Capillary supercritical fluid chromatography of cosmetic ingredients and formulations

Capillary supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) is an extremely versatile technique for the characterization of natural products that are used in the cosmetics industry. In This study, the utility of capillary SFC for separating components contained in natural lanolin, cosmetic grade lanolin, and lanolin derivatives and for profiling the components in cosmetic formulations, such as lipsticks and lip balms, is demonstrated. Capillary SFC is also shown to be facile for separating reaction products from starting materials for substrates frequently used in cosmetic formulating. Optimal stationary phases for the separation of nonpolar and lipophilic components found in cosmetic products have been determined. SFC profiles generated on SE-octyl columns using linear density programs have been particularly useful for cosmetic deformulation. Retention data on complex natural mixtures correlate with the overall polarity of the solutes and traditional SFC retention patterns based on the molecular weight of the solutes. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.