http://chemistscorner.

com/how-do-you-measure-viscosity-of-cosmetics/

How do you measure viscosity of

cosmetics
Article by: Perry Romanowski

There was a question on one of the cosmetic science forums I subscribe to about
viscosity. This reader wanted to know whether they needed an “expensive” Brookfield
viscometer or whether they could take viscosity readings another way. It turns out there
are a variety of choices.

Why measure viscosity

Viscosity is one of those terms that wasn’t covered much in college but tends to be used
a lot in the cosmetic industry. We’ve previously writte about fluid viscosity and I would
encourage you to read that to get up to speed on what it is and why you would want to
measure it. But basically you measure viscosity to ensure your product is of consisten
quality and that it remains stable.
How to measure viscosity
In the cosmetic industry the overwhelming instrument of choice for measuring viscosity
is the Brookfield Viscometer. Viscosity is measured by looking at the force required to
spin a plate through the fluid. All the calculating is done by the instrument.

The Brookfield viscometer is rather simple to use and has a number of benefits over
other options including

1. Speed – you can get a reading in less than 2 min

2. Easy clean up – you can get multiple readings fast
3. Reliability – readings are consistent
4. Versatile – you can test lots of different rheologies

Of course, there are some downsides. For shear thinning products your readings might
not be accurate due to the drilling effect. And the device needs to be callibrated to give
consistent readings. This adds to the cost of operating it, in addition to the >$1500 that it
costs up front.
However, if you are a serious formulation chemist you need to have a viscometer and
Brookfield makes the industry standard.

Here’s a viscometer in action.

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcRvBkuccRA’]

Alternatives to Brookfield Viscometer

While most every company uses a Brookfield viscometer, there are other options.

For example, there is the Ubbelohde glass capillary viscometer. This is a glass tube
made with some curves and bulbs. It has no moving parts and simply requires a stop
watch and a vacuume bulb. The fluid is drawn up the tube and the time it takes to flow
back down is related to its viscosity. Unlike the Brookfield, there is no issue with shear
thinning products. Of course, the major drawback is that it takes 5 to 10 minutes to get a
viscosity reading and it would be impractical for most cosmetic labs.

You can see one in action here.

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIoYM5F14xI’]

The primary benefit of this option is that it is much less expensive than the Brookfield
and it doesn’t require recallibration.

And then there is the Rheometer. This device uses a flat plate in which a small sample of
the product is put between. The plate is rotated and the force required for rotating the
plate is related to the product viscosity.

This device is easy to use but generally not as accurate as the Brookfield. But for a
cosmetic lab, it might be good enough.

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cynMI4N7vI’]

Finally, if you don’t want to pay much but want to have a way of measuring the relative
viscosity of your product, you can do something like this device. It is a series of 4 glass
tubes that contains liquids of varying viscosity. A metal ball is dropped through the
liquid and the time required to flow to the bottom is tracked. This is then related to the
product viscosity. It’s a pretty crude method but it works.

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9bnX2jlLPM’]
Viscosity and the cosmetic chemist

Of all the measurements that you will take as a formulating cosmetic chemist, viscosity
will be most frequently done. The only readings you might take more often is pH. That’s
why to be a great cosmetic chemist you need to know and appreciate the fundamentals
of viscosity. And you also have to have a way of measuring it.