Beyond skin feel: innovative methods for developing complex sensory profiles with silicones.

In today's competitive skin care market, formulators strive to meet consumer demand for products that combine performance with superior esthetics. Although skin feel has always been a key esthetic parameter, consumers increasingly select products based on a more complete sensory experience, including texture, scent, visual esthetics in the container, tactile effects on application, and the performance of active ingredients such as vitamins or sunscreen. This paper reviews approaches employed by Dow Corning which, when combined with sensory evaluation and formulation expertise, can be used to develop a more complete sensory experience, respond to consumer trends, or meet specific regional preferences for skin care products. It also describes how silicones can be used to develop new product appearance, texture, skin appearance, and feel, based on the wide range of rheological behavior and product forms among these materials.