Sharp lines, precision, long-lasting effect: when you need a clean stroke and graphical lines, pencils with firm textures are the superstars. Soft textures are versatile and easy to apply and blend, but the clean and precise stroke of the harder pencils is necessary for many uses.
Precision
Lip liners, eye contour pencils and eyebrow pencils must be made with firm textures, because precision and definition are crucial. The firmness can obviously vary, depending on the type of pencil and your preferences: we generally use all over formulations, so we’re able to customise every pencil with specific colours for different areas of the face. If you loved the texture and colour release of a lip liner, we can tweak the formula a bit to turn it into an eye pencil with the consistency you are looking for.
Consistency is key
Combining raw materials in the formula for firm textures is pretty tricky, especially for pencils made by moulding. Balance is the keyword when choosing raw materials and developing such a formula.
We use high melting waxes for firmness, adding butters or waxes with a lower melting point to make the pencil glide, plus a percentage of liquids: it’s crucial to perfectly balance these three types of substances.
If the percentage of hard waxes and powders is too high, pencils end up dry and brittle; if you add too much butters or low melting waxes, the texture becomes soft and creamy. We need to be careful with liquids as well: too thick a bulk affects the moulding process, but a high percentage of liquids ruins the firmness of the pencil. If the components are well balanced, you get a pencil that combines the right smoothness and a good release of color with precision, consistency and long-lasting colour.
Firm or soft?
Precision and long-lasting colour are the best feature of firm textures: hard waxes and powders make the texture less creamy and guarantee a sharp and “clean” stroke, while the low percentage of fat increases the long lasting effect. Hard textures, on the other hand, have a lower colour release than softer pencils made by moulding.
What is the perfect texture for your next pencil? We can figure it out together in our co-creation process: write to commerciale@confaloniericosmetica.com to start your new project!
