J. $oc. Cosmet. Chem.

29 441-446 (1978)

Evaluation of mechanical stresses set up in lipstick during application

R. G. DREW BeechamProducts,Applied Research Laboratories,RandallsRoad, Leatherhead,Surrey, KT22 7RX Received19 January 1978

Presentedas part of a lecturefor the Society of CosmeticChemistsof Great Britain, London,January, 1977

Synopsis A device is describedwhich measuresthe stresses set up when lipstick is applied; this deviceis used to assess the application propertiesof two rangesof commerciallyavailable lipsticks.The values obtained facilitate definition of the strength requirementsof a lipstick. Knowledge of the in-use stresses will enable formulators to avoid fracture problemsduring lipstick application.A trial of ten commercially the availablelipsticksindicates that the applicationforce is related to the easeof colouringof the lips be appliedlipstick.Applicationforcesweregreaterwhen the lipstick was appliedby older subjects.

INTRODUCTION

A lipstickconsists essentially of a solidstickin a retractableapplicator.In recentyears lipstickformulations have alteredconsiderably; hard stickswith high levelsof staining dye have been almost completelysuperseded by softer sticksin which solubledye has beenlargelyreplacedby insoluble dye in lipsticks(pigments). With the reductionin level of stainingdye in lipsticksmuch easiertransference is required in order to achieve adequatecolourationof the lips. Elliott (1) indicatedthat this has been achievedby introducing oilier bases. The increased liquid and semi-solid contentof recentformulationshas made the mechanical strength requirements of the stick critical. A commonmethodof lipstickstrength assessment described by Lauffer (2) is to hold the lipstickhorizontallyin a socket fitting over 1 cm of its baseand to apply weightsat a measureddistancefrom the edge of the socket.The weight is increasedby increments (suitably0.1 N) every30 min until the lipstickbreaks.At leastfour readingsare needed for each batch of lipstick and broken surfaces must be examinedto ensurethat no weakening flawsreducethe strength. Breakingpoint measurements mustbe carriedout at a knowntemperature (suitably 25C)on sticks storedat that temperature for at least30 min. This technique is unrealistic asthe methodof loadinginvolves a disproportionately largeshearcomponent and a smallbendingmomentwhenmeasuring the total forceto fracture.Lauffer (2) also described a method of roughlymeasuring the force of application.A strip of smoothpaperis drawn between two flat lipstickendsat constantspeed. The force requiredto pull the paper when a giventotal weight is applied to the upper lipstickis recorded.
0037-9832/78/0700-0441$02.00 1978 Societyof CosmeticChemists of Great Britain
441

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R. G. Drew

This paperdescribes an apparatus givingrealistic measurements of the forceof (ease of) applicationand force to fracture.
EXPERIMENTAL
MATERIALS

Ten lipsticksmanufactured for retail distributionwere selected for examinationfrom two

lipstick ranges*. They werechosen to covera rangeof colours from cleargloss, through shades of pink, red and light brownto dark brown.Theselipsticks werethen arbitrarily coded. The firstrangewascodeda, b, c, d and e, and the second rangewascoded v, w, x, y and z. All lipsticks testedwere41 mm long and 11 mm in diameterat their base.
APPARATUS

The apparatus consisted of a brassbeamcarryingstrain gauges, spikeand baseonto whichthe lipstickwasimpaled(Fig. 1). A conventional polystyrene holderto matchthe basediameterof the lipstickwasfixedto the beamwith epoxyresin.

Figure 1. Brassbeam, with semiconductor strain gauges,usedto hold the lipstick.Sample lipsticks wereimpaled on the spikesetin a cylindrical holderon the left. Appliedforces were transmitted to two pairsof straingauges fitted on opposing sides of the beam.

