Cosmetic Colorant Testing

Cosmetic colorant testing mainly conducts scientific testing and analysis on key performance indicators, objectively assessing the product quality grade and issuing a detailed test report, providing a basis for the production enterprise quality control and downstream user product acceptance.

Testing contents

Testing items:

pH value, heavy metal content, microbiological detection, sensory evaluation, preservative content, allergen detection, stability evaluation, antibacterial performance evaluation, centrifugation separation test, antioxidant performance evaluation, sun protection factor, viscosity determination, safety evaluation, trace element content, anti-dehydration performance evaluation, moisturizing performance evaluation, color stability evaluation, precipitation determination, solubility determination, demulsification performance evaluation, and so on.

Testing scope:

Natural dyes, synthetic dyes, iron oxide pigments, metal blue, lake blue, lake green, lake red, lake yellow, lake purple, lake orange, lake pink, lake brown, lake black, glitter pigments, pearlescent pigments, fluorescent pigments, phosphorescent pigments, photochromic pigments, luminous pigments, pigment pastes, and so on.

Testing methods:

High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC): HPLC is a commonly used separation and analysis technology, which can be used for detecting the colorants in cosmetics. It passes the sample solutions through the chromatographic columns under high pressure, utilizes the differences in the separation speeds of the different components on the columns, and obtains the peaks of the components through the detectors, thereby quantitatively analyzing and identifying the target colorants.

UV-Vis spectrometry (UV-Vis): The UV-Vis spectrometry is a commonly used analysis technology, which can be used for detecting the colorants in cosmetics. This method utilizes the characteristics of substances absorbing the light of the specific wavelengths, and quantitatively analyzes and identifies the target colorants by measuring the absorption degrees of the samples to the light of the different wavelengths.

Thin layer chromatography (TLC): The thin layer chromatography is a simple and rapid analysis method, which can be used for detecting the colorants in cosmetics. It utilizes the differences in the migration degrees and colors of the samples on the thin layer chromatography plates, and determines the colorant components in the samples through the comparison with the standard substances.

Mass spectrometry (MS): The mass spectrometry is a highly sensitive analysis method, which can be used for detecting the colorants in cosmetics. It converts the compounds in the samples into the gaseous states, and analyzes and identifies the molecules in the gas phase with the mass spectrometers, thereby determining the types and contents of the colorants.

Testing standards

Domestic standards:

1. Safety and Technical Standards for Cosmetics (2015 edition)

2. GB/T 6682-2008, Water for analytical laboratory use - Specification and test methods

3. GB/T 602, Chemical reagent - Preparations of standard solutions for impurity determination

4. GB/T 603, Chemical reagent - Preparations of reagent solutions for use in test methods

International standards:

1. ISO 3696, Water for analytical laboratory use - Specification and test methods

Note: The applicable standard can be selected according to the product use and customer trade requirements; standards agreed in the contract take precedence over general standards.

Testing Instruments and Equipment

The instruments and equipment commonly used in the testing experiments of the cosmetic colorants include:

High performance liquid chromatographs (HPLC), UV-Vis spectrometers (UV-Vis), thin layer chromatographs (TLC), mass spectrometers (MS), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometers (ICP-MS), atomic absorption spectrometers (AAS), gas chromatographs (GC), electrochemical analyzers (ECA), infrared spectrometers (IR), nuclear magnetic resonance instruments (NMR), microscopes, centrifuges, heating forced-air dryers, pH meters, conductivity meters, densitometers, balances, ion chromatographs (IC), electrophoresis devices, and so on.