PRESSED POWI)ER TECHNOLOGY 603 finish when applied over a liquid make-up base. They function to cover all skin imperfections and to give the skin a flawless, even look that re- mains the same all day long. A simple trick which helps set a powder finish and keeps the shine away is to blot the face powder gently with a moistened piece of cotton after application. Several years ago the trend in pressed powders was for a "heavier cov- erage" type of powder, but with the increased popularity of the "un- made-up" natural look, powders have become more and more transpar- ent. Another innovation in recent years is the advent of the so-called blotter type of pressed powder. In Table I a sample of this type of pressed powder is shown. Table I Blotting Face Powder Per Cent Ingredients w/w French talc q.s. Kaolin 35.0 Magnesium carbonate 3.0 Zinc stearate 5.0 Zinc oxide 5.0 Microeel E s 1.0 I Iea W visc. mineral oil 5.0 100.0 Johns Manville Co., New York, N.Y. This powder cake is specifically formulated with •naterials that have high oil absorption properties. The theory behind this is that powder having such unusual absorption quality will absorb excess facial oils and keep the face from developing a shine. Care should be taken in the choice of raw materials that lend to this type of formulation since they may be more difficult to press. The sa•nple formulations represented in Table II exemplify "pressed powder cakes" that have a relatively high covering power. These are more popular with •niddle-aged women whose skin generally has more flaws. As previously stated, the trend today is for a more transparent type of cake. The desired effect may be achieved by several different approaches or combinations thereof. The simplest one is the removal of titanium dioxide or zinc oxide from the formulations. The second and more

604 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS Table II Pressed Face Powders Per Cent w/w Ingredients Sample I Sample 2 Sample 3 Alabama talc 141a q.s. q.s .... French talc ...... q.s. Kaolin 16.0 20.0 10.0 Zinc stearate 4.0 ... 1.5 Magnesium stearate ... 3.0 ... Magnesium carbonate ... 1.5 ... Titanium dioxide 10-20 15-20 10-20 Pigment 1-10 1-10 1-10 Mineral oil, 70 visc. 3.0 ...... Isopropyl myristate ... 2.5 ... Isopropyl palmitate ...... 1.5 Liquid cholesterol emulsifier b ...... 1.5 100.0 100.0 100.0 Whittaker, Clark & Daniels, New York, N.Y. Amerchol Products (Amerchol L-101), Edison, N.J. Maimstrom Chem. Corp. (Nimles- erol-D), Linden, N.J. delicate approach is in the choice of talcs and fillers. Many of the talcs previously mentioned, while excellent for pressing, exhibit a fairly high amount of opacity. The quantities of these types of talcs should be reduced and replaced in formulations by more transparent ones such as Italian talc, North Carolina, India, and Metropolitan talc (samples 1, 2, and 3 in Table III). Kaolin and metallic stearate levels in the formu- lations should be propertly balanced since these materials give opacity. All materials should be carefully blended so as to produce a tablet which has a good texture and low coverage and still presses easily without glaz- ing. Table III summarizes these translucent types of face powder. In all the examples in Tables II and III, the binder may be intro- duced in some type of emulsion system. The water is driven off by us- ing a jacketed type of mixer such as a Baker-Perkins.* This method of introducing the binder produces a very uniform, smooth tablet. Included in the •oup of pressed powder products are those cakes that are applied to the cheek area specifically. They have shown in- creased popularity in recent years and for the most part have replaced the old type cake and cream rouges. The function of the blush-on is to give a subtle highlight or glow to the cheek. The old fashioned cake Baker-Perkins Inc., Saginaw, Mich. 48601.