COSMETICS & PERSONAL CARE cushion and the illusion of smoothing the epidermis . W / Si emulsions can create some complications in production , however . Figure 1 shows the process . The water must be added very slowly , drop-wise at low shear , resulting in long formulation and production times and higher energy usage than , O / W emulsification . If the addition procedure is rushed , the resultant product will often resemble a curdled mess , which cannot be reworked . Cor-Sil Avance Ether allows much faster addition of the water phase in a cold mix process . This addition is possible with high-shear mixing , negating the need for extra lowshear mixing equipment and moving mixers between vessels . By contrast , O / W or Si / W emulsions have faster homogenisation times but typically require heating up to 70 º C for emulsification , resulting in additional energy usage and more time being needed for heating and cooling .
Production
During the development of Cor-Sil Avance , we discussed manufacturing times and energy usage concerns with customers . All were keen to find solutions that would allow energy savings thereby lowering carbon footprint . Cor-Sil Avance is not only a coldprocessable emulsifier , it greatly speeds up the time of production , creating cost savings . This shortened emulsification time not only saves energy and cost but also liberates
Figure 2 – Cor-Sil Avance W / Si emulsion v . traditional process
Figure 3 – Sensorial comparison of emulsion systems
capacity at the manufacturing site , allowing production of several more batches or SKUs . As seen in Figure 2 , based on customer data of producing traditional W / Si emulsions , it is possible to cut energy usage and time by up to 60 %. In our calculations , based on the UK Government ’ s 2020 greenhouse gas conversion factors , if 250 batches are made per year , switching to Cor-Sil
Avance could save 85,000kW / hrs and reduce CO 2 emissions by 20 tonnes over ten years . 2
No compromise
Silicone emulsions offer the ultimate silky skin feel so often emulated by other products . This is created with the use of linear silicones and often with the addition of branched or cross-linked elastomers . High-viscosity , cross-linked elastomers , though initially delightful to the senses , do have some drawbacks . Processing them can be difficult . Due to their rheological nature , they can be hard to disperse and generally work with in a factory environment . In use , they can cause an issue referred to as ‘ pilling ’. Once the product is applied to the skin and dries off , the end film can start to ball up when friction is applied . This problem is so contentious that a Reddit forum is dedicated to it , with
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