1. Decorative cosmetics

2. Lipsticks are made to appeal to the current fashion trend and come in a wide range of colors. Lipstick is made of dyes and pigments in a fragranced oil-wax base. Retail prices for lipsticks are relatively low, with quality products priced at less than $4.00. More expensive products are available, with prices ranging up to nearly $50.00 for exclusive products. Lip balms, by contrast, generally retail for less than $1.00.

3. The tubes that hold lipstick range from inexpensive plastic dispensers for lip balms to ornate metal for lipsticks. Sizes are not uniform, but generally lipstick is sold in a tube 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) in length and about .50 inch (1.3 centimeters) in diameter. (Lip balms are generally slightly smaller in both length and diameter.) The tube has two parts, a cover and a base. The base is made up of two components, the twisting or sliding of which will push the lipstick up for application. Since the manufacture of the tube involves completely different technologies, we will focus here on the manufacture of lipstick only.

4. The primary ingredients found in lipstick are wax, oil, alcohol, and pigment. The wax used usually involves some combination of three types—beeswax, candelilla wax, or the more expensive camauba. Wax enables the mixture to be formed into the easily recognized shape of the cosmetic. Oils such as mineral, caster, lanolin, or vegetable are added to the wax. Fragrance and pigment are also added, as are preservatives and antioxidants, which prevent lipstick from becoming rancid. And while every lipstick contains these components, a wide variety of other ingredients can also be included to make the substance smoother or glossy or to moisten the lips.

5. Just as there is no standard to the lipstick size and container shape, there are no standard types of, or proportions for, ingredients used. Beyond the base ingredients (wax, oil, and antioxidants) supplemental material amounts vary greatly. The ingredients themselves range from complex organic compounds to entirely natural ingredients, the proportions of which determine the characteristics of the lipstick. Selecting lipsticks is, as with all cosmetics, an individual choice, so manufacturers have responded by making a wide variety of lipsticks available to the consumer.

7. To make lipstick, the various raw ingredients are first melted separately, and then the oils and solvents are ground together with the desired color pigments.

8. In general, wax and oil make up about 60 percent of the lipstick (by weight), with alcohol and pigment accounting for another 25 percent (by weight). Fragrance is always added to lipstick, but accounts for one percent or less of the mixture. In addition to using lipstick to color the lips, there are also lip liners and pencils. The manufacturing methods described here will just focus on lipstick and lip balms.

9. The Manufacturing Process
The manufacturing process is easiest to understand if it is viewed as three separate steps: melting and mixing the lipstick; pouring the mixture into the tube; and packaging the product for sale. Since the lipstick mass can be mixed and stored for later use, mixing does not have to happen at the same time as pouring. Once the lipstick is in the tube, packaging for retail sale is highly variable, depending on how the product is to be marketed.

10. Melting and mixing
1 First, the raw ingredients for the lipstick are melted and mixed—separately because of the different types of ingredients used. One mixture contains the solvents, a second contains the oils, and a third contains the fats and waxy materials. These are heated in separate stainless steel or ceramic containers.

11. 2 The solvent solution and liquid oils are then mixed with the color pigments. The mixture passes through a roller mill, grinding the pigment to avoid a "grainy" feel to the lipstick. This process introduces air into the oil and pigment mixture, so mechanical working of the mixture is required. The mixture is stirred for several hours; at this point some producers use vacuum equipment to withdraw the air. After the pigment mass is prepared, it is mixed with the hot wax. The mixture is agitated to free it of any air bubbles. Next, the mixture is poured into tubing molds, cooled, and separated from the molds. After final touch-up and visual inspection, the lipstick is ready for packaging.

12. 3 After the pigment mass is ground and mixed, it is added to the hot wax mass until a uniform color and consistency is obtained. The fluid lipstick can then be strained and molded, or it may be poured into pans and stored for future molding.
4 If the fluid lipstick is to be used immediately, the melt is maintained at temperature, with agitation, so that trapped air escapes. If the lipstick mass is stored, before it is used it must be reheated, checked for color consistency, and adjusted to specifications, then maintained at the melt temperature (with agitation) until it can be poured.

13. As expected, lipsticks are always prepared in batches because of the different color pigments that can be used. The size of the batch, and the number of tubes of lipstick produced at one time, will depend on the popularity of the particular shade being produced. This will determine the manufacturing technique (automated or manual) that is used. Lipstick may be produced in highly automated processes, at rates of up to 2,400 tubes an hour, or in essentially manual operations, at rates around 150 tubes per hour. The steps in the process basically differ only in the volume produced.

14. Molding
5 Once the lipstick mass is mixed and free of air, it is ready to be poured into the tube. A variety of machine setups are used, depending on the equipment that the manufacturer has, but high volume batches are generally run through a melter that agitates the lipstick mass and maintains it as a liquid. For smaller, manually run batches, the mass is maintained at the desired mix temperature, with agitation, in a melter controlled by an operator.

15. 6 The melted mass is dispensed into a mold, which consists of the bottom portion of the metal or plastic tube and a shaping portion that fits snugly with the tube. Lipstick is poured "up-side down" so that the bottom of the tube is at the top of the mold. Any excess is scraped from the mold.

16. 7 The lipstick is cooled (automated molds are kept cold; manually produced molds are transferred to a refrigeration unit) and separated from the mold, and the bottom of the tube is sealed. The lipstick then passes through a flaming cabinet (or is flamed by hand) to seal pinholes and improve the finish. The lipstick is visually inspected for air holes, mold separation lines, or blemishes, and is reworked if necessary.
8 For obvious reasons, rework of the lipstick must be limited, demonstrating the importance of the early steps in removing air from the lipstick mass. Lipstick is reworked by hand with a spatula. This can be done in-line, or the tube can be removed from the manufacturing process and reworked.

17. Labeling and packaging
9 After the lipstick is retracted and the tube is capped, the lipstick is ready for labeling and packaging. Labels identify the batch and are applied as part of the automated operation. While there is a great deal of emphasis on quality and appearance of the finished lipstick product, less emphasis is placed on the appearance of lip balms. Lip balms are always produced in an automated process (except for experimental or test batches). The heated liquid is poured into the tube in the retracted position; the tube is then capped by machine—a far less laborious process.

18. 10 The final step in the manufacturing process is the packaging of the lipstick tube. There are a variety of packaging options available, ranging from bulk packs to individual packs, and including packaging as a component in a makeup kit or special promotional offering. Lip balms are packaged in bulk, generally with minimum protection to prevent shipping damage. Packaging for lipsticks varies, depending on what will happen at the point of sale in the retail outlet. Packaging may or may not be highly automated, and the package used depends on the end use of the product rather than on the manufacturing process.

19. By products
There is little or no waste in the manufacture of lipstick. Product is reused whenever possible, and since the ingredients are expensive they are seldom thrown out, unless no other alternative presents itself. In the normal manufacturing process there are no byproducts, and waste portions of lipstick will be thrown out with the disposal of cleaning materials.

20. Quality Control
Quality control procedures are strict, since the product must meet Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standards. Lipstick is the only cosmetic ingested, and because of this strict controls on ingredients, as well as the manufacturing processes, are imposed. Lipstick is mixed and processed in a controlled environment so it will be free of contamination. Incoming material is tested to ensure that it meets required specifications. Samples of every batch produced are saved and stored at room temperature for the life of the product (and often beyond that) to maintain a control on the batch.

21. As noted above, appearance of lipstick as a final product is very important. For this reason everyone involved in the manufacture becomes an inspector, and non-standard product is either reworked or scrapped. Final inspection of every tube is performed by the consumer, and if not satisfactory, will be rejected at the retail level. Since the retailer and manufacturer are often times not the same, quality problems at the consumer level have a major impact on the manufacturer.

22. Color control of lipstick is critical, and one only has to see the range of colors available from a manufacturer to be aware of this. The dispersion of the pigment is checked stringently when a new batch is manufactured, and the color must be carefully controlled when the lipstick mass is reheated. The color of the lipstick mass will bleed over time, and each time a batch is reheated, the color may be altered. Colorimetric equipment is used to provide some numerical way to control the shades of lipstick. This equipment gives a numerical reading of the shade, when mixed, so it can identically match previous batches. Matching of reheated batches is done visually, so careful time and environment controls are placed on lipstick mass when it is not immediately used.

23. There are two special tests for lipstick: the Heat Test and the Rupture Test. In the Heat Test, the lipstick is placed in the extended position in a holder and left in a constant temperature oven of over 130 degrees Fahrenheit (54 degrees Celsius) for 24 hours. There should be no drooping or distortion of the lipstick. In the Rupture Test, the lipstick is placed in two holders, in the extended position. Weight is added to the holder on the lipstick portion at 30-second intervals until the lipstick ruptures. The pressure required to rupture the lipstick is then checked against the manufacturer's standards. Since there are no industry standards for these tests, each manufacturer sets its own parameters.

24. Mascara
Mascara is a cosmetic applied to the eyelashes to make the lashes thicker, longer, and darker. It is one of the most ancient cosmetics known, having been used in Egypt possibly as early as 4000 B.C. Egyptians used a substance called kohl to darken their lashes, eyebrows, and eyelids. Egyptian kohl was probably made of galena or lead sulfite, malachite, and charcoal or soot. The Babylonians and ancient Greeks also used black eye cosmetics, as did the later Romans. Cosmetics of all sorts fell out of use in Europe after the fall of Rome, though eye cosmetics continued to be important in the Arab world. The use of cosmetics was revived in Europe during the Renaissance.

25. Early mascara from the modern era usually took the form of a pressed cake. It was applied to the lashes with a wetted brush. The ingredients typically were 50% soap and 50% black pigment. The pigment was sifted and combined with soap chips, run through a mill several times, and then pressed into cakes. A variation on this was cream mascara, a lotion-like substance that was packaged in a tube. To apply it, the user would squeeze a small amount of mascara out of the tube onto a small brush. This was a messy process that was much improved with the invention in the 1960s of the mascara applicator. This patented device was a grooved application rod that picked up a consistent amount of mascara when pulled from the bottle. The grooved rod was soon replaced with a brush. This new ease of application may have contributed to the increased popularity of mascara in the late 1960s.

26. Raw Materials
There are many different formulas for mascara. All contain pigments. In the United States, federal regulations prohibit the use of any pigments derived from coal or tar in eye cosmetics, so mascaras use natural colors and inorganic pigments. Carbon black is the black pigment in most mascara recipes, and iron oxides provide brown colors. Other colors such as ultramarine blue are used in some formulas. One common type of mascara consists of an emulsion of oils, waxes, and water. In formulas for this type of mascara, beeswax is often used, as is carnauba wax and paraffin. Oils may be mineral oil, lanolin, linseed oil, castor oil, oil of turpentine, eucalyptus oil, and even sesame oil. Some formulas contain alcohol. Stearic acid is a common ingredient of lotion-based formulas, as are stiffeners such as ceresin and gums such as gum tragacanth and methyl cellulose. Some mascaras include fine rayon fibers, which make the product more viscous.

27. The Manufacturing Process
There are two main types of mascara currently manufactured. One type is called anhydrous, meaning it contains no water. The second type is made with a lotion base, and it is manufactured by the emulsion method.

28. Anhydrous method
1 In this method, ingredients are mixed in tanks or kettles, which make a small batch of gal ( ). The ingredients are first carefully measured and weighed. Then a worker empties them into the mixing tank. Heat is applied to melt the waxes, and the mixture is agitated, usually by means of a propeller blade. The agitation continues until the mixture reaches a semi-solid state.

30. Anhydrous method
Mascara can be made in two different ways. In the anhydrous method, all the ingredients are mixed, heated, and agitated. With the emulsion method, water and thickeners are combined, while the waxes and emulsifiers are mixed and heated separately. Pigments are added before both mixtures are combined in a high-speed agitator called a homogenizer. The result of either method is a semi-solid substance that is ready to be packaged.

31. Emulsion method
2 In this method, water and thickeners are combined to make a lotion or cream base. Waxes and emulsifiers are heated and melted separately, and pigments are added. Then the waxes and lotion base are combined in a very high speed mixer or homogenizer. Unlike the tank or kettle above, the homogenizer is enclosed and mixes the ingredients at very high speed without incorporating any air or causing evaporation. The oils and waxes are broken down into very small beads by the rapid action of the homogenizer and held in suspension in the water. The homogenizer may hold as little as 5 gal (19 1), or as much as 100 gal (380 1). The high-speed mixing action continues until the mixture reaches room temperature.
The following steps are common to both types of mascara.

32. Filling
3 After the mascara solution has cooled or reached the proper state, workers transfer it to a tote bin. Next, they roll the tote bin to the filling area and empty the solution into a hopper on a filling machine. The filling machine pumps a measured amount (typically about oz [5 g]) of the solution into glass or plastic mascara bottles. The bottles are usually capped by hand. Samples are removed for inspection, and the rest are readied for distribution.

33. Quality Control
Checks for quality and purity are taken at various stages in the manufacture of mascara. The chemicals are checked in the tank before the mixing begins to make sure the correct ingredients and proper amounts are in place. After the batch is mixed, it is rechecked. After the batch is bottled, representative samples from the beginning, middle, and end of the batch are taken out. These are examined for chemical composition. At this point they are also tested for microbiological impurities.