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Cosmetic powders ideally mixed in the amixon® mixer

Expectations are high when it comes to powdery cosmetic products such as eye shadow, powder or rouge: they should be easy to apply on the skin, last a long time and not crumble or create dust. In addition, they have to be treated particularly hygienically like high-purity pharmaceuticals.

The powder mixture is primarily composed of talcum powder, colour and effect pigments, and glitter powder. Further components such as powdery and liquid binding agents are added to make the powders compressible and extrudable. Adhesion promoters ensure that the powder remains permanently on the skin until the makeup is removed. Colour and effect pigments have a tendency to agglomerate due to their fineness. If they are not sufficiently well distributed in the powder matrix, they can leave coloured stripes when applied to the skin. To that extent the mixing process step must be done with a great deal of shear energy.

The challenge in the mixing process is to distribute the components in a particularly deagglomerating and homogenous manner in order to achieve a reproducible colour and a fine-powdered end product. Other components create opalescent and "holographic" effects and must be mixed in with particular care.

    Mix a wide variety of powders ideally and precisely - with minimal agitation.

     

    Components such as talcum powder, colour and effect pigments and mica particles as well as binding agents are mixed at a low rotational frequency regardless of differing particle sizes, bulk densities and flow properties. The rotating screw conveyor picks up the mixed materials at the periphery of the mixing chamber and conveys them upwards. Once at the top, the goods flow downwards in the centre of the vessel. After 40 to 160 mixer revolutions, technically ideal mixing qualities are achieved that can no longer be improved in practice.

    amixon® mixers deliver an ideally precise mixing quality even at low filling levels.

    Heavy-duty energy entry on the left. A jet of the liquid material is aimed into the operating zone of the high-speed rotating agitator. On the right, the fluidization of the powder and microfine dispersion of the liquid is indicated.

    Ultra-fine distribution of the liquid binding agents

     

    The cutting rotors also support the next step in the manufacture of cosmetics: the ultra-fine distribution of the liquid binding agents. The use of cutting rotors enables the particularly effective homogenisation of liquid additions. Highly viscous liquid additions can be distributed into the powder. They are injected underneath the filling level directly into the area of action of the cutting rotor using a feeding lance. The distribution of the fluid thus takes place directly through vortex, friction and centrifugal effects with increased energy input. The lance can optionally be equipped with a nozzle and can be tempered if desired.

    Following a short post-mixing time, the manufacturing process in the mixer is complete. The complete discharge of the mixing chamber takes place without de-mixing - in practice, discharging rates of up to 99.98% or more have been achieved under ideal conditions. Finally, automatic wet cleaning can be carried out using the patented WaterDragon® system.

    Learn more:

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    Mixers for cosmetics & hygiene products

    These amixon® mixers are available for your mixing tasks. Put us to the test. We guarantee ideal mixing qualities with gentle processing.

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