Hybrid of Powder Foundation and Skincare Function

Powder foundation make-up products often impart an unpleasant dry feeling. This is thought to be due to a lack of moisturizing effect in conventional non-aqueous formulations and reduced occlusion resulting from sebum absorption by powders. We hypothesized that applying a lamellar phase coating containing water to a powder foundation would improve moisturization and ease sebum absorption by the surrounding powder, and solve the dry feeling. Lecithin formed a lamellar phase that swelled with water and was not affected by sebum. When powders were coated with a lamellar phase using a dry process, the homogeneity of the coating was not sufficient. On the other hand, using a wet process with a volatile solvent to coat the powder with a lamellar phase resulted in a homogeneous coat. Coating powders with a lamellar phase reduced sebum absorption and enhanced occlusion verified through in vitro testing. Water content on skin to which a lamellar-coated powder foundation was applied was higher compared with that on skin to which a conventional oil-coated powder foundation was applied. We used this finding to develop a new foundation product that in feel testing yielded fewer reports of dryness. In addition, when water-soluble active ingredients were enclosed in a bilayer of a lamellar phase, permeability of these materials into the stratum corneum increased. Thus, we succeeded in developing an improved powder foundation through use of lamellar-coating to reducing the dry feeling commonly associated with traditional powder foundations and improve skincare function.