Mascara is used for the optical lengthening of eyelashes. Modern products also contribute to an apparent thickening of the natural eyelashes. Mascara contains both natural and inorganic pigments. The most commonly produced colours are black and brown. Brown tones are achieved by the addition of iron oxide.
In addition to the colour pigments, the constituents of mascara include mineral oils, lanolin, linseed oil and castor oil. Waxes are used as binding agents in mascara production. Guanine provides the gloss.
In the industrial production of mascara, the handling of a wide range of viscosity levels must be considered in addition the question of hygiene. At the end of the production process, the mascara is extremely viscous and partially no longer capable of flowing.
Innovative homogenising mixers are extremely flexible and efficient devices that can be employed even under extreme conditions and can process highly viscous substances, such as in the production of mascara. Numerous installation and equipment options for the homogeniser chamber and the circulation line, as well as the lid area, can ensure product quality better and improve production reliability. Homogenisation and agitation plants can combine the melting of fats and homogenisation under the influence of temperature with highly efficient circulation processes, thus enabling the processing of constituents of varying viscosity under aseptic conditions in a single homogenising step.
In the case of high viscosity products, such as mascara, excellent radial and vertical mixing must be guaranteed. The production of mascara is additionally supported by the special procedure for the convenient suction or dispersion of powders and pigments.
With high shear rates, the components of the mascara are very efficiently incorporated. Furthermore, the mixers are intended to allow low-dust processing of volatile powders. This renders pre-grinding of the colour pigments unnecessary and the particle size is also reduced.