Processing Technology Development for Organic Clay Suspension System

Abstract
Nail polish as a system used in cosmetics still faces stability issues. Pigment sedimentation and syneresis are the most common problems for solvent based systems. The scope of this research was to produce a working 'gel' dispersion for use as a suspension agent in nail polish systems. Various thixotropic agents (hectorite and bentonite clays and hydrophobic and hydrophilic silica grades) and methods (high shear homogenisation (HSH) and high pressure homogenisation (HPH)) were employed to affect this result. From the rheology results it is concluded, that the HPH ensures the development of the systems with the required viscosity recovery properties. It is also concluded that high shear developed systems with hydrophilic silica thixotropic agent are well suited for use as a suspension agent in nail polish formulations.