How’s your ideal lipstick? If we asked a thousand people, we would probably get hundreds of different answers: each person has their preference on texture, feel on the lips, effect. There are so many options, even if you don’t enter the maze of colours with tones and undertones of color. Creating a successful lip pencil sounds like an impossible task, doesn’t it? Well, it isn’t: let’s see some key points for the classic duo of lip liner and lipstick.
A sharp line
A lip liner has to draw a sharp line and must not smudge, otherwise it’d be useless. That’s why it needs a specific texture: not too soft, with a rather intense colour release. Then we can fine-tune firmness, amount of pigments and ease of application to create “user friendly” pencils or ultra-precise lip liners that require more technique. Some of our lip liners can double as lipstick, thanks to a well-balanced formula.
Immersive colour for a lipstick
For lipstick pencils we usually create softer textures, so it’s easy to apply the product and to distribute the colour evenly. Of course we can adjust the level of firmness/softness and the intensity of pigments to obtain different characteristics and effects. When you combine these elements with colour, the possibilities multiply: from nude shades with soft effects to hyper pigmented and long-lasting pop hues, we can really play with colour. There are a few limitations, since some pigments can’t be used for the lips, for example a few blue ones, but our team can find alternative solutions.
Skin-friendly ingredients and tricks of the trade
For a lip pencil we’ll use ingredients that are gentle on the skin, as we do for all our products, but we’ll pay even more attention to hydration and protection. The selection depends on the type of pencil you request: do you need specific certifications? Should the formula be vegan or organic? Do you want a long lasting product?
Through research, analysis and practical testing we study the most suitable combination. Information and studies about the compatibility of raw materials abound, of course, but in many cases lab tests and trial productions are the only way to be sure of the yield and the performance of a formula.
Cocoa butter is a good example. According to data it should mix very well with the other raw materials we’d consider for a lipstick pencil. It’s a great ingredient, on paper: in several test productions, though, cocoa butter created blooming problems and didn’t stand the high temperature tests. We’ve tested cocoa butter in different combinations for a few textures, but in the end we’ve set it aside for good. Another example is rice wax, perfect for stabilising the formula and adjusting the firmness of different textures. It’s a very useful ingredient, but we must calculate quantities thoroughly, otherwise we’ll get a pencil that’s impossible to sharpen in a clean way.
So, how’s your ideal lipstick? We can imagine and create it together at Confalonieri Cosmetica: write to commerciale@confaloniericosmetica.com to discover our co-creation process!
