Managing colour in cosmetics

From printing to textile, from chemical to automobile, accurate colour management processes are in place and the corresponding measurement instruments now have a high level of penetration in these markets. This is not the case, however, in the cosmetics industry. Even today, measuring, controlling and formulating the appearance of cosmetic products remains a real industrial challenge and a genuine concern. The reason for this lies in the product’s appearance and colour characteristics. Makeup is a highly complex compound, and its colour is somewhat more difficult to measure than textile or paint.

Coping with a wide variety of compounds

As such, a meaningful colour management strategy must rely on a technology that is tailored to the nature of the measured products and the type of information that needs to be researched. In the case of cosmetics: colour, appearance, brilliance and effects. Additionally, the measuring technology must consistently adapt to the variety of products involved. In the cosmetics industry, the wide variety of compounds and products made it difficult, until recently, to conduct an accurate and consistent measuring. Lipstick is a good example of the complexity of colour measurement in this industry. It is a product that is often opaque in mass but which can be transparent, translucid or opaque after application. It is coloured by pigments or colourings, with a high degree of brilliance, using traditional colouring substances or pigments with effects (a variation in the colour depending on the angle of observation). Verifying the appearance of this type of product is complex, for the simple reason that brilliance and texture are difficult to measure. Also, one has to agree upon the state in which the product’s colour characteristics should be measured. Traditionally, colour control can be performed in three different ways representing the three typical states of a lipstick product: