Pigment

Color cosmetics are our industry's most visible product and are the most fashion-driven. While skincare is mostly prophylactic and any improvements to its condition are slow and gradual, pigments can be dramatic.

Unfortunately, the colors available to the formulator are strictly limited and, with today's international markets, further restricted by the need to be acceptable in all of them. The FDA-certified colors and pigments continue to be the global standard, but not all colors permitted in the EU have FDA-certified equivalents. The FDA specification is sometimes less demanding than the EU, especially for nickel and zinc content. The nickel content of pigments has become a significant issue because of sensitization problems caused by wearing cheap white metal jewelry.

Because of such restrictions, developments are more in how color is used and improvements to the products in which it is incorporated. Such enhancements include using boron nitride and polyethylene spheres to add slip and lubricity to loose and pressed powders and treating pigments with fluorinated polymers to enhance skin feel and reduce processing problems.

Novel complex pigments consist of plate-like, high-refractive-index pigments covered with a low-refractive-index substance. This allowed the users to look far more natural and less artificial than conventional makeup. The optical properties of the foundation layer formed on the face's surface utilize the light-splitting ability of titanium dioxide-coated mica, achieving transparency and a natural finish. To overcome the problem of white glitter due to light scattering, a new colored TiO₂-mica with ultra-fine ferric oxide particles was made.