Leading cosmetics manufacturers in France have purchased Lloyd Instruments's LFPlus materials testing machines equipped with a special grip for lipstick testing
The formulations and production processes used in the manufacture of lipsticks play a key role in the strength of the final product.
Of particular importance is resistance to breakage while the lipstick is in use.
Leading cosmetics manufacturers in France have purchased Lloyd Instruments's LFPlus materials testing machines equipped with a special grip for lipstick testing.
These high performance systems are used both in product development and quality control.
The special grip was developed by Lloyd Instruments France, in close co-operation with the cosmetics houses.
The fixture is supplied in two parts and will accommodate lipsticks up to 20mm diameter.
The lower part of the fixture provides a gripping mechanism to hold the main part of the lipstick during the test, while the upper fixture is an inverted Y shape and attaches directly to the loadcell.
By applying a force directly to the lipstick using this fixture, a bending action can be simulated which is equivalent to that experienced by the product when in use.
The break strength can then be measured.
The fixture has a maximum capacity of 50N and is therefore perfectly suited for use with the LFPlus single column universal materials tester, which is designed for material testing and force measurement applications up to 1kN.
Test speeds range from 0.05 to 1270mm/min with an accuracy greater than 0.2%. Tests can be fully automated through the addition of Nexygen MT control software.
Other tests that can be perfomed using the instrument are the burst strength of cosmetic tubes and the extrusion force of cosmetic products in tubes.
