Effect of pile length on the comfortable usage for the powder puff was investigated by both subjective and objective evaluations. Two series of samples varying the pile length from 4 mm to 16 mm were made from the same fiber type and fabric structure for this purpose. Subjects evaluated the degree of “springy”,“soft” and “smooth” sensation of a puff against the skin without using the cosmetic powder. The longer the pile length generated stronger springy feeling. This springy feeling was closely related to the compression energy (WC) obtained by KES-handy compression tester. The preferred pile length was 11 mm and 13 mm when subjects evaluated the overall sensation by the puff without using cosmetic powder. When subjects used these samples with cosmetic powder for their make-up, puff with pile length of 7 mm was most preferred. Long pile length such as 16 mm disturbed for the subject to put powders into their various curved area of face.
