Cart 0
Cart 0

Pearl Science: Traditional and Modern Pearl Powder Production

Written by: Pearl Bo Date: February 2, 2025

The transformation of pearls: exploring the production process of pearl powder

Pearl powder, as a precious beauty ingredient, has a long history and modern applications. This article will take a deep look at the traditional and modern production methods of pearl powder, from ancient manual techniques to modern processing procedures, revealing how pearl powder retains its natural nutrients and its multiple functions in beauty and skin care. Whether you are interested in the history of pearl powder or want to learn about the latest production technology, here will provide you with comprehensive information.

Human skin

Human skin is the largest organ in the human body, and it has multiple functions such as protection, perception and temperature regulation. The skin consists of three layers: epidermis, dermis and subcutaneous tissue. The epidermis is responsible for defending against external invasion, while the dermis contains abundant blood vessels and nerves, providing nutrients and sensation. As we age, the skin gradually loses its elasticity and luster, and is prone to dryness, wrinkles and spots. Therefore, the selection and use of skin care products becomes particularly important.

Pearl powder, as a natural beauty ingredient, is rich in a variety of amino acids and trace elements, and has a good nourishing and repairing effect on the skin. It can deeply moisturize the skin, promote cell regeneration, improve skin tone, and help reduce the appearance of wrinkles. Incorporating pearl powder into your daily skin care routine can effectively improve skin texture and give you healthy and smooth skin.

Introduction to the production method of pearl powder

Pearl powder is a precious ingredient derived from natural pearls and is widely used in beauty and skin care products. Its production process combines traditional craftsmanship with modern technology to ensure the quality and effectiveness of pearl powder.

1. Pearl selection

The first step in making pearl powder is to choose the right pearls. Commonly used pearls include seawater pearls and freshwater pearls, which must be strictly screened to ensure their quality and purity.

2. Cleaning and disinfection

Selected pearls are then thoroughly cleaned to remove surface dirt and impurities. During this process, the pearls are soaked in a detergent solution and gently scrubbed with a soft brush to ensure a smooth, flawless surface.

3. Grinding and grinding

After cleaning, the pearls are placed in a grinding machine for grinding. This process is usually divided into two stages: first the pearls are coarsely ground, and then more finely ground to obtain a fine powder. These steps can maintain the natural composition of the pearls and retain their nutritional value to the maximum extent.

4. Screening

After the pearl powder is ground, it will be sieved to remove uneven particles and ensure the fineness of the final product is consistent. This process can produce pearl powder of different finenesses to meet different needs.

Pearl grinding process

There are mainly the following processes for grinding pearl powder:

  • Hand Grinding

    • Using hand tools, such as a grinding stone or grinding wheel, the pearls are gradually ground into powder. This method preserves the natural properties of the pearls and is common in traditional production.

  • Mechanical grinding

    • Grinding with specialized machinery can improve efficiency and consistency, producing a finer pearl powder. This method is usually used in factories.

  • Cold grinding technology

    • Grinding pearls in a low-temperature environment prevents the loss of nutrients in the pearls due to high temperatures, making it suitable for products with higher quality requirements.

  • Ultrafine grinding

    • Ultra-fine grinding using high-tech equipment can achieve an extremely fine powder state, suitable for use in high-end skin care products and cosmetics.

  • Water mill method

    • The pearls are first soaked in water and then put into a stone mill together with the water to be ground into a paste. The paste is then dehydrated, dried, crushed, and sieved to make pearl powder.

Effects of different processes on the quality of pearl powder

The quality of pearls will directly affect the user experience. We often hear that the quality of pearl powder is distinguished by fineness. Many people think that the finer the pearl powder, the better, and will mention the standard of "mesh". In short, mesh is a unit of measurement for the size of particles and powders. The larger the number, the finer the powder. For detailed information about "mesh", please refer to Mesh (Scale) on Wikipedia .

Many brands claim to use the most advanced technology to make nano pearl powder, but what exactly is "nano"? Is pearl powder really good for the skin when it reaches the nano level? We will explore these questions in depth in another article to uncover the myths about nano pearl powder .

Although we have never made it public, we have spent years researching and understanding the quality of pearl powder. We have always used a machine grinder that takes less than a minute to grind each time, thinking that longer grinding time would make the pearl powder finer. We tried grinding the powder to 500 mesh (each pearl powder particle is about 25 microns in diameter), but the texture was still very dry. If used on the skin, the user will feel a noticeable graininess and some discomfort.

This discomfort made us realize that there was a problem. Empress Dowager Cixi was said to have used pearl powder every day, but there is no mention of any negative experience in the literature. Pearl powder should be skin-friendly, otherwise it would violate the moisturizing properties of pearls themselves.

Therefore, we borrowed from the ancient method of making flour, abandoned the machine and chose manual operation. Finally, we successfully developed a new method called "water flying".

A term in Chinese medicine. It is a method of preparing Chinese medicine. It is a method of preparing extremely fine powder of medicinal materials. The method of preparing extremely fine powder by grinding water-insoluble medicinal materials (minerals, shellfish, etc.) with water repeatedly by taking advantage of the different suspension properties of coarse and fine powders in water is called water grinding.

Source: Shuifei

If you make it yourself, the tools you need are simple, but you will need patience and perseverance. Using a machine will speed up the process, but it will generate high heat. High heat will directly damage the original water-rich nacre in the pearl powder, causing the pearl powder to become coarse. Regardless of the size of the particles (even the fine powder), it will still feel grainy. We have found that pearl powder made in this way is best used for scrubbing or exfoliation.

Relatively speaking, water-flying pearl powder is more friendly to the skin. Even if you just mix water-flying pearl powder with clean water and apply it on your skin, you can feel an extremely soft touch.

Water-Fried and Machine-Grinded Pearl Powder

We conducted a simple test to compare the differences between water-melted and machine-milled pearl powders. You'll find that the textures of the two are very different: the machine-milled pearl powder is looser, while the water-melted pearl powder is more viscous. When shining a black light on silver paper, it is obvious that the machine-milled pearl powder is more reflective, and it even looks a bit like a fluorescent whitening agent has been added. The water-melted pearl powder does not have this effect. In short, the main difference in pearl powder is whether the water is extracted during the processing.

(Photo: Provided by Pearl Boshi)

Further reading: The efficacy of pearl powder

Further reading: Myths about Nano Pearl Powder