A semiconductor straingauge**wasfixedto eachof the four sides of the squaresectional beam. The straingauges formedtwo half Wheatstone resistance bridges. The other half of eachWheatstone bridgecircuitwas a balancing variableresistor incorporated in themainrecording equipment situated awayfrom thedevice. In therecording equipment the outputs from the two bridge circuits wereamplified by a factorof 1000 andfed into a vectorsumcomputation unit.'Hence,by carrying out a vector sumtreatment of the two messages the resolved load on the lipstickat any instantcouldbe computedelectronically and the outputfed to the penrecorder.** The bridges werepowered
* Margaret Astor Silver Frost and Ultra Soft lipstick from Cola GmbH, Cosmetik-Fabrikations-

Gesellschaft mbH 612 Michelstadt/Odenwald, Bundesrepublik Deutschland. ** The straingauges used were encapsulated axiaMeadtype suppliedby Kulite Ltd, 20 Wote Street, Basingstoke, Hampshire,U.K. (Code No. DCP-120 090). t The vector sum circuit was designed by Analog DevicesInc., Norwood, Massachusetts 02062,
U.S.A., and basedon an integratedcircuit chip, ADS31 KD. : Phillips pen recorder PM 8221.

Mechanicalstresses in lipstick

443

Figure 2. Block diagram of lipstick stressequipment. The applied stresses caused the beam to bend. The resultingstrainsaffectedthe resistance of opposingstrain gauges. The gaugeswere part of a Wheatstone resistancebridge whose output was then amplified. The two signalswere either recordedseparately, or combinedto give the vector sum (or resolved)force before being
recorded.

with a -t-5 V stabilised powersupply. The amplifiers andvectorsumdevice wereenergised from a stabilised -t-15, 0, - 15 V supply.A block diagramof the equipmentis given in
Fig. 2.

The apparatus wascalibrated for pure bendingloadsby weights beinghungfrom the applicationpoint of a lipstickin a horizontallyheld holder.

LIPSTICK

APPLICATION

TRIAL

Initially twenty-eightfemale subjects were asked to describe their method of lipstick application and frequency of use(whichvariedfrom non-users, to an hourlyapplication). Each subjectselected one lipstickfrom each range. The first stick was impaled on the strain-gauged beamand the subject was askedto apply the lipstickin front of a mirror in their normal manner.The appliedlipstickwas removedfrom the lips with a tissue. This wasrepeated for a total of sixapplications. The first stickwasremoved and replaced by the second stickchosen by the subject from the second range.After repeating the above six applicationssubjects were asked which stick they preferred. This procedurewas repeatedon five separate days.
J'O --

0'(

,,o 0.4

I 8

Time (sec)

Figure3. A typicalvectorsumlipstickapplication force v. time trace. This trace spans7 sec duringwhichthe lipstickwasapplied in several strokes. The maximum forceapproached 1 N.

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R. G. Drew

Each applicationyieldeda trace of either the resolved load (via the vectorsumming device)or the separate components of each resistance bridge on the pen recorder.A typical trace is shownin Fig. 3. From each trace the maximum resolvedforce during an applicationwas recorded.

RESULTS

AND

DISCUSSION

Maximum applicationforcesobtainedfrom 840 applications wereplottedin the form of two histograms (Fig. 4).
120 -

,, Ioo
.s
o

80

e0
40

20

0'2

0'4

0'6

0'8

I-0

1'2

1.4

1.6

1.8

2.0

2'2

Maximum appliedforce (N)

l*igte 4. Histogram of the maximum applied forcesfrom each lipstick range during the trial. Most of the subjects applied the lipstickswith a force lessthan 1 N, but a 2 N force wasexceeded occasionally.-Ultra Soft; .... Silver Frost.

Median forcesof application were0-68 N for the SilverFrost range(10th percentile 0.46N, 90thpercentile 0.92N) and0.73N for theUltra Softrange(10thpercentile 0.50N 90th percentile 1'27 N). The subjects tendedto applythe Ultra Soft rangeusinghigher application forces than the SilverFrostrange.A Mann-WhitneyU-test showed that this
differencewas significantat the P <0.00001 level.

Eachsubject's applications of the samelipstickoftencovered a widerangeof forces (TableI). Comparison of the application loadsof two lipsticks, however, revealed that within the twenty-eightsubjects testedsignificant differences in maximumapplication force werefound(Table II). Fromthese differences a ranking orderwascompiled indicating which lipstickswould be applied with a greater force: b > c > a> y, e > w> v> x>
z>d.

