Industries
Cosmetics
Consistency in cosmetics starts with moisture management
From creams to powders, cosmetic products depend on stable moisture to maintain texture, feel, and shelf life. AQUALAB helps teams with moisture management so products stay consistent from formulation through release.
Common moisture challenges in cosmetics
Caking & clumping
Powdered cosmetics are meant to stay smooth and easy to use. When they take in moisture from the air or packaging, they can clump or harden. This causes uneven flow, poor application, and products that no longer look or perform as intended.
Texture changes
Small changes in moisture can change how a product feels over time. Balms can turn grainy or sticky. Pressed products can lose their shape. Creams and sticks may become too soft or too hard. These changes affect how the product feels and make shelf life harder to predict.
Precision that supports daily decisions.
Cosmetic products are shaped by how moisture behaves within the formulation and over time. Too much moisture can soften structure, create stickiness, or drive texture changes. Too little can lead to brittleness, cracking, or poor application. Small differences in formulation, processing conditions, or packaging exposure can push products out of spec long before issues become visible.
AQUALAB helps cosmetic teams verify moisture stability by measuring water activity directly, reducing reliance on feel tests, moisture content, or time based assumptions. With fast, repeatable data, teams set clearer stability targets, make stronger quality decisions, and maintain consistent texture from batch to batch without second guessing results.
INDUSTRY EXPERTISE
Experience you can rely on
For more than 40 years, AQUALAB has helped quality teams around the world manage moisture with clarity and consistency. Today, more than 90 of the world’s top food and pharmaceutical companies rely on AQUALAB instruments and expertise to support daily quality decisions.
Our work spans global manufacturing environments, regulatory frameworks, and product types, giving QA teams a trusted scientific foundation they can defend.
Lab services support
When questions go beyond routine testing, AQUALAB Lab Services provide expert moisture analysis to help diagnose issues, validate results, and uncover root causes.
Explore lab servicesWater activity meters
AQUALAB instruments deliver fast, accurate, and repeatable water activity measurements designed for use in R&D, Production, and QA teams.
AQUALAB 4TE
Fast. Precise. Economical. Meet the renowned instrument that brought water activity to the business world.
- aw in <5 min
- Highly compliant + compatible
- Secure data storage
AQUALAB 3
Lightning-fast total moisture analysis to tighten process control and boost quality.
- MC + aw in one
- Results in 60 seconds
- For the lab or the line
Lab services
Precision lab testing services to confirm quality, consistency, and compliance.
- Accurate results
- Fast turnaround
- Industry standards
Knowledge base
Explore resources, application notes, and expert guidance to help your quality team make moisture management simpler, clearer, and more reliable.
Unlocking the power of water activity in cosmetics
If someone were to ask you what blush, eyeliner and lotion all had in common, chances are your first answer wouldn’t be water.
Overcoming moisture challenges in powders
This webinar, presented by Zachary Cartwright, PhD, lead food scientist at AQUALAB, addresses the challenges of managing moisture in powdered products across multiple industries, including food, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics.
Examining powder stability: Physical, chemical & microbial
Most people intuitively know what a powder is. They’re everywhere. We interact with them daily. But with so many different categories of powder – spices, ingredients, cosmetics, pharmaceutical excipients and APIs, and countless others – it can be tough to define and resolve specific issues.