VICTOR LOW¹, HOLGER SEIDEL^2,*, THOMAS WILLERS^3,*, CHRISTOPH KOLANO^1,*
*Corresponding authors
1. Lonza Ltd., Basel, Switzerland
2. Azelis Deutschland Kosmetik GmbH, Moers, Germany
3. KRÜSS GmbH, Hamburg, Germany

Abstract

A natural-derived polyglyceryl ester was tested for suitability as a versatile emulsifier for low-viscous formulations and as a builder for liposomal structures. We prepared market relevant formulations, and tested, analysed and characterized them with a variety of methods, in order to make the benefits and the performance of the polyglyceryl ester tangible. This study demonstrated that polyglyceryl esters are an efficacious emulsifiers in the market, and that this type of emulsifier meets the most recent market needs and trends, while complying with the natural cosmetic standards of COSMOS and NaTrue.

INTRODUCTION

The use of emulsions is widespread in consumer goods market. One segment of special interest is the personal care industry.

An emulsion can be considered as a dispersion of one material inside another non-miscible phase. Typically, in personal care the two phases of an emulsion are called the water and the oil phase.

Emulsions can be used as vehicles to deliver actives to the surface of the skin. Besides being a vehicle for delivery, an emulsion also provides the opportunity to customize the texture and sensory character of the resulting consumer good.

The two types of liquid based emulsions predominant in personal care are: 

• (O/W): Oil in Water, having oil droplets in a continuous aqueous phase
• (W/O): Water in Oil, having droplets of water in a continuous oil phase
  
  

Emulsions do not exhibit spontaneous stability, so the two immiscible phases will undergo various instabilities such as creaming, sedimentation, flocculation, Ostwald ripening, coalescence and phase inversion (1,2). This means that the emulsion will separate out ov ...