ether – a ground-breaking water- in-silicone (W/Si) emulsifier that revolutionises formulating behaviour. Development of the W/Si emulsifier started


back in late 2017; before trends such as ‘fast beauty’ and ‘skip-care’ rose in popularity with today’s generation. By working with a select group of customers, we developed a business proposition outlining the value of the potential solution, what cost savings it could present to the customer, and how it could save brands production resources and time to deliver accelerated speed to market; a critical factor as brands move in to the post-COVID new normal period. During initial development, the Cornelius


research team produced several working prototypes through a screening programme for a select group of customers. The ability to give honest feedback is something that should not be overlooked – and we used this knowledge to both hone the emulsion’s performance and understand the challenges formulators face when producing W/Si emulsions. Yet, even with all this best practice research,


it was not plain sailing. Creating W/Si emulsions and keeping them stable is a well- known challenge. To optimise this stability, we tailored the molecular weight of the silicone. Yet using it required a different way of formulating; a way to strip back the chassis and disengage with the traditional thinking around how to formulate such products. To get that luxury and light feel with no pilling, the formulation – often 70% (or more) water dispersed in 30% silicone – requires a gentle touch. This instability can often cause a major headache for manufacturers when producing


W/Si emulsions, especially at a much larger scale in manufacturing facilities. But with PEG-7 Dimethicone Ether from Cornelius, these instability and scalability concerns are now replaced with a cost-effective, simple formulation solution that significantly reduces the number of ingredients required in the chassis of the formulation; a revolutionary step for the personal care sector.


The science behind the solution


Traditionally, W/Si emulsions are formulated with an emulsifier,


elastomer, film-former, dimethicone, a co-emulsifier or stabiliser, electrolyte such as MgSO4 and water. By stripping the


chassis, Cornelius has enabled the removal of extra ingredients and the formulation now just requires PEG-7 Dimethicone Ether, dimethicone, electrolyte such as MgSO4 and water. In the comparisons shown above, the ratios


between liquid water to silicone are roughly the same. We recommend using a water to silicone ratio between 70/30 to 85/15, exclusive of insoluble solids with a pH range of 5-8, as it works well in combination with external phase thickeners, such as hectorite, and electrolytes such as magnesium sulphate. By using a small amount of our solution (between 2% to 8%), formulators can significantly reduce the cost of raw materials by up to 40%.


The new sustainable production process While reducing formulation cost and instability are hugely beneficial, how does that translate to manufacturing time savings? Traditional processing methods typically require dripped or metered addition and stirring before homogenisation. PEG-7 Dimethicone Ether eliminates this need entirely by delivering the completed formulation in a swift two- step process. Formulators simply need to add the


emulsifier to the silicone phase then begin adding water. It is that easy. Instead of a 30- minute lab process, using the Cornelius solution takes five to ten minutes, with no stirring required and a quick homogenisation phase, saving formulators up to 50% on production time. In addition, when it comes to energy


usage, PEG-7 Dimethicone Ether saves up to 50% on production energy costs. Due to its unique ability to be emulsified at room temperature, formulators can achieve significant cost savings and sustainability advantages beyond what traditional processing is capable of. The result is a beautiful, glossy emulsion that is ready to be scaled with the time and energy savings realised in the same proportions.


November 2020


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