SAXS for Cosmetics and Consumer Care
Cosmetic and personal care products such as creams, lotions, shampoos, sunscreens and detergents are typically multicomponent colloidal systems where micelles, emulsions, lamellar phases, and gels underpin sensory properties, stability, and active delivery. Because these structures evolve during manufacturing, storage, and use, understanding nanoscale organization has become essential for developing formulations that remain stable, consistent, and effective throughout their lifecycle.
Small-Angle and Wide-Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS/WAXS) provide direct insight into the nanoscale organization of cosmetic and consumer care formulations without disturbing their native structure. These techniques quantify how surfactants, oils, polymers, and water arrange within multiphase systems and how this internal architecture evolves in response to processing conditions or environmental stress. By capturing ordering, periodicity, aggregation behavior, and structural transitions in situ, scattering methods reveal the underlying mechanisms that govern stability, rheology, sensory properties, and delivery performance. This structural understanding supports both formulation development and quality control, ensuring products maintain consistent behavior throughout their lifecycle.
Questions you can answer with SAXS for Cosmetics and Consumer Care
How do surfactant micelles reorganize during dilution or temperature changes, and how does this affect foaming and cleansing efficiency?
Which liquid-crystalline structures form in creams and lotions, and how does their ordering relate to texture and stability?
What size and internal structure do vesicles or liposomal carriers adopt when loading active ingredients, and how stable are they over time?
How does the nanoscale structure of emulsions evolve during processing or storage, and what early structural changes indicate instability?
What layering or ordering develops in films left on skin or hair, and how does this nanoscale structure change during drying or rinsing?