Innovation in sectors such as the makeup and skin care industry is being led by companies mainly located in Asia that are currently starting to produce cosmetic products that have been subjected to lyophilization processes. The new demands of the cosmetic industry focus the main objective in achieving cosmetic products hypoallergenic, pure, natural and with a minimum of waste.
The cosmetic industry is interested in freeze drying processes due to the preservation of the qualities of the ingredients used in their natural and raw form. This feature of freeze drying allows cosmetic brands to capture the ingredients of their products in their best and most active form, without the need to add additional preservatives or stabilizers, which can affect the quality and overall effectiveness of their products.
Freeze drying in the cosmetic industry is favoring the creation of many benefits for the products, including the preservation of the active ingredient, the lack of additional preservatives, a long shelf life and the improved permeability of skin care products.
From the point of view of consumers there is a very beneficial point, and it is the fact that many of these freeze-dried cosmetics are hypoallergenic due to their purity and lack of additional ingredients. This could mean that, in the near future, those with the most sensitive skin could have a wide range of products to choose from.
Major advantages of Freeze-Drying in Cosmetics
The implementation of freeze-drying within the cosmetic industry has lead to the creation of many benefits to products, including the preservation of the active ingredient, lack of additional preservatives, a long shelf life, and the improved permeability of skincare products.
Other advantages are:
If preservatives and alcohol are contained in the products, these can generate activities decrease. Therefore, freeze drying prevent their activity loss.
The ingredients of freeze-dried cosmetics are higher in skin permeability and longer than normal cosmetics.
Ingredients that are unstable in solution can be safely formulated because they can be stored in a dry state.
It is possible to prevent the deterioration of quality such as oxidation that may occur during the formulation, packaging and distribution of existing cosmetics.
Different freeze-dried formats can be developed : ampoules, eye wrinkle masks, cosmetic swabs, cosmetic pill, etc.
Functional materials can be easily added during freeze-drying, and the texture is excellent with dense and regular structure.
The lyophilized raw material changes the molecular structure and becomes smaller, increasing the rate of absorption of the skin.
What are the challenges?
The cosmetics are different from other products which formulated with plural ingredients. It is difficult to decide the efficient freezing temperature range and the length of freezing. Thus, the freeze-drying technique had hard time to be introduced to cosmetic industry.