Rheological and Textural Properties of Cosmetic Emulsions

Tereza Morávková1,2*, Petr Stern1*

1 Institute of Hydrodynamics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic,

Pod Pat’ankou 5, 16612 Prague 6, Czech Republic

2 Department of Dairy and Fat Technology, Faculty of Food and Biochemical Technology,
Institute of Chemical Technology, Technická 5, 16628 Prague 6, Czech Republic

* Corresponding authors: moravkova@ih.cas.cz & stern@ih.cas.cz

Fax: x420.2322181

Received: 16.11.2010, Final version: 17.2.2011

Abstract:
A set of 31 cosmetic emulsions, as the most frequent cosmetic dispersions, comprising lotions and creams (o/w,
w/o), was analyzed by rheological procedures (RheoStress 300, Thermo Fischer Scientific) and by sensory profil-
ing. The power law model was used for pseudoplastic body lotions and the Herschel-Bulkley model for viscoplas-
tic creams to get basic rheological parameters (apparent viscosity, consistency parameter, yield stress value, plas-
tic viscosity and flow behaviour index). The content of TiO2 in sun lotions probably caused better agreement with
viscoplastic creams. Rheological analysis proved to be more suitable for the storage stability testing of the emul-
sion than sensory evaluation. Psychorheology was applied as a suitable complex method. Rheological parame-
ters were compared to sensory texture attributes (removing from a package, ease of spreading, skin feel and thick-
ness). Almost 60% of relationships among rheological and sensory parameters were statistically significant (P =
0.05). Considering relationships only between rheological and sensory characteristics (with each other), 46 % were
statistically significant (P = 0.05). In the case of apparent viscosity and removing the lotion from a bottle the rela-
tionship was reliable enough (correlation coefficient 0.91) to estimate the sensory attribute by fast rheological
measurement. The other statistically significant relationships (correlation coefficients 0.53 – 0.80) proved that the
sensory texture acceptability of a cosmetic emulsion could be partly predicted by rheological analysis.

Zusammenfassung:
31, größtenteils häufig verwendete kosmetische Dispersionen, darunter Lotionen und Cremes (o/w, w/o), wurden
rheologisch und durch Erstellung eines sensorischen Profils charakterisiert (RheoStress 300, Thermo Fisher Scien-
tific). Für die pseudoplastischen Körperlotionen wurde das Potenzgesetz-Modell und für die viskoelastischen Cremes
das Herschel-Bulkley-Modell angewandt, um die grundlegenden rheologischen Parameter (scheinbare Viskosität,
Konsistenzparameter, Fließspannung, plastische Viskosität und den Fließkurvenindex) zu ermitteln. Der TiO2-
Gehalt in den Sonnencremes führte zu einer besseren Übereinstimmung mit den viskoelastischen Cremes. Die Ana-
lyse der rheologischen Größen erwies sich als geeigneter für die Stabilitätsversuche als die Sensorevaluation. Psy-
chorheologische Methoden wurden ebenfalls als geeignete komplexe Methode angesehen. Die rheologischen
Parameter wurden mit senorischen Größen verglichen (Fließen aus dem Behälter, Einfachheit der Verteilung der
Dispersion, Hautgefühl und Dicke). Fast 60% der Beziehungen zwischen den rheologischen und den sensorischen
Größen waren statistisch ausreichend signifikant (P = 0.05). Die Beziehungen zwischen den rheologischen und sen-
sorischen Größen alleine waren zu 46% statistisch signifikant (P=0.05). Im Falle der scheinbaren Viskosität und des
Entleerens eines Behälters war die Korrelation ausreichend zuverlässig (Korrelationskoeffizient 0.91), um die sen-
sorischen Größen durch schnelle rheologische Messungen zu ermitteln. Die weiteren statistisch signifikanten Kor-
relationen (Korrelationskoeffizient 0.53–0.80) zeigten, dass die Akzeptanz der sensorischen Größen einer kosme-
tischen Emulsion teilweise durch eine rheologische Größe vorhergesagt werden kann.

