Sustainable modern hair care Products
Silica for excellent performance, convenience, and sustainability
Silica from Evonik provide manufacturers of hair care products with a toolkit of multifunctional additives for formulations that meet current customer expectations. The portfolio, for example, offers solutions for natural, eco-friendly, and waterless hair care and styling products which provide outstanding results.
Evonik’s Silica portfolio offers a wide range of additives to treat your hair with dedicated formulations. Our ingredients can improve the performance of final products and deliver additional properties that may be needed. The desired effect can be obtained by modifying the surface structure, size, and porosity depending on the application. Silica can regulate the moisture content so that the products are as fluid or solid as desired. As a highly absorbent carrier, they transform liquids into powders, ensuring homogeneous mixing of all ingredients. Additionally, special silica can be added to achieve more volume for the hair.
Silica for waterless hair care products
Zero waste cosmetics, with very low or even no water content, are major trends in the personal care industry. Sustainability is shifting into focus. Eco-conscious consumers are increasingly turning to dry shampoos and solid shampoo bars instead of gels and liquids to avoid plastic waste. Dry and solid products require less packaging material. Moreover, they are usually more concentrated and therefore last longer: One 100 gr bar of solid shampoo equals up to three 250-ml plastic bottles. This reduces weight and saves fuel during transport to the retailers.
No-rinse formulations for hair care requiring little or even no water
No-rinse products for hair care, instead of daily hair washing with shampoo, are becoming increasingly popular as more people look to save water in various ways. But avoiding water consumption is only part of the issue – products still need to perform. Comfort and convenience does not need to be compromised. Consumers are looking for smart solutions that can be used every day. Silica enables manufacturers to create water-free or low-water hair care formulations with various sensory effects.
Novel dry shampoo formulations and hair refresher concepts
Dry shampoos are gaining acceptance as a part of a daily routine. They need to refresh hair and restore volume without the need for washing. But traditional dry shampoos that some consumers may remember from the past had their drawbacks. The high powder content caused itchiness and left the scalp feeling dry. They also required time-consuming brushing to remove the excess powder.
Common dry shampoo formulations are old-fashioned. Evonik’s hair refresher concepts with SPHERILEX® as key ingredient improve their performance. SPHERILEX® adheres to the hair for a natural styling and volume effect. These novel types of dry shampoos, featuring compacted products and no-rinse foam formulations or sprays, are highly effective, thanks to a reduced solid powder content. Hair is left refreshed and volumized, while time-consuming brushing is no longer required.
Testing
Spherical hydrated silica was tested in hair refresher formulations and focused on sustainability and consumer friendliness. It was applied to hair pre-treated with synthetic sebum. After using this novel formulation type, hair was left feeling refreshed and a natural, voluminous style was achieved.
How does Evonik Silica fit into Natural cosmetic products?
Natural hair care products are preferred by an increasing number of consumers because of their personal and environmental benefits. Silica is a naturally derived mineral ingredient complying with ISO 16128 and ideal for organic and natural cosmetics.
Why do we need Eco-friendly row materials?
Silica is a multi-purpose raw material that has limited impact on the environment through its sourcing and production. Once the formulation is rinsed from hair, it is not harmful to aquatic environments or wastewater plants. Silica simply joins the geological cycle of minerals and therefore is an eco-friendly alternative to microplastics in rinse-off and leave-on hair care formulations.
Vegan hair care products
Spherical hydrated silica has vegan and cruelty-free labels.
Certifications
Hydrated Silica (INCI), such as SPHERILEX® PC, or AEROSIL® fumed silica products, come with certificates that allow its use in natural cosmetic products. As a safe-to-use substance under REACH, silica is defined by ISO 16128-1 as a substance that meets the standards for “derived mineral materials”. Evonik’s spherical hydrated silica has been certified as a natural product by COSMOS and NaTrue.
Synthetic amorphous silica is a versatile additive that can be used in various hair care formulations. Different formulations can be created for different applications to cover different reduced-water-consumption approaches, such as sticks, bars and powders for cleansing and highly concentrated products, which contain less water than non-concentrated products.
Who is who in Evonik’s synthetic amorphous silica family
- Fumed Silica:
Our famous AEROSIL® grades are produced in a flame hydrolysis process and suitable for extreme styling effects.
- Precipitated Hydrated Silica:
Spherical hydrated silica offer unique properties beneficial for a wide range of personal care products: from hair care products, such as styling powders for natural effects to emulsions to decorative products. As a functional additive, it improves the look and feel of cosmetic products. This type of silica is available as SPHERILEX® 10 PC. Hydrated Silica, as a versatile additive, creates different hair care formulations with a moderate styling effect. The product range marketed under the brand SIPERNAT® is suitable for different applications with a low-water approach, such as sticks, bars and powders for cleansing and highly concentrated products and, which contain less water than non-concentrated products for skin care products.
Product matrix
