Cyclomethicones are used in many personal care formulas in skincare, hair care, sun care, antiperspirant, and color cosmetics for their technical functionality and overall sensory. An effective cyclomethicone replacement on the market must be as versatile and aesthetically pleasing as its out-of-fashion counterpart.
Cyclopentasiloxane is the most widely used cyclomethicone. It is used as the market standard to compare alternatives against. To identify a suitable replacement for cyclopentasiloxane, thorough assessments of functional attributes and sensory profiles must be conducted.
Functional and sensory analysis of two natural cyclopentasiloxane replacements
Inolex has developed an effective method for comparing replacement or alternative emollients to a market standard. The analysis completed for LexFeel™ WOW Series products compared these emollients to cyclopentasiloxane.
In this analysis, there were five key functional areas assessed comprising 15 total parameters. There were five key sensorial areas evaluated comprising 53 total parameters. LexFeel™ WOW-A and LexFeel™ WOW-A DT were both tested for all sensorial areas and for select functional areas based on market relevance.
The description of the functional area test parameters are as follows:
– Pigment Dispersing: One parameter is assessed - viscosity of slurry of a 2:1 fluid to coated titanium dioxide dispersion (Figure 1)
– Hair Aesthetics - Serum: Comparing serum formulations using 35% of the test fluid. Four parameters are assessed - smoothness, softness, flyaways, and shine.
– Hair Conditioning - Wet Hair Evaluation: Comparing conditioner formulations comprised of 2% of the test fluid. Four parameters are assessed - detangling, ease of rinsing, slip, and softness / smoothness
– Hair Conditioning - Dry Hair Evaluation: Comparing conditioner formulations comprised of 2% of the test fluid. Five parameters are assessed - manageability, hair volume, dry combing, softness and shine.
– Antiperspirant Whitening: One parameter is assessed - comparing whitening effect of antiperspirant formulations with 19-24% AP active.
The description of the sensorial area test parameters are as follows:
– Pick Up: Four parameters - firmness, cohesiveness, peaking, and stickiness.
– Appearance: Three parameters – gloss, integrity of shape, and integrity of shape at 10 seconds.
– Rubout: Six parameters - wetness, spreadability, thickness, wax, grease, absorbency, oil.
– Afterfeel (assessed immediately and after 1-, 5-, and 10-minute intervals): Ten parameters at each timepoint – amount of residue, gloss, slipperiness, stickiness, thickness of residue, % waxy residue, % powdery residue, % oily residue, % silicone residue, % greasy residue.
Results of the Functional & Sensorial Analysis (see Figures 2 & 3)
Both LexFeel™ WOW-A and LexFeel™ WOW-A DT are effective alternatives for broadly replacing cyclopentasiloxane in different functional areas while maintaining overall sensory. This was concluded because the majority of parameters resulted in equivalency to cyclopentasiloxane, limited parameters resulted in similarity or comparability to cyclopentaxiloxane, and no parameters resulted in a significant difference from cyclopentasiloxane.
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Note: The defined equivalency and similarity claims are based on statistical analysis of specific data sets. – Equivalent claims are used when no significant difference occurred. |
The summary of functional area results are as follows: Of 15 parameters tested, LexFeel™ WOW Series products performed equivalently to cyclopentasiloxane in 13 parameters and better in 2 parameters.
The results of the sensorial analysis are as follows:
– LexFeel™ WOW-A DT was equivalent to cyclopentasiloxane in the areas shown in Table 3. Of 53 parameters: it was equivalent in 49 and similar in the remaining 4.
– LexFeel™ WOW-A was equivalent to cyclopentasiloxane in the areas shown in Table 3. Of 53 parameters it was equivalent in 49 and similar in the remaining 4.
Clean, Natural, Sustainable Solutions
In addition to performing equivalently to cyclomethicone in many functional and sensorial areas, LexFeel™ WOW-A and LexFeel™ WOW-A DT are entirely plant-based, biodegradable, non-palm derived, NSF/ANSI 305 approved, NATRUE approved, listed on China’s IECIC, REACH registered, vegan-friendly, and contain 100% certified biobased content.
Whether a switch from cyclomethicone is required for regulation reasons, sustainability reasons or to comply with a clean beauty retailer, the LexFeel™ WOW products are effective and sustainable solutions.