Résumé:
Un ensemble de 31 émulsions cosmétiques, pris comme dispersions cosmétiques les plus fréquentes, comprenant des
lotions et des crèmes (h/e, e/h), a été analysé à l’aide de procédures rhéologiques (RheoStress 300, Thermo Fischer
Scientific) et de profilométrie sensorielle. La loi de puissance a été utilisée pour modéliser les lotions corporelles pseu-
do plastiques, et le modèle de Herschel-Bulkley pour les crèmes viscoplastiques, afin d’obtenir les paramètres rhéo-
logiques (viscosité apparente, paramètre de consistance, valeur de la contrainte seuil, viscosité plastique et index du
comportement d’écoulement). La quantité de TiO2 dans les lotions solaires est probablement à l’origine du meilleur
accord avec les crèmes viscoplastiques. L’analyse rhéologique s’est avérée être plus appropriée pour tester la stabili-
té durant le stockage des émulsions plutôt que l’analyse sensorielle. La psychorhéologie a été appliquée comme une
méthode complexe convenable. Les paramètres rhéologiques ont été comparés aux attributs de texture sensorielle
(extraction de l’emballage, facilité d’étalage, épaisseur et sensibilité sur la peau). Environ 60% des relations entre les

© Appl. Rheol. 21 (2011) 35200 DOI: 10.3933/ApplRheol-21-35200

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 paramètres rhéologiques et sensoriels sont statistiquement significatives (P=0.05). Dans le cas de la viscosité appa-
rente et de l’extraction de la lotion hors du flacon, le relation est assez solide (coefficient de corrélation de 0.91) pour
pouvoir estimer l’attribut sensoriel au moyen d’une mesure rhéologique rapide. Les autres relations statistiquement
significatives (coefficient de corrélation entre 0.53 et 0.80) montrent que l’acceptabilité de texture sensorielle pour
une émulsion cosmétique peut être partiellement prédite par une analyse rhéologique.
Key words: cosmetic emulsions, rheology, texture, sensory analysis, psychorheology
1 INTRODUCTION
Emulsions are the most frequent dispersions in
cosmetic industry. The principle components are
always water and oil, emulsifiers or surfactants
are needed to ensure the stability of oil droplets
dispersed in water (o/w type emulsions) or vice
versa (w/o type emulsions) [1]. Rheology is very
useful for evaluation of the application beha -
viour, manufacturing processing and thermal
storage stability of lotions and other personal
care products. It can be used to relate lotion’s vis-
cosity and elasticity to end-use performance [2].
There are several reasons to measure rheological
characteristics of an emulsion. Flow and defor-
mation parameters are important to engineering
and technology projects, some physical mea-
surement provides information about emulsion
structure and gives a possibility to predict a sen-
sory assessment of product’s selected texture
attributes [3]. The question of the emulsion‘s sta-
bility is always a concern in development and
production [1, 4]. That was the starting point for
studies on cosmetic emulsion using yield stress
measurements. Rheological properties, compris-
ing stability, can also be studied as a function of
temperature, often carried out as storage test
(samples are stored at a freezer for one week,
then viscosity is re-measured).
Sensory properties act in user’s decision con-
siderably. They include texture, ease of rubbing
on the skin and overall skin feeling after applica-
tion. In general the sensory assessment can be
defined as a measurement of product quality
based on information obtained by human sens-
es. Texture is primarily perceived by touch (tac-
tile sense), additional information important for
texture determination can provide eye, eventu-
ally ear [3]. Initially, the psychorheology devel-
oped from the psychophysics – the investigation
of the connection between subjective experience
and objective events of nature is a concern of the
psychophysics [5, 6]. In 1939, after the study of
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dough rheology concerning sensory properties,
Scott-Blair [5, 7] formulated a special term for a
combination of both methods – psychorheology,
which investigates a relation between sensory
findings about rheological properties and instru-
mental measurements. In other words psy-
chorheology is the sensory judgement of rheo-
logical properties. Scott-Blair concerned with
psychorheology henceforward, representing it in
many studies [8]. Originally psychorheology is a
term used in the food industry. Brummer [1] sum-
marizes the sensation at evaluation of a skin feel
as primary and secondary skin feels. The term pri-
mary skin feel comprises the sensation perceived
near the yield stress at the start of distribution
on the skin. The sensory perceptions in the fur-
ther course of application define the term sec-
ondary skin feel.
Another reason to study the relationship
between rheological and sensory analysis is the
objectivity. Even if the sensory assessment is car-
