Why is the cold ligand system re-influencing the formulation direction of high-end skin care?
In the past two years, there has been a very obvious change in international skin care research and development.
More and more brands are beginning to re-discuss：
Cold Process Formulation
Especially in light creams, repairing creams, refreshing sun protection, sensitive skin care, and highly active products, the frequency of cold matching processes is increasing significantly.
It is not a brand new concept, but in the past it was more regarded as a niche craft.Now, with consumers' increased attention to skin texture, activity preservation, low-carbon manufacturing, and formula structure, the cold ligand system is slowly entering the logic of more high-end product development.
Interestingly, the industry is now discussing cold distribution, which is no longer just “reducing heating”.
What many R&D really focuses on is：
> How to make a stable, delicate, light, and high-grade skin-feeling system that can carry a high oil phase under lower thermal conditions.
And this matter is actually more difficult than imagined.
From “heavy and moisturizing” to “light and moisturizing”, consumer demand has changed
If you look at the light skin care markets in South Korea, Japan and Europe in recent years, you will find that many products emphasize a very similar experience.：
The cream looks plump, but it is very light after being pushed away.
Consumers now want the product to provide both：
· rich nourishment
· Moisturizing and wrapping feeling
· Soft and shiny
At the same time do not want to appear：
· greasy
· waxy
· heavy
This kind of traditional high-oil ointment cream is easy to bring a sense of burden.
Therefore, a skin-feeling direction is becoming more and more popular in the industry: fast-break texture
That is, after the product comes into contact with the skin, the structure quickly opens, and the skin sensation quickly turns into water, forming a sense of layering that is moisturizing in the front and light in the back.
This kind of skin feeling has grown very rapidly in recent years in Korean light creams, Japanese sunscreens, and French light moisturizing creams.
And the cold-matched high-oil-phase system just happens to be easy to make this kind of:> rich but weightless feeling.
Because of many lightweight oils, esters, and soft structures, it is easier to retain the original skin feeling characteristics under low-heat conditions, and the heavy feeling will not be magnified due to long-term treatment at high temperature.
Some systems will even match a small amount of
Laureth 7 to adjust the spreading and pushing speed, making the overall touch more supple and reducing the drag that high-oil systems are prone to.
The high oil phase system looks simple, but in fact it is easy to "roll over later”
Many formulators will encounter a similar situation when they do a high-oil phase system for the first time.：
It looked good when it was first made.But it started to appear after a few weeks of placement：
· Bleaching oil
· Layered
· Viscosity drop
· Fake thick
· Back to thick
· Grainy
Especially after the high and low temperature cycle, the problem will be more obvious.Many times people subconsciously think that the
Emulsifier is insufficient.But in fact, the real difficulty of the high oil phase system lies in：
Internal phase pressure.
When the oil ratio is getting higher and higher, the extrusion between the oil droplets inside the emulsion will be significantly enhanced.If the interfacial membrane structure is not stable enough, the oil droplets will easily gradually merge, eventually causing the entire architecture to slowly collapse.
This is why many high-oil phase systems：
Seemingly successful in the early days，
Long-term but easy to stabilize.
Especially the cold ligand system, because of the lack of the traditional wax mesh establishment process at high temperatures, the emulsified structure itself will have higher requirements.
The really difficult thing about the cold ligand system is not “cold”.
Many people will mistakenly think：
Cold matching = simple.
But the actual situation is quite the opposite.
Traditional thermoligand systems usually rely on：
· High temperature reduces interfacial tension
· Fatty alcohol melting
· Wax network is formed after cooling
· Long-term homogenization to establish structure
The cold ligand system lacks this part of the high temperature fault tolerance space.
Therefore, it will be more dependent on: the structure of the emulsifier itself, the ability of self-assembly, the ability of rapid interface stabilization, the post-thickening structure, particle size control, and rheological synergy.
Because of this, the core competition point of many cold ligand systems now lies in “whether it can maintain lightness and long-term stability under high oil conditions.”
This is why more and more structural cold ligand systems have attracted attention in recent years.
For example, some emulsified structures that take into account the high oil phase load and the rapid demulsification of the skin feel can form a delicate and light emulsion state under lower energy consumption conditions, which is more in line with the requirements of the current international market for modern skin feeling.
Why are more and more brands beginning to emphasize “low heat history”?
Another important reason for the growth of cold ligand systems actually comes from changes in active ingredients.
Now the skin care industry is increasing in large numbers：
· peptides
· probiotics
· fermented actives
· ceramides
· botanical extracts
· encapsulated ingredients
Many of these ingredients are more sensitive to high temperature.
Long-term heat treatment is easy to bring：
· Decreased activity
· Accelerated oxidation
· Color change
· Odor change
· Long-term stability fluctuations
Therefore, more and more research and development have begun to emphasize: >reduce thermal history.
Especially for highly active repair products, many brands now prefer low-temperature process routes, hoping to minimize the time for raw materials to stay in the high-temperature stage.
This makes the cold ligand system no longer just a technical direction, but has begun to have a certain market communication value.
Some high-moisturizing products will also combine a small amount of glycereth-26 to enhance the softness of the water phase, so that the product still retains a certain level of comfortable moisturizing after rapid absorption.
Behind the trend of cold matching, there are actually changes in manufacturing logic.
Now OEM factories are paying more and more attention：
· heating cost
· cooling efficiency
· production cycle
· carbon footprint
Traditional thermal ligand systems usually require：
75-85°C heating、
Long-term homogenization、
Long cooling cycle.
And the cold ligand system can be significantly reduced：
· Steam consumption
· Electricity cost
· Production waiting time
· Batch energy consumption
For large-scale production, this difference will become more and more obvious.
Therefore, many international factories have now begun to regard the cold ligand system as：
Part of Low Energy Manufacturing.
It is not just a matter of cost.
More often, it represents a more modern manufacturing idea.
In the future, high-end skin care may pay more and more attention to "structure”
A very obvious trend in the industry now is：
Everyone started to pay attention again：
· Rheology
· Interface structure
· Emulsified film
· Internal phase stability
· Self-assembly ability
Because of future product competition, it is possible: how to make the entire system more stable, lighter, and more delicate.
The same grease combination，
Different emulsified structures，
In the end, the skin feeling may be completely different.
The same active ingredient，
Different thermal history，
Long-term stability may also be completely different.
Therefore, many R&D companies have begun to re-study some structural auxiliary materials, such as the application performance of
Sebacic acid copolymer in light-sensitive film-forming, high oil stability, and modern skin-sensitive systems.
> High activity + high stability + light skin feeling + low energy consumption manufacturing
The cold ligand system is just at the meeting point of this change.
Hubei Mingya New Material Technology Co., Ltd.