Table I. The maximum application forcesobservedfrom one subject usinga singlelipstick during the trial Application number
1 2 3 4 5 6

Maximum application force (N)

Day 1
0.604 0.667 0.811 0.397 0.261 0.642

Day 2
0.512 0.438 0-678 0.604 0.696 0.774

Day 3
0.443 0.708 0.743 0.682 0.732 0.942

Day 4
0.660 0.676 0.640 0.996 0.931 0.782

Day 5
0.738 0.851 0.808 0.705 0.847 0.829

Mechanicalstresses in lipstick
Table 1I. Subjects who exhibited significant differences(Mann-Whitney U-test, P< 0-02) in maximum application forces between the two applied lipsticks Subjects
3,4 6 8, 10, 11 9
13
14

445

Ultra Soft v. Silver Frost

c >w d>w b > z d>z
c >x
d<x

16, 17 21 22,24 23 25 28

c a c d b a

> v >y >y >y >y >y

Four independentvolunteersranked the applied lipsticksin order of colouring power: b > a > c > e, z > v, w > y > x > d. The Kendall Rank CorrelationCoefficient,x, for the rankingof appliedload and subjectively assessed covering powerwas0.683,indicating that individualsubjects wouldusea lower application forceto apply a lipstickwith better colouringpower.

Thesubjects weredivided intotwoagegroups of approximately equalsize (18-29 and

30-60 yearsold). Subjects over 30 yearsold usedsignificantly higherapplicationforces (Mann-WhitneyU-test, P <0.025). A similar analysisof their choiceof coloursindicatedat the P < 0.025 level that the 18-29years groupwerebiased towards browncolours andthe 30-60 years grouptowards the paler brown, pink or red colours. Subjects who appliedlipstickfrequently(daily or more often)usedsignificantly higher applicationforcesthan thosewho applied lipstick lessfrequently. Other parameterspossiblyrelated to lipstick selectionand applicationwere also examined. The subjects' comments uponthe appliedlipstickwascompared with the most commonapplication forcerange.No overalltrendwas observed and subjects frequently described the samelipstick usingantonymsand the reasons for lipstick selectionseemed to havebeenmany and varied.The lipstickchoicecombinations of a lipstickfrom each range revealedno bias towards particular colour combinationssuchas brown and dark brown, or red/pinkand pale brownetc. The selection of lipstickwas finally compared with subjecthair colour but no trend towards any particular choice of lipstick was
observed.

DISCUSSION

The main purposeof the work reportedhere was to assess the capabilityof the lipstick application equipment;to achieve this an applicationtrial was carriedout. The equipment was shown to be capableof meaningfulmeasurements and is a useful tool for assessing the force of applicationof lipstick. This trial was designed to assess the maximum applicationforces of two types of lipsticks. Subjects were expected to apply a lipstickof their own choicein a more typical

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R. G. Drew

mannerthana lipstickselected by theinvestigator andhence only onelipstickof eachtype was testedby the subject. Althougha difference was detected between the maximumapplication forces usedin eachlipstickrange,an investigation of the data showed that thismay be dueto eitherthe colouringability of the lipstick,or the ageof the subject. The coloursappliedwith the greaterforcewerepredominantly pale brown or a cleargloss. The mainly dark colours, of better colouringability, were appliedwith a smallerforce. The application data implies that lipstickswith relatively low colouringpower (usually palecolours) aremorelikelyto fractureduringuseif the strengths of all lipsticks are equal. Differences in maximum applicationforce were detectedbetweenfrequent and occasional lipstickusers,but not between usersand non-users of lipstick.This may be explained by the selection of lipsticks, because non-users of lipstickmore frequently selected glossy and paler lipsticks.
REFERENCES

1 Elliott, T. J. Presentand future trendsin make-up. Cosmet.Perrum.88 35 (1973). 2 Lauffer, P. G.I. Lipsticks.In: Balsam,M. S. and Sagarin,E. Cosmetics, Science and Technology Vol. 1 388 (1972). Wiley-Interscience, New York.