Why is nitrocellulose in nail polish

With this blog post we wanted to give you a better understanding about nitrocellulose and nitrosamines. Whilst we are convinced that there is no significant concern when it comes to nitrosamines, especially in our nail polish, our goal is also not to convince anybody else. Rather we hope to broaden your knowledge scope through which everyone can make their personal choice and conclusion on nitrosamines and on whether or not they want to use our nail polish or nail polish in general.

We have done our best to create the most natural and safe nail polish possible with simultaneously a great quality. Dr Urs Hauri. Francesca F. Raw Materials in the Production of Nail Polish. I have read the data protection information. Code: Bag All Lipsticks. All Sets Box Specials. Nail Polishes Nail Polish Remover. This website uses cookies, which are necessary for the technical operation of the website and are always set. Other cookies, which increase the comfort when using this website, are used for direct advertising or to facilitate interaction with other websites and social networks, are only set with your consent.

Technisch erforderlich. Toluene, xylene, formalin or formaldehyde are toxic chemicals that were once common in nail polish but are rarely or only found at low concentrations.

Film producer The film-forming agent is a chemical substance that forms a smooth surface on the nail polish coating. The most common film-forming agent is Nitrocellulose. Resin resin Resin makes the film adhere to the nail bed.

Resin is a component that can increase the depth, gloss and hardness of the nail polish film. An example of a polymer used as a resin in nail polish is a toluene sulfonamide-formaldehyde resin. Plasticizer Resins and film-forming agents can provide polishing strength and gloss, but they can produce brittle varnishes.

Camphor is a common plasticizer. Pig paint Pigments are chemicals that color nail polish. The varnishes are then called"sedimentants" the pigments sediment at the bottom of the bottles and small metal beads can re-homogenize the environment. At the end of the 20th century, various regulations imposed a greater awareness of skin tolerance elimination of toluene, formaldehyde, dibutyl phthalates, etc.

Materials of animal origin are banned, leading to reformulation with rheological agents modified by amines made from fatty substances of vegetable origin. A Poudrerie Nationale dependent on the Service des Poudres was created in on a ha site on the banks of the Dordogne. The production is the manufacture of nitrocellulose, mainly for military use for the manufacture of'gunpowder', then for the coating industries industrial paints and finally for the preparation of printing inks.

In , a civil structure was created: the S ociety N ationale des P oudres and E explosives. It was at this time that the site's Sales Director launched the idea of developing a range of cosmetic varnishes. From the qualities used for the manufacture of inks, nitrocelluloses with high optical qualities are then produced TX quality thanks to : - a selection of celluloses based exclusively on cotton linters, - severe dehydration water content less than 2.

These nitrocelluloses will be used for the realization of the first colorless varnishes of the SNPE ref. They are suitable for obtaining transparent varnishes. They can be used to produce sedimentary varnishes, which were"the norm" at the time. This is the origin of the presence of small beads in the bottles to re-homogenize the coloured varnishes and resuspend"temporarily" the pigments that have settled in the bottom of the bottles.

In , studies are carried out within the Laboratory of Studies to develop anti-sedimenting varnishes. The necessary gels are then developed on microbead mills by dispersing organophilic clays in nitrocellulose collodions. The first reference marketed is the gel It is used to produce the first French antisediment varnish ref. The SNPE range is growing. In , the production and marketing of nitrocellulose were spun off by the group and the new entity was called Bergerac NC.

The nail polish department of SNPE is attached to this new entity, and continues its internationalization started in with the acquisition of Tevco and Durlin, 2 American polish companies located in South Plainfield with successively the following joint venture creations : - creation of Durlin Asia near Bangkok in partnership with Thai cosmetics company Thai Millot, - creation of Bergerac Japan with the Nikkol group cosmetic raw materials in the Toshiki province north of Tokyo, - creation of Durlin East Europ in Poland Ciehanow north of Warsaw , - creation by Tevco in of Durlin Cosmo in Mexico joint venture with Regio Empresas.

In August , the nail polishes were separated from Bergerac NC, and production and marketing were grouped under the name Durlin France. The SNPE group thus controls an important part of the world varnish market.

Following the explosion at the Total site at La Grande Paroisse, near the Toulouse plant, SNPE was forced to reduce and then sell its chemical and nail polish activities. In , SNPE continued its dismantling and sold its varnish production and marketing activity to Chromavis. It has 2 main qualities.

This property will be used to manufacture explosives gunpowder, fuel casings , and ensure the needs of the military during the 1st World War. The choice of site is dictated by the presence of the Dordogne, which ensures a high availability of water necessary for the manufacturing process. Nitrocellulose, the main film-forming agent in varnishes, is used as a powdery to fibrous solid depending on grade soaked in alcohol mainly isopropyl alcohol.

Its role is to form a flexible, shiny film that adheres to the surface of the nail. It results from nitration of cellulose by sulphonitric mixtures sulphuric acid and nitric acid. Two parameters characterize it: the degree of substitution and the degree of polymerization. The primary ingredient in nail polish is nitrocellulose cellulose nitrate cotton, a flammable and explosive ingredient also used in making dynamite.

Nitrocellulose is a liquid mixed with tiny, near-microscopic cotton fibers. In the manufacturing process, the cotton fibers are ground even smaller and do not need to be removed.

The nitrocellulose can be purchased in various viscosities to match the desired viscosity of the final product. Nitrocellulose acts as a film forming agent. For nail polish to work properly, a hard film must form on the exposed surface of the nail, but it cannot form so quickly that it prevents the material underneath from drying.

Consider commercial puddings or gelatin products that dry or film on an exposed surface and protect the moist product underneath. By itself or used with other functional ingredients, the nitrocellulose film is brittle and adheres poorly to nails.

Manufacturers add synthetic resins and plasticizers and occasionally similar, natural products to their mixes to improve flexibility, resistance to soap and water, and other qualities; older recipes sometimes even used nylon for this purpose.

Because of the number of desired qualities involved, however, there is no single resin or combination of resins that meets every specification. Among the resins and plasticizers in use today are castor oil, amyl and butyl stearate, and mixes of glycerol, fatty acids, and acetic acids. The colorings and other components of nail polish must be contained within one or more solvents that hold the colorings and other materials until the polish is applied. After application, the solvent must be able to evaporate.

In many cases, the solvent also acts a Nail polish is made by combining nitrocellulose and plasticizers with color pigments. The mixing is done in a "two-roll" differential speed mill, which grinds the pigment between a pair of rollers that are able to work with increasing speed as the pigment is ground down.

The goal is to produce fine dispersion of the color. Butyl stearate and acetate compounds are perhaps the most common. Finally, the polish must have a color. Early polishes used soluble dyes, but today's product contains pigments of one type or another. Choice of pigment and its ability to mix well with the solvent and other ingredients is essential to producing a good quality product.

Nail polish is a "suspension" product, in which particles of color can only be held by the solvent for a relatively short period of time, rarely more than two or three years. Shaking a bottle of nail polish before use helps to restore settled particles to the suspension; a very old bottle of nail polish may have so much settled pigment that it can never be restored to the solvent. The problem of settling is perhaps the most difficult to be addressed in the manufacturing process.