Beauty Care Ingredients at Bell Chem
When consumers think of a chemical supply leader such as Bell Chem, they usually envision heavy-duty industrial chemicals and water-treatment chemicals. Bell Chem has a gentler side, though, as a supplier for beauty care ingredients and nutritional supplements. From adipic acid to zinc oxide, Bell Chem has dozens of chemicals to enhance your cosmetic line. The Food and Drug Administration recognizes three distinct categories of cosmetics – cosmetics, drugs, and soaps. Bell Chem serves all three categories with chemicals, oils, and extracts that can be compounded to create the ultimate product. These raw materials have been refined and tested for efficacy, safety, and shelf life to meet rigorous industry demands and provide you with the ultimate in beauty care chemicals.
Most cosmetics contain four broad categories of ingredients, which combine to create hundreds of thousands of products. Following is a list of these four categories along with examples of each.
Active ingredients: Active ingredients are the portion of a beauty care product designed to have a pharmacological effect. They will have the greatest impact on skin and hair, and because active ingredients are considered a drug, they are further regulated by the FDA. Examples of active ingredients include sulfur and benzoyl peroxide in acne medications, zinc oxide in sunscreen, and Vitamin E for skin lightening.
Conditioning ingredients: These are ingredients that give skin and hair a richer, silkier, or fuller effect. Examples are silicone and glycerine in shampoo and propylene glycol as a skin conditioner.
Functional ingredients: This is the “bulk” of the product that determines if it is a cream, lotion, gel, shampoo, etc. Examples include emulsifiers and polymers, detergents, and pH adjustors.
Preservatives: Sometimes, preservatives are classified as functional ingredients simply because they stabilize products over an extended period of time. Their second role – retaining product stability without an influx of bacteria, mold, or yeast – gives them a dimension worth categorizing separately. Preservative examples can be anti-microbials such as parabens, and antioxidants to prevent oxygen damage and degradation.
With a range of uses from cosmetics, shampoos, conditioners, antiperspirants, toothpastes and mouthwashes, to infant and baby care products, beauty care chemicals are used everyday by most of the population. Bell Chem believes a more thorough understanding of the role of beauty care chemicals, as well as their derivatives will ensure customers are better informed when they purchase hygiene-related products. Contact Bell Chem at 407-339-2355 (BELL) to speak with one of our beauty care experts, and browse the product information on our website for details on an array of chemicals for you and your company.