cosmetic oxidation-part 2

Cosmetic oxidation is the second part of our series.

Good morning ladies and gents;

Continuing the series of posts about keeping your cosmetic products as fresh and viable as possible.

Today we will talk about the role air plays in chemically destroying products.

I am sure most of you heard of the term oxidation.

This refers to the chemical addition of oxygen to a product, which can lead to the destruction of that product. In other words the products loses its intended activity and becomes useless. Sometimes you can tell the product has been degraded in this way because the texture, smell and color changes.

And where do you find oxygen?

In air.

So how do you minimize entry of air into your products?

Cosmetic oxidation

Firstly, open, use the product and close it as quickly as possible. Don’t take the lid off and leave it off while you use the product. Put the lid back on immediately.

Secondly, try and go for products with nozzles or pumps rather than jars or containers with very wide openings.

This will minimize air entry.

And off course, obey all storage instructions.

Most cosmetics come with anti-oxidants included. A common anantioxidant is something like ascorbic acid. But you should still follow the precautions i advised to maximize your product’s effectiveness.

Unfortunately, poorly formulated cosmetics are common on the market. So it would be wrong to assume every product out there is made to last perfectly until the expiry date. The main reason behind this is that the controls on cosmetic manufacturers are not as stringent as, for example, those placed on those who manufacture internal medicines for human use.

Next week we will discuss the final factor in ensuring the viability of cosmetic products during use.

I hope you found this post about cosmetic oxidation useful.

If you really want to dive deeper into the science behind this, here is a great paper:

the science

Till next time