Chapstick Engineering-Step 2

Reading #1
Lip balm is often made up of both hydrophobic (“water-hating”) materials such as oils and
hydrophilic (“water-loving”) materials such as aloe-vera. Hydrophobic substances (oils and waxes) lack the
ability to form intermolecular attractions with water, while hydrophilic substances are polar and mix with
water-based substances. This is why on the molecular level, oil and water are completely different and
won’t mix together on their own accord. The polar water molecule has negatively charged electrons that are
unevenly shared in the molecule. This results in water molecules having a more positive end and a more
negative end. However, oils are very nonpolar. This means that oils share their negative electrons evenly. So,
oil molecules don’t have any charge. While these molecules can mix with others of the same kind, they
don’t like to mix with molecules of the other kind.
If lip balm contains both hydrophilic and hydrophobic substances, how is it possible that all substances,
even the immiscible ones, mix to form homogeneous lip balm? This is where the emulsifiers come in to
save the recipe! Emulsifying agents are molecules that have both a polar part on one side and a nonpolar
part on another side. So, this molecule is able to mix with both the water and the oil to create a perfect
blend that won’t separate!
In an emulsion, the hydrophobic materials attach to the emulsifier and divide into many
microscopic micelles. In lip balm and lip gloss, polysorbates, ethoxylated alcohols, and sorbitan esters are
typically the emulsifiers. Emulsifiers have a “head” that is strongly polar and a “tail” that is a non-polar
hydrocarbon. A micelle is formed because the hydrophilic head is attracted to water while the hydrophobic
tail is attracted towards the oil. With this arrangement, the amount of nonpolar molecules exposed to the
water is reduced, thus reducing the hydrophobic effect.
Here, hydrophobic droplets of oil are suspended among the hydrophilic substance of water. It is clear that
the two substances do not readily mix, making the presence of an emulsifier necessary.
This image represents a micelle. The lines extending from the dots represent
the hydrophobic tails and the gray dots represent the hydrophilic parts of the
emulsifier.
This illustrates the effects of an emulsifier,

which allows the oil to be homogeneously
suspended throughout the water. Added
emulsifiers in lip balm readily mix
hydrophobic and hydrophilic substances.
The various compounds combine to make lip balm as perfect as it is

today. Waxes thicken the solution while the oils moisturize the skin. The emulsifier allows the solution to
all mix together. The long hydrocarbon chains in a nonpolar ingredient like petroleum jelly allows the lip
gloss to lock the moisture on the lips so they do not become dried out. London Dispersion Forces (LDF)
relate to the non-polar attractions between molecules due to transient polarization of electron clouds.
Though LDF is one of the weakest forces, it is most prominent in lip balm by preventing water molecules
1
from passing through the solution and being evaporated. The wax and grease molecules interact to form
this solid water barrier. Thanks to chemistry and the invisible forces between different liquid and solid
molecules, the chapped-lips epidemic has been solved!
Reading #2:
A look at the ingredients list on the side of your favorite tube of lip balm might show a number of
ingredients. "What" goes into each formula and "how much" of each ingredient is used changes the
consistency, scent, flavor, creaminess, and emollience.
For example, here is an ingredients list for a lip balm:
Beeswax, coconut oil, sunflower oil, tocopheryl acetate & tocopherol (vitamin E), lanolin, peppermint
oil, comfrey root extract, rosemary extract.
This is a lip balm manufactured by a well-known company that creates "natural" lotions, soaps, and balms,
and yet in this list the basic ingredients of any lip balm... an oil and a wax.
This company has come up with its own combination of ingredients and made choices about which oil and
which wax to use in its custom blend of balm. I like the choices the company has made. You might like
something creamier. Or you might prefer something without a mint. Or, you might find that you like lip
balms best that use a different wax or a different oil. Each ingredient contributes to the way the balm feels,
tastes, spreads, and lasts.
Cosmetics chemists choose from thousands of ingredients when they create new products, but they are
always careful to select ones with chemical properties that enhance the look, feel, and use of the product
they are making. For instance, no one wants lip balm to be too hard, which is why most homemade lip
balm recipes call for some type of oil or butter. Oils are generally thick, viscous liquids at room temperature
and are usually emollients, meaning that they soften and smoothen the skin. Butters are another kind of
emollient; they are soft, but not liquid, at room temperature. On the other hand, a super soft, runny lip
balm would be too messy, so waxes, like beeswax, which are solids at room temperature, are added to
thicken the recipe. The "perfect" product means getting just the right ratio of emollients to waxes.
Oils, butters, and waxes are excellent ingredients for lip balms because they are occlusive agents, which
means they create a physical barrier between the moisture in the lips and the outside environment. A
"good" product creates a protective barrier with just one or two swipes across your lips. No one wants to go
over their lips again and again before there is enough to adequately protect their lips!

Chapstick Engineering-Step 2

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Reading #1

This illustrates the effects of an emulsifier,

The various compounds combine to make lip balm as perfect as it is

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