Cosmetics have been used for thousands of years. In ancient times, people used cinnabar as cosmetics, but it is very easy to cause mercury poisoning after being decomposed by heat, and heavy metal elements such as arsenic, antimony and lead contained in cinnabar can also cause harm to human body. Cosmetics used by modern people often contain heavy metal elements such as lead and mercury. It is urgent to find substitutes for heavy metals such as lead and mercury. Bismuth oxychloride (BiOCl) is a compound of bismuth, which has pearl luster, strong skin adhesion, non-toxic, moisturizing and astringent properties, so it is often used to replace lead to make non-toxic cosmetics such as lipstick, eye shadow and nail polish.
Bismuth oxychloride has been used in cosmetics for decades, and can be used as filler, skin conditioner and colorant (CI 77163). With its special color luster and elegant texture, it gives cosmetics a multi-dimensional aesthetic feeling.
It is a silvery-white flaky crystalline powder, which will show silvery-white pearl luster when rubbed open. The unique flaky structure makes it have a specular reflection of light, so it has a pearlescent effect that we can see with our naked eyes. Bismuth oxychloride is often used in eye shadow, high gloss, lipstick and other products, which provides excellent hiding power and helps the toner to disperse better, so that the products can show their shining charm more completely.
Because bismuth oxychloride is a flaky crystal, it is easy to split laterally and has little resistance when sliding, so it has a smooth skin feeling and can play a role in lubrication. In addition, the outermost chlorine layer in the structure forms greater plane adhesion through Van der Waals bond, which makes bismuth oxychloride have excellent adhesion to skin.
Bismuth oxychloride aqueous dispersion slurry can achieve more uniform dispersion in cosmetics, which helps to ensure that bismuth oxychloride is evenly distributed in the whole product and provides more consistent effects. The water-dispersible slurry is easy to be mixed and processed in cosmetics and skin care products, which makes the production process simpler. This can greatly save the time and effort required for manufacturing.