MODERN COSMETICS--ILLUSION AND REALITY 507 for a comparatively short time on the lips and then a number of changes take place which seriously impair the appearance. Reflocculation of the white titanium dioxide occurs mostly in the crevices of the lips, emphasi- zing all the contour defects of the lips instead of helping to conceal them. With orange and peach lipsticks, this is often accompanied by a break up of colour into a mosaic of individual pigment colours, usually during eating or drinking. Finally, due to the incorporation of too high levels of the wrong coloured stain, the residual colour on the lips may bear no resemblance to the original crayon colour, e.g. orange and peach lipstick turning pink, and brown lipsticks turning red. There are one or two ways of evading this problem, such as drastically reducing the pigment level, which makes the pigment flocculation less noticeable, but such a lipstick is so lacking in covering power as to be quite unfashionable. Most women feel strongly on the subject of these defects and it is no con- solation to be told that only the paler shades exhibit these faults when it is precisely these shades they wish to wear. Insufficient attention is being paid by chemists to a problem which, in masculine eyes, is more aesthetic than technical. For example, flotation of titanium dioxide in lipstick manu- facture causing streaking in the crayon was considered a serious technical defect and has now been overcome, but the reflocculation of the same pigment on the lips is an even greater defect in the eyes of the user. Until recently eye cosmetics were even less satisfactory than modern pastel lipsticks. In the past, mascara, eye shadow and eye liner probably caused more disappointment than any other coloured make-up items. It would be reasonable to assume that the present increased use of eye cosmetics is partly due to their better performance and they may now be worn during the daytime with more confidence in the durability of the colour effect. In particular, the development of waterproof mascara in either cream or roll-on form has eliminated the main bugbear of streaking which was associated with the earlier block mascara. An additional advantage of waterproof mascara is the reduced likelihood of eye irritation due to the absence of soap, although the choice of unsuitable solvents in some waterproof mascara formulae does cause a very uncomfortable feeling on the eye-ball owing to solvent evaporation. With eye shadow, the present position is not particularly satisfactory, although it is likely that this will be radically transformed in the near future. Instead of the delicate graded wing of colour implied by the advertisements, reality has been a very fugitive approximation to this illusion, to be followed by the development of ugly coloured lines in the eye area and the complete loss of overall colour. All eye shadows which contain substantial quantities of waxes or oils, in cream or stick form, must inevitably run into coloured lines the policy of powdering over only delays the inevitable--it never prevents it. Whilst attempts have been made to formulate non-greasy eye

508 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS shadows, conventional eye shadows still outnumber the new types by at least five to one in terms of brands available. Whatever the defects of these new eye shadows, it is worth concentrating on their solution rather than continuing to produce the defective greasy eye shadows. The most dismal approximation of reality to illusion is to be found in liquid eye liner, so dismal in fact that many women have reverted to pencils, block mascaras or even foundation make-up in an attempt to provide a more satisfactory way of drawing a line on the eyelid. From experiences in the paint industry, and from nail enamels in our own field, the selection of a correct viscosity of fluid for brush application ought to have been assured. But whereas viscosities of most nail enamels are in the region of 300 to 400 centipoises, the viscosities of eye liners range from below 100 centipoises to over 50,000 centipoises. Moreover, wide variations in vis- cosity are not only encountered between one brand of eye liner and another, but often between different shades of the same brand. Drawing a well- defined line on the eyelid with a brush is not an easy task, and if there are wide variations in product consistency, it is virtually impossible. Too thin a liner will run down the lashes and leave smudgy edges, whereas the very thick liners will not flow out evenly to give a smooth finish. Furthermore, the high alcohol levels characteristic of some eye liners, not only produce the rapid drying desired, but owing to the high solvent phase volume result in considerable shrinkage of the final film on the lids this gives an uncomfortable feeling, often described by women as "sewn up eye lids". Finally, and most serious of defects, eye liners lack the necessary flexibility and adhesion to survive the estimated 40,000 blinks of the eyelid in the course of the normal wearing time. It is not uncommon for the film to break up into a mosaic of cracks or even for whole sections of the line to flake off but it should not be necessary for a woman to carry around a bottle of eye liner and a brush for touch-up purposes. Other make-up items could be examined in a similar manner, e.g. face powders which change shade on the skin and rouges which are difficult to shade off these also tend to display basic technical defects. It is therefore necessary to seek an explanation for the fact that make-up preparations are generally less satisfactory than specialities, assuming that it is basically no more difficult to make good lipsticks or eye cosmetics than to make good depilatories or hair lacquers. One of the possible reasons is that technical specialists tend to attach too little importance to the aesthetic aspects of their products. With few exceptions they are not involved in actually using coloured make-up and the irritation felt by the user of a "bitty" lipstick, running eye shadow or flaking eye liner is not directly experienced, There appears to be a similar lack of appreciation of the aesthetic importance of colour-true, stable make-up. The lipstick crayon, the eye shadow stick and