Blog >> Personal Care Industry - An Overall Picture
Although the
cosmetic industry is a niche market owned by few Multinationals, it encompasses
a wide variety of substances catering to almost every body part. It includes
skin creams, lipstick, eyeliners, foundation, nail Polish, shampoo conditioner,
perfumes and so on. The cosmetic industry or personal care industry is matured
and thus significant growth is not expected. However, the profit is quite high
since people didn't stop buying soap or other personal care products even
during recession. The industry generates more than 150 billion dollars every
year with Europe dominating while Asia is catching up. Many of the dominant
players are from Europe and America such as L'Oreal, Johnson & Johnson, Unilever,
P&G etc.
The safety of
using cosmetics are in news all the time mainly because of its external
application on humans. However all cosmetics are required to undergo FDA
testing before introducing to the market. The quality of a product is not
determined by natural or synthetic ingredients but by the sterility of the
process by which it is made.
Market
segmentation
The personal care industry is broadly segmented as synthetic and natural products. This can be narrowed down to the following categories:
Product |
% of total
production |
Examples of
product |
Hair care |
20% |
shampoos, conditioners and other styling product |
Skin care |
27% |
soaps, skin creams and lotions |
Make up |
15% |
powders, blush, lipstick |
Fragrance |
10% |
perfumes, deodorants |
Others |
23% |
toothpaste, sunscreen |
What is it made
up of?
As already mentioned, cosmetics can be natural or synthetic. Natural does not mean that the product does not contain chemicals. Sometimes chemicals are required for the natural ingredient to be viable and non-toxic. Cosmetics are manufactured in a variety of forms such as creams, powders, gels, suspensions, oils etc. The most common substances used for manufacturing are wax, alcohol, oils and pigments. Let's see how some of the widely used cosmetics are made
- Make-up - The manufacture of lipsticks have come a long way. Ancient Sumerian women used to crush gemstones to decorate their lips. Now they are made using wax, oils and pigments. After wax and oil are melted and blended together, solvent solution and pigments are added. The formulation is mixed for several hours until set and then packaged. Beeswax, carnauba wax, candelila wax, oilve oil, mineral oil, lanolin and coco butter are some of the ingredients used in Lipsticks. Similarly, other make up products like mascara, powders, foundation creams are made using chemicals such as castor oil, sodium chloride, urea, propylene glycol, lanolin etc
- Soaps - Soaps are usually manufactured by the saponification process and can be manufactured either by hot or cold process. Fatty acids are mixed with caustic lye to form soap. Saponification value is the milligrams of lye required to neutralize the fats resulting from the complete hydrolysis of 1g of fat. In the cold process the quantity of lye required is calculated, based on the saponification value. The temperature of reaction should also be maintained. If there is excess unreacted lye in the soap it will result in a very high pH and can burn or irritate skin. If there is not enough lye the soap is greasy. The soap making process takes six weeks by the cold process. In the hot process, the temperature is maintained at around 80-100 degrees C for the saponification to occur.In the finishing stage, the soap is purified to remove excess caustic, glycerol (by-product of saponification process) and other pigments. After removing excess moisture, the dry soap is pelletized and fragrances are added to the pellets. After further refining, soap is extruded to required lengths and packaged. The chemicals used in soap making include caustic lye or potassium hydroxide, olive oil, coconut oil, palm kernel oil and other pigments and fragrances.
- Shampoos - Shampoos are more commonly used for hair care and contains water, detergents, foam boosters, preservatives, thickeners, conditioning agents etc. Typical materials include sodium lauryl sulfate, cocamide DEA, sodium chloride, sodium hydroxide, citric acid, dyes and fragrance oils. The raw materials are mixed in a batch process and heated or cooled to facilitate effective blending. The process takes anywhere between 1-4 hours and the product is filled in containers after passing the quality checks. Since shampoos are to be used by humans, the manufactured product is tested at every stage to ensure its usability.
Nowadays, personal care products are available for both men and women which has contributed to the continuous growth. The growth of
personal care industry is attributed to the growing household incomes which
enables spending on grooming products. This and rapid urbanization has greatly fueled the personal care
industry.
Subscribe with
us for many more blogs on different industries and chemicals. Meanwhile, if you
are interested in buying from us, contact us today!!