You must have heard and said the saying ‘Water is Life’. It is indeed true.

Water is, in fact, a chemical. Its chemical formula is H2O (or, less commonly, HOH), H2O is also one of the most well-known chemical formulas. What does H2O mean? Each water molecule is made of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, thus there are two “H” atoms and one “O”. The atoms are joined by covalent bonding, meaning that they share electrons. Water is the most abundant molecule on Earth. Approximately 70% of the Earth’s surface is water.
IIIIIt is also the only substance on Earth which naturally occurs in a solid, liquid and gas form.

In the Cosmetic Industry, Water is used in the formulation of virtually every type of cosmetic and personal care product. It can be found in lotions, creams, bath products, cleansing products, deodorants, makeup, moisturizers, oral hygiene products, personal cleanliness products, skin care products, shampoo, hair conditioners, shaving products, and suntan products.

Water is primarily used as a solvent in cosmetics and personal care products in which it dissolves many of the ingredients that impart skin benefits, such as conditioning agents and cleansing agents. Water also forms emulsions in which the oil and water components of the product are combined to form creams and lotions. These are sometimes referred to as oil-in-water emulsions or as water-in-oil depending on the ratios of the oil phase and water phase.

There are a wide variety of water types that you can use when formulating cosmetics. Distilled, deionized, purified or tap water are all options for cosmetic formulators. Here is the difference between all of them.

TAP WATER: When you get the water right from the drinking fountain or city water supply, it’s filled with a small amount of metal and mineral ions. Often this will not have any effect on your cosmetic formula but it can especially if you are using any soap based ingredient. Since you can’t control the level of ions in a formula it’s best to formulate with something that is a little better purified than tap water.

DISTILLED WATER: This is the oldest form of purifying water. In this process water is boiled in a still. The vapor is collected in a condenser and cooled to reform the water. Theoretically, it removes all traces of contaminants except those that boil at a temperature lower than water such as some alcohols. It also will absorb Carbon Dioxide from the air so the pH will typically be lower (pH 4.5 – 5.0).

DEIONIZED WATER: This is water in which the non-water related ions have been removed. Tap water is usually filled with ions from the soil including sodium, calcium & magnesium plus metal ions from the pipes such as iron and copper. It is deionized by sending it through an ion exchange column which is a tube that contains a resin which will selectively bind with ions in water. Ionized water goes in and deionized water comes out. This process doesn’t remove organic contaminants, viruses or bacteria.

DEMINERALIZED WATER: This water is sent through an ion exchange process. It’s pretty much the same thing as deionized water. There really is no difference when it comes to formulating cosmetics.

ULTRA PURE WATER: When you want just pure H2O this is what you want. The water is first demineralized then it is sent through an electrodeionization process. . This is great for electronics and pharmaceuticals. It’s probably over-kill for cosmetics.

There you have it, all the different water you might use when making cosmetic formulas. It’s important to note that whatever water you use if you are making a cosmetic the only proper way to list it is on the ingredient list is WATER.

ONLY WATER THAT IS FREE OF TOXINS, POLLUTANTS AND MICROBES is used in the formulation of cosmetics and personal care products. Water used for this purpose is also referred to as distilled water, purified water and aqua, the name used in the European Union.

SO WHAT??? Adding water to cosmetics can up the risk of bacterial contamination. Hence, the inclusion of preservatives in water based cosmetics.

At SemseY: Currently, our use of water is limited to our soap making, sterilizing and basic cosmetics preparation. But we still use preservatives in our scrubs, because we know that they are going to be in contact with water.

Even at this… The water at SemseY manufacturing outfit is completely purified and deionized, in compliance with NAFDAC requirement and most importantly because the safety of you, our customer is paramount.

See the Layout of SemseY Water purifying and deionizing system below. Just so you know, You are safe with SemseY

SemseY. Everyday Luxury, Naturally

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