Apocarotenal is a carotenoid with orange-to-orange-red color found in many fruits and vegetables (citruses, spinach, etc) that is used in foods, drugs, personal care applications, and decorative cosmetics as a safe colorant or pigment.
Pigment
Color cosmetics are our industry's most visible product and are the most fashion-driven. While skincare is mostly prophylactic and any improvements to its condition are slow and gradual, pigments can be dramatic.
Unfortunately, the colors available to the formulator are strictly limited and, with today's international markets, further restricted by the need to be acceptable in all of them. The FDA-certified colors and pigments continue to be the global standard, but not all colors permitted in the EU have FDA-certified equivalents. The FDA specification is sometimes less demanding than the EU, especially for nickel and zinc content. The nickel content of pigments has become a significant issue because of sensitization problems caused by wearing cheap white metal jewelry.
Because of such restrictions, developments are more in how color is used and improvements to the products in which it is incorporated. Such enhancements include using boron nitride and polyethylene spheres to add slip and lubricity to loose and pressed powders and treating pigments with fluorinated polymers to enhance skin feel and reduce processing problems.
Novel complex pigments consist of plate-like, high-refractive-index pigments covered with a low-refractive-index substance. This allowed the users to look far more natural and less artificial than conventional makeup. The optical properties of the foundation layer formed on the face's surface utilize the light-splitting ability of titanium dioxide-coated mica, achieving transparency and a natural finish. To overcome the problem of white glitter due to light scattering, a new colored TiO2-mica with ultra-fine ferric oxide particles was made.Astaxanthin is a carotenoid with a pink-red color, a powerful natural antioxidant found in aquatic animals like fish, krill, and shrimps. This carotenoid is responsible for red pigmentation and has biological and nutritional functions.
Canthaxanthin is a red-pigmenting carotenoid found in the Chanterelle mushroom, in the skin pigment of certain crustaceans, and in the skin and organs of many birds and fish.
Chlorophyllin-Copper Complex is a chlorophyll derivative in which Mg2+ cations in the middle of the nitrogen ring (reactive core) are replaced with copper ions, Cu2+.
Coral Powder is a natural bio-active mineral, mainly constituted of Calcium Carbonate (part of calcareous rocks, inorganic skeletons of corals, marble, etc.), and the remaining amount of a unique oligo-elements combination that gives peculiar and unique characteristics.
Lutein is one of the carotenoids, an anti-aging ingredient, powerful free-radicle quenching antioxidant found in plants, fruits, and leafy green vegetables. Lutein stimulates the skin’s renewal process; helps fight the damaging effects of sunlight, pollution, stress, and aging.
Montmorillonite is a phyllosilicate mineral clay of smectite gourp. There are three types of Montmorillonite clays with reddish, bluish, and greenish tints.
Sicopearl® Fantastico Gold is a color-variable pigment complex based on multiple-coated aluminum flakes, a colorant for cosmetic formulations. It is a powder with a changing color effect.
Sicopearl® Fantastico Green is a color variable pigment complex based on multiple-coated iron oxide flakes in the form of powder. Color changing from green to reddish violet.
Metallic silver (Argentum metallicum) is a natural antimicrobial active and appears as a silver-grey homogenous powder, without odor. It can be marked with Color Index nomenclature as a pigment or colorant CI 77820.