Looking for technical solutions making skin radiant while hiding skin imperfections

Kurzfassung

A Brussels based multinational active in consumer goods looks for technical solutions making skin radiant while hiding skin imperfections. Technical cooperation with partners having optical engineering capability, access to materials for testing, knowledge of cosmetic products and industry is sought.

Details

Consumers want skin that looks beautiful – smooth, blemish-free and radiant. Current facial cosmetic products use colorants and opaque materials to hide skin imperfections. These opaque materials also hide the natural beauty and radiance of the skin and can lead to a dull look. There is a dichotomy between opacifiers to hide imperfections and translucence to create radiance. When one increases, the other tends to decrease. The challenge is to break this dichotomy and create hiding power with high translucency using films less than 25 µ thick.

The objective of this company is to identify:
a)the optical properties required to provide a radiant appearance with good hiding power,
or
b) a set of materials (possible film plus solids) that will be able to provide the appearance of radiant skin while hiding skin imperfections.

The company envisages the following possible approaches:
1.Use of sophisticated computer graphics/models and light scattering engineering to better define the needed properties to achieve radiance while hiding skin imperfections. This is a challenging problem, and the company has not fully defined the physics and engineering aspects of the possible solutions. They are interested in paper submissions regarding the performance criteria needed from the product film to achieve the radiant appearance that hides imperfections. The question is : Is it possible to do this in a single layer application, or will two or more layers be needed?
2.Use of optical materials capable of displaying diffused light in the product film to make skin look radiant. Simple computer models suggest materials with a relative refractive index lower than 0.8 (i.e., particles have lower refractive index than the media they are in), containing particles in the 0.2 to 1.0 micron range, and able to diffuse light in the product film will create a radiant look. The shape, colour, orientation and coating of any particles used will be key to achieving the desired optical effects. Colour shifts to red help make skin look natural, while colour shifts to blue are undesirable. The challenge is to create high hiding power and high radiance from the 5-25 micron product film.
3.Whatever Works. Measuring light diffusion and hiding power can require sophisticated analytical equipment. On the other hand, it is readily apparent to the human eye when skin is radiant (not shiny) and imperfections are hidden. Shine is typically associated with reflection of specular light; radiance is created by diffuse light in the material.
The company is interested in materials or application approaches that can create radiance and hide imperfections today. The printing industry, computer graphics, and sign/tape industries often create beautiful skin through optical manipulation. As a benchmark, apply Cover Girl TRUBlend Whipped Foundation to facial skin with mild imperfections and compare the new ideas to it.

Technical Specifications / Specific technical requirements:
Constraints:
Materials must be safe for human use (have an MSDS with no hazardous impurities), stable in a pigment containing product for 3 months at 40C, achieve the desired result at 1-5 mg/cm2 (5-25 micron film thickness) and cost less than $12/lb.

Potential Partner Capabilities:
- Optical engineering capability, access to materials for testing, knowledge of cosmetic products and industry.
Success Criteria
•Contrast Ratio greater than Cover Girl TRUBlend Whipped Foundation in both the wet and dry states as defined in ASTM 2805 sections 3.2.1 and 3.2.2 using a 1 mil Byrd Applicator (i.e., 1 mil wet film thickness).
•Have a noticeably higher level of radiance and hiding power than Cover Girl TRUBlend Whipped Foundation applied to facial skin. If a narrow beam of light is shined onto the test material, radiance can be assessed by how much the beam is diffused outwardly.
•Leave skin feeling natural and clean.