Induchem, which has a wealth of expertise in visual carrier systems, produces and commercialises beads in various compositions and combinations under the trade name Unispheres.
These can be loaded with various actives such as vitamins, coenzyme Q10, and salicylic acid, and produced in various colours. Customised versions are sometimes enriched to create special effects such as glitter and shimmer. The beads help visualise the presence of an active ingredient. Unispheres are available in two size ranges: 500 to 900 ?m and 1000 to 1500 ?m. Unispheres ‘Natural’ are based on bamboo cellulose and xylitol and are Ecocert certifiable (request 1748). The standard versions are available in two sizes and four colours: white, green, ochre and terracotta. They can be customised with a variety of colours and special effects. Unispheres ‘Natural’ have exactly the same physical behaviour as the regular Unispheres: they are hard and solid in bulk, they soften in cosmetic formulations and they do not leave any residue on the skin. As with regular Unispheres, the ‘Natural’ version is a spherical matrix and not a capsule. Therefore, the solubility of the ingredient to be incorporated is of utmost importance – active ingredients to be entrapped should preferably be lipophilic. To meet a very strong demand from the market, Induchem developed a new technology to load beads with a high concentration of pigments. Through a white coating, the colour of the pigment is hidden up to the moment the bead is rubbed out on the skin.
Dramatic bronzing
The use of Unispheres ‘Bi-color’ beads allows a dramatic bronzing effect. While a cream or gel containing the white beads is applied to the skin, a bronzing effect appears progressively without leaving any residue. This immediate bronzing effect can also be combined with a self-tanner to improve the shade of the tan. All Induchem’s Unispheres (conventional, ‘Natural’ and ‘Bi-color’) can be used in many types of cosmetic products – in both clear formulations (gels, shampoos, liquid soaps, etc and emulsions (cleansers, creams, lotions, etc). To keep the beads suspended, the formula should contain a thickener building a network. Unispheres can take several hours to soften in the formula. They should be added towards the end of the manufacturing process using a mixing system with low shear stress. Unispheres soften best in formulas with at least 30% water and are typically used at 1% to 2% in final products. The reference formulation shown in Table 1 gives an example on how Unispheres can be used in a gel. It should be noted that, be it a gel or an emulsion, the presence of a thickener is absolutely necessary in order to have a network for a good suspension of the Unispheres.
