Ingredients and manufacturing procedures

Ingredients and manufacturing procedures
Lipstick contains wax, oils, antioxidants and emollients. Wax provides the structure to the solid lipstick. Lipsticks may be made from several waxes such as beeswax, ozokerite and candelilla wax. The high melting Carnauba wax is a key ingredient in terms of strengthening the lipstick. Various oils and fats are also used in lipsticks, such as olive oil, mineral oil, cocoa butter, lanolin, and petrolatum. More than 50% of lipsticks made in the United States contain pig fat or castor oil, which gives them a shiny appearance.

Lipsticks get their colors from a variety of pigments and lake dyes including, but not limited to bromo acid, D&C Red No. 21, Calcium Lake such as D&C Red 7 and D&C Red 34, and D&C Orange No. 17. Pink lipsticks are made by mixing colourless titanium dioxide and red shades. There are organic and inorganic pigments.

Matte lipsticks contain more filling agents like silica but do not have many emollients. Creme lipsticks contain more waxes than oils. Sheer and long lasting lipstick contain a lot of oil, while long lasting lipsticks also contain silicone oil, which seals the colors to the wearer's lips. Glossy lipstick contain more oil to give a shiny finish to the lips. Shimmery lipstick may contain mica, silica, fish scales, and synthetic pearl particles to give them a glittery or shimmering shine.

Lipstick is made from grinding and heating ingredients. Then heated waxes are added to the mix for texture. Oils and lanolin are added for specific formula requirements. Afterwards, the hot liquid is poured onto a metal mold. The mixture is chilled and kept cool so that the lipsticks harden. Once they have hardened, they are heated in flame for half a second to create a shiny finish and to remove imperfections.

Lipstick is generally manufactured in four stages: (1) pigment milling, (2) combination of pigment phase into the base, (3) molding, and (4) flaming. Milling is to break up pigment agglomeration rather than to reduce particle size. A good rule of thumb of the pigment/oil ratio is to use two parts of oil for one part of pigment. The resultant paste can be passed through three-roll mill till the satisfactory particle size (usually 20 micron). Combination of pigment phase into the base is a simple procedure. The wax and oil phase are usually melted in a steam-jacketed kettle equipped with a single propeller agitator. Following this, the milled pigment phase is added into part of the oil using a three-roll mill to a satisfactory particle size (usually 20μm). Molding is by use of vertical split molds. Most lipstick formulations mold well between 75 and 85 C. Pre-heating the mold be around 35 C avoids the formation of “cold marks” on the stick, and holding the mold at a light angle to the vertical is a technique often used to avoid air entrapment. Rapid cooling after the mass is poured into the mold of important since it leads to a smaller, more uniform crystalline, structure, which, in turn, leads to better stability and gloss. Once cooled, the molds can be spit open and the sticks subjected on to the trays or some other suitable storage container until they are ready for flaming. Flaming is a procedure for passing the molded stick through the flame of a gas burner, or series or burners, to increase the surface gloss. The flames are adjusted to a level just hot enough to just melt the surface of the stick.