ried out with carefully selected well-trained pan-
el, the consistence of its judgments is not en-
sured, while the instrumental analysis provides
objective values. However, this fact partly limits
the prediction efficiency of subjective character-
istics from objective measurement [9]. Today,
the relation between rheology and texture is
often examined in food technology, mostly in
dairy technology [10] or using model systems [11,
12]. The sensory texture was related to the rheo-
logical properties in both studies and a number
of significant correlations were detected, though
the results differ according to a type of watched
rheological or texture character. There are older
studies concerning psychorhelogy of cosmetic
product [13], targeted on the representation of
the texture using rheological variables, but com-
prise no particular data and relationships.
In previous papers [14, 15], we studied sever-
al food emulsions, in most cases the significant
relations between rheological and sensory char-
acteristics were found. Then we focused, in co-
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operation with cosmetics producers, on cosmet-
ic emulsions, as very few studies deal with psy-
chorheology of this type of products [16]. The aim
of this work is to detect, whether these relations
exist also for cosmetic emulsions as an example
of the non-food emulsions. The next question is
if eventual relations would be significant enough
to enable the prediction of sensory acceptability
by rheological analysis. Such prediction would
allow great simplification for the cosmetics man-
ufacturers, because the fast rheological analysis
could consequently replace time-consuming and
expensive sensory assessment. Partial results
were already published [17].
2 EXPERIMENTAL
2.1 MATERIAL
A set of 31 samples of cosmetic emulsions was
studied, both lotions and creams, representing
w/o as well as o/w emulsion types, as shown in
Table 1. The basic ingredients of body lotions were
water, paraffin oil, isopropyl myristate and glyc-
erin. Sun lotions contented less oil phase ingredi-
ents and isopropyl myristate as emollient was
substituted with diethylhexyl carbonate and
caprylic/capric triglyceride. Oil phase of the eye
creams contained no paraffin oil, only caprylic/
capric triglyceride, cetyl ricinoleate and vegetable
oils (avocado, macadamia). Basic emollients of the
face creams were paraffin oil and diethylhexyl car-
bonate or isopropyl myristate (depending on a
concrete sample). Creams with olive wax were
made without paraffin oil, with diethylhexyl car-
bonate, caprylic/capric triglyceride and vegetable
oils (olive, avocado). All emulsions were made
using routine laboratory equipment and semi-
plant mixer Becomix RW15 (A. Berents, Stuhr, Ger-
many). A total amount of one sample of body
lotion was 10 kg, afterwards filled in 250 ml bot-
tles. Creams were filled to 50 ml pots, total
amount of each sample was 2 kg. All samples were
stored at room temperature.
2.2 RHEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
A rotational rheometer RheoStress 300 (Thermo
Fischer Scientific, Karlsruhe, Germany) was used
for the determination of a relation between
shear stress and shear rate. Flow curves were
determined at shear rate range from 0 to 600 s-1
and constant temperature 25 °C. The measuring
Figure 1:
Example of the flow curve
(sample cr 4 - eye cream).
Table 1:
Tested samples.
Table 2 (below):
Sensory descriptors for char-
acteristics assessed with
graphic unstructured scale.
time of “up-curve” and “down-curve” (Figure 1)
has been 60 s each. It proved to be sufficient time
because a stationary flow curve would be very
difficult to measure due to the thixotropy of
emulsions (Figure 1). A cone-and-plate sensor
system was used for all measurements, with sen-
sor C60/2° for analysis of body lotions and face
creams (involving creams with olive wax), sensor
C35/Ti 1° was chosen as suitable for sun lotions
and eye creams.
2.3 SENSORY EVALUATION
Sensory evaluation is a basic routine method to
assess the texture of a cosmetic product. Trained
panelists completed special questionnaires con-
cerning 11 – 14 parameters (according to the par-
ticular sample) including the colour, fragrance,
shine and other basic sensory properties of a cos-
metic emulsion. There was a category scale for
each parameter, evaluator ticks observed cate-
gory. In addition 4 selected parameters, impor-
tant for following analysis, involved graphic
unstructured scale (100 units, minimum = 0,
maximum = 100) - removing from a package (RE),
ease of spreading on face (SF) and on hand (SH),
skin feel after application (FE) and thickness (TH)
as shown in Table 2. In this case, the evaluator
signs appropriate value on the scale. Sensory
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Table 3 (left above):
Parameters of the power
law model.

Table 4 (right above):

Parameters of the Herschel-
Bulkley model.

