In theory, foundation forms a smooth covering layer on the surface to cover or conceal some facial blemishes, such as freckles, acne, scars, acne marks, etc. It can adjust the texture, color, and luster of the skin, and play a role in even skin tone. Easy to spread, evenly distributed, natural looking. So, what are the main ingredients of foundation?

Main Ingredients of Foundation

There are many types of foundations, such as liquid foundations, powder sticks, and concealer creams. These foundations are used to adjust skin tone, improve facial texture, cover blemishes, and reflect texture. The color difference should not be too large, and you should choose a foundation that is close to your skin tone. Let's talk about the main ingredients of foundation.

• Talc: Foundations need to have some absorbent to absorb oil and moisture. Usually, the specific area is larger and the porous material is loose, and some can be both hydrophobic and lipophobic after treatment, which helps to maintain the makeup for a long time. Talc or silica powder can make the foundation smooth on the face and make the skin surface smooth.

• Concealer Kaolin and Titanium Dioxide: Contributes the concealing power of the foundation and eliminates the glitter of talc powder. Titanium dioxide (particle size 200nm-300nm) is a very good whitening and covering ingredient. It is the most commonly used white pigment, which is often said It also has the effect of blocking ultraviolet rays and is often used in sunscreens.

• Calcium and Magnesium Carbonate: Absorbs sweat and oil from the skin's surface and also helps to eliminate talc glitter.

• Pigments used by colorants: Generally, inorganic pigments are mixed with organic pigments. Commonly used inorganic pigments, iron oxide, are mixed with red and orange organic pigments to become foundation pigments. The colors of foundations with different color numbers are determined by colorants. Matching the color of the skin according to different ratios of colorants is definitely an art. However, the restrictions on pigments are also very strict. The type and amount of addition must be followed. The ideal colorant must be highly stable, non-toxic, and non-irritating, with a small amount but a good concealer effect.

• Sunscreen Titanium Dioxide, Micronized Zinc Oxide, and Chemical UV Absorbers: Sunscreens with an average particle size of less than 100nm can not only block UV rays but also allow visible light to pass through, making makeup look more natural.

• Binders: In order to bond various substances with different particle sizes and physical states together to form a fixed shape (such as powder cakes), "glue" needs to be added to the formula. These substances can also strengthen the skin. In order to make the blend and form of the above ingredients, the binder of the foundation is mainly composed of animals and plants and mineral oil or grease such as liquid paraffin.

Some Other Ingredients:

• Soft focus: Whitening alone can’t achieve the effect of creamy skin and ceramic skin. If you want to be natural and delicate, you need to add ingredients with a soft focus effect to the foundation. Generally, the spherical powder is used, mainly to improve the light scattering performance and achieve a smooth and soft feeling similar to matte. The main ingredients are the above-mentioned talc powder and silica powder, etc.

• Moisturizing: Usually, it is easy to sacrifice the freshness when the coverage is strong. The foundation with its concealer function turns into a bigger blemish when it peels off. In order to achieve both concealer and moisturizing, it is necessary to add compound moisturizing ingredients to the powder, which can maintain the moisturizing touch and increase the transparency of the skin. The main ingredients are hyaluronic acid, ceramide, tocopherol, etc.

• No makeup removal and durability: In order to ensure that the compatibility of many components in the powder will not change with time and the external environment, cross-linking macromolecular polymers (film formers) are generally used to make the foundation smeared and formed. A comfortable, soft film that keeps the foundation in a stable form after application, and won't come off even with rubbing and rinsing.

• Filler: It is mainly to improve the adhesion of the powder and help the pigments to better exert their respective properties. The "skin-friendly" silicates or aluminum potassium silicates are generally used, and the natural substances found in nature are talc and mica (also white pigments). Sericite is scaly mica with a better silk gloss.

• Thickener: Adjust the powder viscosity. Waxes are added to increase the viscosity of the product, while oils are added to reduce the viscosity of the product, making the foundation easier to spread and adhere to. The specific ingredients are zinc stearate and zinc myristate.