Creagel® Crystal
Creagel® Crystals are thickened lipids, which have been produced from various oils by a polymerisation process. Creagel® Crystals are either fully synthetic or combinations of synthetic materials and natural lipids. They are anhydrous gels varying from transparent to slightly coloured depending on the lipid used.
Technical information
Creagel® Crystal products are based on Ethylene/Propylene Copolymer, which is used to thicken lipids, from non-polar ones to even more polar ones. With the polymerisation process, the properties of the oils are modified in terms of viscosity and rheology. As a result of the polymerisation, pseudoplastic anhydrous gels are obtained with interesting elasticity and flexibility properties. Creagel® Crystals are stable to UV-light and oxidation. They have high friction and they are waterproof.
Pseudoplastic materials have shear thinning properties. In other words, when mixing strongly, the viscosity goes down, but when mixing gently, the viscosity remains high. This phenomenon is very interesting in terms of formulating, as Creagel® Crystals can deform permanently during the formulation process without rupturing. When heated or cooled down, their viscosity can change momentarily, but they recover and return to their original “shape” after the stress ceases. This is different from hydrous gels, as most of them can’t be stirred strongly for too long without loosing their gel structure.
Creagel® Crystals increase the viscosity of the lipid phase, but they do not gellify other lipids once the gellifying process of Creagel® Crystals has been finalised in production.
Properties and application areas
Creagel® Crystals are combinations of different oils and a polymer, hence they have similar properties as the oils and the polymer themselves. Depending on the oil used as a base, the Creagel® Crystals have different viscosities, feels and volatilities. The most volatile one is Creagel Crystal ID, which is based on Isododecane whereas Creagel® Crystal AF has a rich feel, as it is based on Hydrogenated Polydecene, Alphaflow®. Creagel® Crystal LA is based on Meadowfoam Seed Oil with high natural Vitamin E content and Creagel® Crystal VS is gellified Vegetable Squalene, which has a strong affinity to the skin. Custom tailored Creagel® Crystals can also be produced.
The advantage of gellified oils, in comparison to the base oils, is the increased viscosity, modified rheology and the resistance to different manufacturing processes. Creagel® Crystals are used as bases for lip-glosses, as they can disperse and carry high quantities of pigments even without heating. Creagel® Crystals can also be used as gloss agents in lipsticks. Creagel® Crystals are ideal for sun care emulsion with mineral UV-filters, as they can hinder the sedimentation of the particles. They also form a water resistant film improving the water resistance of the final formulation. Creagel® Crystals also improve mascara applications due to the pigment holding capacity and film forming quality.
Creagel® Crystals are easy to clean from the machinery in the production in a contrary to many other high viscosity materials.