Table 5 (below):
Results of the sensory analy-
sis (mean values).

analysis was carried out under standard condi- mine consistency parameter, K, and flow index,
tions as specified by the respective ISO standards: p. Apparent viscosity, ha, was calculated at shear
the testing booths after ISO 8589 (2007), judges rate 10 s-1. All results are summarized in Table 3.
after ISO 8586.1 (1993), and methodology after High differences (applying all parameters)
ISO 6658 (2005). Each result was calculated at among samples confirm a great influence of used
least from 18 determinations. Relationships be - emulsifier.
tween rheological and sensory variables were The same analysis for creams showed that
described by correlation coefficients (P = 0.05). they act as viscoplastic substances. The results
The correlation coefficient defines the reliability correspond to the Herschel-Bulkley model, t = t0
of the relationship if it is high enough (consider- + hplg· n (regression coefficients higher than 0.97)
ing number of samples), the relationship is sta- Surprisingly, the Herschel-Bulkley model agrees
tistically significant. better with sun lotions than the power law mod-
el. So sun lotions behave similarly as face creams,
3 RESULTS AND this fact is probably caused by the content of the
DISCUSSION mineral sun screen TiO2 in the formulation.
Hence sun lotions were viewed as creams in fol-
lowing evaluation. Yield stress value, t0, plastic
3.1 RHEOLOGICAL viscosity, hpl, and flow behaviour index, n, were
ANALYSIS calculated for viscoplastic samples (Table 4).
A RheoWin Data Man- There is a large extension of the results because
ager software (ver- of great sample variability. It is interesting to
sion 3.50) was used to compare samples in particular group such as
obtain flow properties cr 1-3, cr 4-7, cr 8-13, and cr 14-16 (Table 1). In the
parameters from the first group rheological parameters are affected
down-curves of deter- by TiO2 content in the emulsion, analysis of the
minated flow curves. results in the second group indicates different
Using regression ana - behaviour of the cream depending upon used
lysis the parameters stabilizer. Samples cr 8-13 are too various to draw
of the power law and a clear conclusions only from rheological datas.
Herschel-Bulkley mo- In the last group (cr 14-16) a relation between
dels were calculated. olive wax content and flow exponent can be
According to the ana- observed. The mean standard deviation for all
lysis of a down-curve parameters was less than 2 %. Correlation coef-
at lower shear rates ficients were figured out to analyse a relation-
(0–600 s-1) it was con- ship among particular rheological results, 67 %
firmed that samples of these relationships were statistically signifi-
of body lotions are cant (P = 0.05).
pseudoplastic sub-
stances and the pow- 3.2 SENSORY ANALYSIS
er law model, t = Kg· p,
It was expected that properties of emulsions
was used (regression
would be very variable depending on the partic-
coefficients higher
ular type of product, as confirmed by the exper-
than 0.98) to deter-
iments, Table 5 shows particular results for each

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 Figure 2 (left):
Relationship between the
SF - ease of spreading on
face/palm and SH - ease of
spreading on hand (N = 31,
correlation coefficient 0.74,
P = 0.05).

Figure 3:
Relationship between the
RE - pouring from a bottle
and ha - apparent viscosity
(solid line: N = 15, correla-
tion coefficient 0.91,
P = 0.05) and RE and
K - consistency parameter
(dotted line: N = 15, correla-
tion coefficient 0.57,
P = 0.05).

