Experts in precision: COSSMA

Precise and clean dosage of fluid cosmetics need a special package, a mission droppers have fulfilled for many years. What, precisely, are the benefits inetail? Are there challenges in producing them? Rosa Porras Mansilla gives interesting insights into the topic.

Droppers have been used for many years, although traditionally only for pharmaceutical products. In the early 1970s Droppers found their way into high quality cosmetic packaging. In this market there are mainly two kinds of droppers. Cosmetic droppers are ideal for brands looking for a cosmeceutical image, ensuring a precise application drop by drop and adding value to the pack. A wide range of sizes, materials, designs and finishes of the dropper exists, with caps and pipettes n a wide variety of diameters, and bulbs with different formula in-take capacities. Smaller droppers with a dosage from 0.20 ml are ideal for single- dose products or shock treatments with small capacities. Droppers for skincare cosmetics often have a dosage of up to 0.65ml, while droppers for body and haircare products that need a greater formula intake for greater surface areas, can have a dosage capacity of 0.8-1.7ml. Push button droppers are also well suited for highly concentrated formulas of serums, oils, eye contour and liquid foundations that want a qualitative packaging with a more sophisticated design.

Benefits of this dosage form

Droppers are ideal for every kind of oil, fluid or lotion in the fields of skincare, nails and hair treatments, and also for fluid foundations. The precision in dosage is one of the main reasons why droppers are so highly regarded by cosmetic brands. Droppers are the most suitable packaging for low viscosity formulations due to their precise formula in-take and application. The dropper is ideal for precision, easy and safety in its use. A dispenser packaging allows to dose the product drop by drop, applying it only where it is needed and using only the product that is needed to. Furthermore this packaging also ensures that the formula is not contaminated since only the applied drop touches the skin, leaving

the rest intact. The combination of these use benefits with the association with the pharmaceutical industry explain, why roppers are a market trend.

New developments

As the market is evolving constantly, there are also new developments with droppers. Here are the latest: The massage applicator dropper has a special massage tip. It is a real dropper whose pipette ends in a tip made of Zamak, a non-reactive and dermatologically tested material.This tip provides an instant cooling effect to the skin. The 2in1 dropper with the metallic tip can be classic or with a push button. The pipette is PP and incorporates at its end the metal tool with an original drop-shaped design for a pleasant massage and better results. It is a novel and quality dropper, both in design and in materials used.

More and more consumers are concerned with safety. The currently safest variation is the dropper with child-resistant certification. The dropper with a protection closure mechanism meets the necessary security measures for those products containing actives, which by law must be packaged in compliance with more stringent regulations. Better protection for children by preventing them

from opening. The dropper is important in countries such as the U.S. and for cosmetics with ingredients like CBD or THC, one of the main trends of this year in beauty treatments. The new sealing system requires users to press down and turn at the same time, making it more difficult to open the dropper.

Manufacture of droppers

When producing dropper, many details must be in control and work together perfectly. The development of a new dropper proposal must offer innovation and design, without forgetting functionality, the perfect seal, precise dosage and a high-level finish. This development must be industrialisable and highliy flexcible to meet the current demands of brands with shorter and shorter development times for their new products. The compatibility of all components with the formula is another big challenge. Especially when we talk about active ingredients which are so new that nobody knows how they will react once packaged. The same difficulty exists with nail products which have aggressive components and are not easily compatible.