Talc FAQ

Choose by oil absorption first, particle size second — the two move together but not perfectly, and oil absorption is what drives the skin feel.

LS-325 at 16 µm and oil absorption 40 is the slip grade: the most glide, the least oil uptake, the natural choice in loose powder and body powder where smoothness is the whole point. LS-800 at 12 µm and 63 and LS-1250 at 8 µm and 62 are the middle band most pressed powders are built around. LS-2500 and LS-6005 at 5 µm and 81 are the oil-control grades — highest surface area at 8, most mattifying, and the driest to the touch.

If you are choosing blind, start at 12 µm. It is the grade that offends nobody.

The oil absorption figure — the size is a nominal mean, and the two grades are produced on different lines.

LS-2500 reports 8 µm with surface area 8 and oil absorption 81; LS-6008 reports 8 µm with surface area 6 and oil absorption 66. Same nominal size, different surface character, and the surface is what the formula responds to. A 15-point gap in oil absorption in a pressed powder is the difference between a mattifying compact and a normal one.

That is why we publish all three numbers rather than only the particle size. Choose on the oil absorption and use the size to sanity-check the feel.

Yes. Every lot is tested for asbestos and the result is reported on the COA, which is the document a customer questionnaire is actually asking for.

The test is by a recognised method on the incoming ore and on the finished powder, because the risk in talc comes from the ore body rather than from processing. We source from ore bodies that are characterised for amphibole and serpentine content, and we do not blend across sources.

If your market requires a specific declaration format or a third-party certificate, tell us at enquiry — the wording and the laboratory differ by destination, and it is better to fix that before the order than after.

The direction is toward tighter documentation and, in some markets, restricted use in specific product types. The practical response is to keep a documented substitution path rather than to wait.

Two things are worth doing now. First, make sure your talc supplier can produce a lot-level asbestos test and a heavy-metal statement on demand — that is the common denominator across markets. Second, qualify a talc-free version of your main formulas while there is no pressure to ship it, because reformulating under a deadline is where quality slips.

Our BVL-compliant series exists for the markets that apply stricter heavy-metal limits; the mica range includes talc-replacement grades if you want to take the second step.

It is the same talc held to the German BVL heavy-metal limits, which are stricter than the general cosmetic specification and are used as a reference by a number of European customers.

You need it if a customer's questionnaire names BVL, or if you are supplying into a market that references German practice. You do not need it for a formula sold where the general cosmetic specification applies — the particle size and the feel are identical, and the price is higher.

The two grades in that series are LS-6005 at 5 µm and LS-6008 at 8 µm.

Loose powder 40–70%, pressed powder 25–45%. Talc is usually the base, not an additive.

In loose powder the ceiling is feel: past about 70% the powder starts to fly and the pay-off becomes uneven. In pressed powder the ceiling is strength — talc slides, so a high talc fraction needs more binder to hold the compact together. That is the reason talc-reduced compacts exist as a category.

If your compact chips, the first thing to check is the talc-to-binder ratio, not the talc grade.

Reduce the fine fraction and control humidity, in that order.

Airborne dust during filling is mostly the sub-10 µm fraction, and a coarse grade such as LS-325 generates noticeably less of it than a 5 µm oil-control grade. Where the grade is fixed by the formula, holding the filling room at 45–55% RH and grounding the equipment removes most of the rest.

Agglomerating the powder or using a coated grade also helps, but that changes the feel and is a bigger decision than humidity control.

In most formulas, yes, but it takes more than one material.

Talc does three jobs at once — slip, oil absorption and cost — and no single substitute does all three at the same price. The usual approach pairs a platy material for slip (mica or sericite) with a harder or more porous one for structure and oil control (calcined kaolin, porous silica).

Expect the replacement to cost more and to press differently. Our Replace Talc series in the mica range is built for exactly this — matte sericite and synthetic fluorphlogopite, both designed as drop-in platy replacements.

It affects them through the oil absorption path more than directly.

Finer talc with higher oil absorption takes up more of the binder and the sebum, which can improve wear because the film stays drier and less mobile. It can also make the film more brittle if it takes up too much of the binder. Coarser talc leaves more binder free, which gives a more flexible film and better adhesion but a shorter wear time on oily skin.

In practice, a blend of a coarse and a fine grade often beats either alone — you get the slip of the coarse grade and the oil control of the fine one.

MOQ is 25 kg for a stock grade, 100–200 kg for a non-stock grade. Lead time 7–15 working days, samples 1 kg.

Standard packing is 25 kg paper-plastic composite bags; 500 kg and 1000 kg jumbo bags are available. For talc specifically, we do not recommend paper sacks for sea freight in humid seasons — the powder takes up moisture at the seams and cakes.

Tell us the destination and the mode of transport at enquiry and we will propose the packing that survives the route.