sample. Considering all samples, the mean value
of removing the cream from a pot is 46, pouring
lotion from a bottle is 18, the difference between
both emulsion characters is evident. Assessment
of the ease of spreading (SF, SH) gives mean val-
ue 80 (both SF, SH) for creams and 84 (SF) and 83
(SH) for lotions, similar results for creams and
lotions mean low impact of emulsion character
on its ease of spreading. Descriptor FE of the skin
feel after cream application is 75, thickness (TH)
for body lotions is 41, in mean values. The mean
standard deviation of the results is 18 (from 16 at
TH assessment to 21 at FE assessment).
The emulsion stability was evaluated by
both rheological (stability at shear stress) and
sensory tests (storage stability), the sensory
analysis assessed only one sample (lo5) as unsta-
ble – the separation of oil and water phase was
visible. The other samples, which were rheologi-
cally declared as unstable, exhibited no visible
changes during sensory assessment. It can be
summarized that rheological analysis of stability
at shear stress can detect microscopical changes
in the emulsion structure leading to instability,
before these changes become visible and so
observable for sensory testing. When comparing
the sensory results using correlation coefficients,
almost 90% of relationships were significant
(P = 0.05). The highest correlation was found be-
tween pouring lotion from the bottle and thick-
ness (correlation coefficient was 0.81). As the
assessment of ease of spreading gives very simi-
lar mean values on face/palm (SF) and on the back
of hand (SH), the correlation coefficient between
SF and SH is only 0.78, see Figure 2. It seems to be
sure to assess the ease of spreading on two dif-
ferent places.
3.3 RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN RHEOLOGICAL
AND SENSORY VARIABLES
Involving all rheological and sensory analysis
results, total number of statistically significant
Table 6:
Correlation coefficients
relationships is 23 out of 39 combinations - 59 %. between rheological and
sensory results (P = 0.05).
This value is affected by a higher number of reli-
able relationships among sensory attributes
(89%). More important is to compare rheological
data to sensory assessment with each other (see
Table 6), 46 % of relationships were statistically
significant (in bold). This is quite good ratio con-
sidering high diversity of both methods used and
great variability among samples.
Figure 3 depicts a relationship between sen-
sory characteristic RE (pouring from a bottle) and
rheological parameter, apparent viscosity at low
shear rate (10 s-1) for body lotions. Here close rela-
tionship was expected and is confirmed by the
highest correlation coefficient (0.91). In this case
the rheological measurement of apparent vis-
cosity can predict the sensory attribute – how dif-
ficult is to pour the lotion from a bottle. Figure 3
also shows a relationship between RE and con-
sistency parameter, with correlation coefficient
0.57. This is still statistically significant result, but
not enough to use the relationship for the pre-
diction of texture property using rheological
measurement.
Figure 4 describes other selected statistical-
ly significant relationships, between ease of
spreading on a back of hand (SH) and consisten-
cy parameter or apparent viscosity. Correlation
coefficients are -0.75 and -0.72 respectively, this
values are not high enough to enable the predic-
tion of ease of spreading by instrumental meth-
ods. Further investi-
gation involving more
samples and more
determinations could
improve the reliability
of these relationships,
then fast rheological
analysis could replace
demanding sensory
testing of the ease of
spreading.

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Figure 4:
Relationship between the
SH - ease of spreading on a
back of hand and K - consis-
tency parameter (solid line:
N = 15, correlation coeffi-
cient - 0.75, P = 0.05) and
SH and ha - apparent viscosi-
ty (dotted line: N = 15, corre-
lation coefficient - 0.72,
P = 0.05).
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4 CONCLUSIONS
A set of 31 cosmetic emulsions, involving lotions
and creams, was subjected to rheology analysis
and sensory profiling. Rheology analysis proved
that even a small change in the ingredients affects
the final rheological characteristics of the emul-
sions. Sensory analysis assessed a difference be-
tween lotions and creams only at some texture
attributes. At evaluation of the storage stability of
emulsion, rheological analysis proved to be more
suitable than sensory assessment. To describe the
relationships among different rheological and
sensory descriptors, results of both analyses were
compared. Considering great variance among
samples and difference of used methods, still
many statistically significant relationships (P =
0.05) were found on statistic evaluation (23 signi-
ficant relationships out of 39 combinations). Part
of them was observed between rheological and
sensory characteristics, that confirms close rela-
tionships between the sensory acceptability and
rheological values. The closest relationship was
found between the apparent viscosity of a lotion
and pouring the lotion from a bottle, in this case
the fast rheological analysis could predict the sen-
sory acceptability. The other relationships were
statistically significant, but not enough reliable to
enable the prediction of sensory evaluation. If
more samples or more evaluation are included in
the measurement, the reliability would rise. These
close relationships would mean great simplifica-
tion for cosmetic emulsion’s producers, as the fast
and objective rheological analysis could replace
time and money consuming sensory assessment.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors wish to acknowledge The Ministry of
Education, Youth and Sports for the financial
support of the Institutional Research Plan No.
AV0Z20600510 and No. MSM6046137305. The
authors wish to acknowledge J. Pokorny and Z.
Panovská from the sensory laboratory of the
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Volume 21 · Issue 3
Department of Food Chemistry and Analysis at the
Institute of Chemical Technology for provided lab-
oratory, useful help and valuable experience.
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