Natural Cream-to-Powder Composition Suspension
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing personal care compositions that aim to be all-natural struggle to effectively suspend solid powders like corn starch in a cream form that quickly dries to a powdery feel, often relying on synthetic ethoxylated agents due to the scarcity of naturally-derived ingredients with suitable suspending and thickening properties.
Innovation Solution
A cream-to-powder composition using high concentrations of natural starch components with low water content, combined with naturally-derived emulsifiers, emollients, and stabilizers such as sugar esters, waxes, and fatty acid polyglycerin esters, to achieve stable suspension and phase stability without synthetic components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If synthetic ethoxylated suspending agents are used to suspend solid powder in cream formulation, then suspension stability is improved, but product safety and naturalness deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the chemical parameters by replacing synthetic ethoxylated agents with naturally-derived alternatives such as sugar esters, waxes, and fatty acid polyglycerin esters. These natural ingredients provide the necessary suspending and thickening properties without the harmful effects of synthetic chemicals, thereby maintaining suspension stability while improving product safety.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs readily available natural ingredients that can be easily sourced and processed. These natural suspending agents, while potentially requiring more frequent formulation adjustments, provide a safe and renewable alternative to synthetic chemicals, aligning with the principle of using accessible, short-living natural resources rather than persistent synthetic materials.
2Reliability
If multiple synthetic ingredients are used in personal care formulations, then desired product characteristics are achieved, but health risks and environmental harm increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent fundamentally changes the ingredient composition parameters by eliminating synthetic chemicals and replacing them with naturally-derived alternatives. This includes using natural emulsifiers, suspending agents, and thickening agents that maintain product performance while removing harmful substances such as parabens, glycols, phthalates, and formaldehyde donors.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts and removes harmful synthetic ingredients from the formulation. By systematically eliminating synthetic ethoxylated agents, preservatives, and other potentially harmful chemicals, the formulation retains only naturally-derived components that are safe for human health and environmentally benign.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If all-natural ingredients are used in personal care compositions, then product safety is improved, but ability to suspend solid powder and achieve desired consistency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs composite natural materials that combine multiple natural ingredients to achieve the desired suspending and thickening properties. The formulation uses a synergistic combination of sugar esters, waxes, and fatty acid polyglycerin esters, where the composite effect of these natural materials provides sufficient suspension stability for solid powder in cream formulation.
Solution Approach 2:
The naturally-derived ingredients in the patent perform multiple functions simultaneously. For example, sugar esters and waxes provide both emulsifying and suspending properties, while fatty acid polyglycerin esters contribute to thickening, stabilizing, and suspending. This multi-functionality compensates for the limited availability of single natural ingredients with specialized properties.
4Object-generated harmful factors
If natural ingredients are used instead of synthetic ones, then environmental friendliness is improved, but number of available ingredients with specific functions decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent maximizes the utility of natural ingredients by selecting components that perform multiple functions. Naturally-derived sugar esters, waxes, and fatty acid polyglycerin esters provide emulsifying, suspending, thickening, and stabilizing properties simultaneously, reducing the need for a large number of specialized natural ingredients and compensating for the limited availability of natural options.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The composition achieves a stable suspension of starch with a powdery feel, maintaining aesthetic characteristics and safety, while being free of synthetic, potentially harmful ingredients, and is suitable for applications like baby powder or makeup foundations.
Implementation Method 1
compositions that are applied as a cream, but which quickly dry to a powdery-like feel
Implementation Method 2
achieve stable suspension of the solid starch component
Data Source
AI summary
Personal care compositions that apply as a cream and quickly dry to a powdery feel. The compositions comprise a natural starch component (e.g., corn starch), water, one or more emulsifiers, and one or more emollients. The starch, emulsifiers, and emollients are naturally derived, naturally processed, or both. The composition advantageously does not require the addition of synthetic gelling agents or other suspension aids to maintain the starch component in suspension, even with relatively low water concentrations and relatively high starch concentrations. In an embodiment, the emollients include esters of fatty acids and fatty alcohols, as well as a tertiary branched ester (a triester). The emulsifiers may include a sugar ester, alkylaryl glucoside, alkyl aryl alcohol, and straight chain fatty alcohol. An ester of a polyglycerin and a fatty acid (e.g., polyglyceryl-4 caprate) stabilizer has surprisingly been found to provide high temperature phase stability to the composition.