Articles

Today’s room, pillow and linen mists are design-led, wellness-infused lifestyle staples. So, what are the best room sprays, and which scents work best in a space?

Perfume Concentration, Longevity & Formulation: From Fragrance Notes to Finished Scent

What Are Fragrance Notes? Perfume Notes Explained for Beginners & Creators

Vitamin C is one of the most researched ingredients in dermatology, recognised for its ability to brighten, firm and protect the skin. It remains a cornerstone of modern topical formulations and a true category pillar in skincare.

More than 80% of men and almost half of all women experience significant hair loss in their lifetime. Fortunately for us, there are plenty of science-backed anti-hair loss ingredients available to help prevent hair loss and promote hair growth.

pH is a common technical term in the cosmetic industry that describes how acidic or alkaline a product is. In cosmetics, both very low and very high pH levels can be harsh and potentially irritating to the skin. For this reason, formulators aim to keep products within a skin-friendly pH range that supports comfort, stability, and the skin’s natural barrier.

A common way of assessing a cosmetic ingredient is to explore what it mixes with and for many, that starts with whether the ingredient is oil or water soluble. The fact that salt is both readily soluble in water and insoluble in oil is used to our advantage when making salt scrubs, allowing us to harness their exfoliant properties in a spreadable emollient base. The aesthetic of a salt scrub can vary from dry and granular, viscous paste-like solids through to those with a flowable oily top layer blanketing a crystalline salty bottom. Unlike in many cosmetic formulations, scrubs which lack homogeneity and that form these layers are not damaged or broken or less attractive to the public. Indeed, salt scrubs are enduringly popular in all their guises, thanks to their simplicity, wholesomeness and the way they leave your skin feeling.

An experiment investigating what happens inside a cream when you change the emulsifier.

Your choice of emulsifier impacts much more than just how stable your cream will be. The right emulsification strategy will improve your product efficacy - how well it does what you say it will do. The emulsifier also plays an important role in the products rheology (how it flows), how it looks and feels and how it ages over time.

Many of our clients struggle when it comes to choosing a preservative for their cream, milk or lotion. In fact, it's such a source of anxiety for some they choose to avoid water-containing formulations altogether- a strategy that can sometimes work but at other times be very limiting.

Until last week this commonly-used cosmetic chemical had been something I'd never, ever thought of looking into. I hadn't questioned its chemistry or function having used it many times in many different formulations and while I knew of and appreciated the difference between the SE and non-SE versions of this (SE = Self Emulsifying indicating the presence of a little saponified fatty acid to help turn up its emulsification properties) beyond that, I had next to no interest in spending time analysing this. That has since changed.