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The Chemistry of Lipstick

Katie Monsor

29 April 2013

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Summary

From Egyptians, to movie stars and pop singers, and now to everyone lipstick has been

an invention that has lasted over centuries. Women have been using lip-coloring for

enhancement and beauty assistance. Cosmetic chemists have been working hard in trying to

improve lip-coloring. They must produce a lipstick that costumers will be satisfied with. This

means chemists have many requirements to meet. They have to consider the melting, sweating,

and long-lasting stay of lipstick.

Lipstick must be insoluble in water to create the perfect texture. The insolubility will

keep the lipstick from smearing (Lipstick 9). Lipstick is usually made by mixing a dye that is

water-insoluble and an oil. Chemists usually use castor oil combined with beeswax. This

technique will help create a strong lipstick that will easily spread (Good Face). Some chemists

use dyes that mix with the amino acids in your skin to create the accurate dye. Some tubes of

lipstick seem to be a different color than you want, but when you put it on the correct color

shows up (Good Face).

Chemistry

In lipstick, there are three different processes these chemists have to add in to the

equation. These processes are the foundation, coloring agents, and additives. Oil is the most

common used liquid in lip-coloring since it does not mix with water. Castor oil is generally the

main oil used in lipstick. This is because there is no odor and there is no taste. Also, castor oil is

thick and will last longer (Lipstick 9).

If it is hot outside your chap stick melts and may spill out of the container. Cosmetic

chemists have taken that into perspective while creating lipstick. In order for lipstick to no melt

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they use Carnauba wax. This is found in Brazilian palm trees and has a melting point of 85

degrees Celsius. This helps avoid the lipstick from melting (Lipstick 10).

Waxes tend to be a sticky substance which is not pleasant when applied to lips. Chemists

created an idea that will improve the stickiness of waxes. They mix the waxes with isopropyl

myristate and other esters. These esters mix with the waxes and oils well because they are slick

(Lipstick 10).

To come up with the correct colors chemists add many different dyes together. However,

many dyes that are essential are soluble in water. This would be a problem with the saliva issue

and also the mixing together of the oils. The best way for the chemists to create a perfect dye is

to make the dye insoluble in oil and water (Lipstick 10).

“A water-soluble dye can become a satisfactory lipstick ingredient if it is combined with

certain other compounds that are colorless and insoluble. The resulting combination is called a

lake and insoluble in both oil and water” (Lipstick 10). The most common compound the dyes

are combined with is metal oxides. The dyes become a deep red when they are mixed with the

amino acids in our lips (Chemical Composition). Other dyes are mixed with white aluminum

oxide which has the same effect. There are more dyes that are dissolved in water. Then they are

mixed with solutions that create a precipitate. The equation for this process is:

Soluble Dye + Precipitate → Insoluble Lake

The insoluble lake is then mixed with castor oil. After being ground and mixed for a long

time the lake and castor oil mixture forms a suspension which is then combined with the other

many ingredients in the lipstick. With the lake method the color of the lipstick lasts much longer

and is a much deeper, stronger color (Lipstick 11).

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Implications

Learning about the chemistry of lipstick is only one of the many ways we can see

chemistry in everyday life. Students usually say that most of what they learn in school will not

apply to their life in the future. This research paper has showed me that that statement is false.

Chemistry is found in so many things in everyday life. I had no idea that chemistry was found in

the process of lipstick. This paper has helped me become interested in wanting to discover where

chemistry will show up in other things. I think everyone should be interested in learning how to

amply what we have learned in school to what we do and use outside of school.

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Works Cited

Nova. "Putting on a Good Face." Australian Academy of Science. Nova, n.d. Web. 2010.

<http://www.science.org.au/nova/083/083key.html>.

Senese, Fred. "What is the chemical composition of lipstick?" Chemistry of Everyday Life: n.

pag. General Chemistry Online. Web. 2010.

<http://antoine.frostburg.edu/chem/senese/101/consumer/faq/lipstick-

composition.shtml>.

Sibley, Lynn. "Lipstick" ["Agyptishes Museum and Papyrussamming"]. Agyptishes Museum and

Papyrussamming: 8-11. Print.