SAXS for Cosmetics and Consumer Care
Cosmetic and personal care development is being driven by biotechnology and AI-enabled formulation with longevity-focused actives, and neurocosmetics targeting the skin-brain axis, alongside sustainability. Underlying this is a growing demand for sensory-optimized textures and evidence-backed claims, both of which depend on precise control of the nanoscale colloidal structures (micelles, emulsions, lamellar phases) that determine product stability and performance.
Challenges
Colloidal systems are complex by design.
Creams, lotions, shampoos and sunscreens combine multiple structural phases at once — micelles, emulsions, lamellar phases, gels — making behavior hard to predict or control.
Structure drifts, and so does quality.
Skin-feel and product performance trace back to nanostructure, which shifts with usage, storage, and manufacturing — often well before the end of shelf life.
Protecting actives depends on the encapsulation itself.
Nanoparticles, liposomes, microemulsions: each encapsulation type governs release and uniformity differently, and each carries its own stability challenges.
Reformulation under pressure.
Regulatory shifts and the push for natural alternatives force reformulation with less proven, more variable materials — making consistent performance harder to hold onto.
Solutions
SAXS/WAXS technology reveals how surfactants, oils, polymers, and water are organized in cosmetic formulations, and how this architecture evolves under processing or environmental stress. By measuring ordering, aggregation, and structural transitions in situ, they capture the mechanisms behind stability, rheology, sensory feel, and delivery performance including:
Lamellar phase of creams and emulsifiers
The spacing and organization of lamellae in emulsions controls product stability, texture, moisturization, ingredient delivery and shelf-life.
Size and shape of nanoemulsions in creams, lotions and sunscreens
Ensures active ingredient is dispersed in the product and is delivered uniformly to the skin and helps with appearance and stability too.
Micellar size and shape of shampoos, cleaners and detergents
Provides insight to foaming behavior and cleaning efficiency of the product.
Crystallinity and polymorphism of waxes and lipids
The nanoscale crystalline structure and polymorphic form influences phase separation propensity, sensory feel and active ingredient delivery.
Phase transitions of hydrogels
The nanoscale structure reveals the formation of networks, swelling behavior, mechanical properties and the controlled release of the active.
Surfactant self-assembly and structure
Changes to the shape, spacing and arrangement of the amphiphilic molecules how they spontaneous form the higher order lamellar, and micellar structures responsible for foaming behavior and cleaning performance.
Data example
In this example, the hydrogel glucon-δ-lactone was prepared at 8mg/mL and then monitored over a 24-hour period using simultaneous SAXS and WAXS. A reduction in intensity in the SAXS scattering coincides with an increase in signal and emergence of Bragg peaks in the WAXS signal. This indicates a lack of stability from the breakdown of the long-range gel network and formation of crystal structures in the short-range order.
Our solutions
