Students win innovation contest for corn chaff cosmetics line

Products in the Ceres Cosmetics line are composed of 40 per cent corn chaff, which is hypoallergenic and has oil-absorbing properties, and were developed by students Jessica Brazelton, Michaelann Kresel, Soo Yee Kuah and Shengjie Xu.

Brazelton told CosmeticsDesign.com USA that the team produced nine colors of loose powder eye shadow and several colors of pressed powder eye shadow. She said that a wider range of products, including bronzer and foundation, could easily be made in future.

Corn chaff as replacement for talc​

The corn chaff powder replaces the talc normally found in cosmetics, with Brazelton highlighting that the team wanted to use a part of the corn plant that is not typically used for anything else.

She explained that one of the advantages of the product is that bacterial growth is not supported, thus decreasing the need for added preservatives.

“As corn chaff is primarily composed of hemicellulose, it is very difficult for bacteria to break down and live on. This makes it an ideal cosmetic base, in addition to being very oil absorbent. Additionally, there have been medical studies correlating talc use to various cancers and lung ailments.”​

With regards to the 40 per cent concentration level, Brazelton said that this turned out to be the best balance between the corn chaff and other ingredients in terms of color and consistency.

Importance of getting dosage correct​ 

“Too much chaff causes the cosmetic to be too dry, but too little allows the other ingredients to overwhelm the finished product,”​ she said.

Significantly smaller environmental footprint According to Team Ceres, the environmental footprint is significantly smaller as corn chaff is produced in the US and often discarded, whereas talc is frequently mined in China and imported.

“By replacing the talc with corn chaff, we not only use a product that is under utilized, but also eliminate the costs associated with shipping and importing talc,”​ said Brazelton. “Our finished product was less than $0.06 per 0.25g container and could be marked up to $8-10 for retail sale,”​ she added.

Supporting the sales rights​

While Purdue University currently holds the patent right to the product, Team Ceres said it would support any decision to sell the rights to a cosmetics company. Brazelton said there has been initial interest from a least one company, but the team is not yet aware of any negotiations.

The Indiana Soybean Alliance and the Indiana Corn Marketing Council were the sponsors of the Student Soybean and Corn Innovation Contests.