Category Archives: Ingredients

Sodium Laureth Sulfate

Posted on March 29, 2013 by Colin

Sodium laureth sulfate is in just about every shampoo and foam bath, as avid readers of ingredient lists can confirm.  The name tells you pretty much what it is, if you know about these things.  It is the sodium salt … Continue reading →

Posted in Detergents, Ingredients | Tagged , , | 21 Comments

Coal Tar

Posted on March 14, 2013 by Colin

Coal tar is no longer legal in cosmetics.  It was banned in 2005, in the process destroying two really well known brands: Vosene and Wright’s Coal Tar soap.  There was evidence that coal tar could cause cancer. This was based … Continue reading →

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Matrixyl

Posted on March 8, 2013 by Colin

Matrixyl has been in the news. There have been a couple of stories this week in the Mail and the Mirror. The effectiveness of an anti-wrinkle ingredient has been scientifically proven. Journalists have been onto me asking for comments, so … Continue reading →

Posted in Beauty News, Ingredients | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Essential Oils

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Colin

Essential oils have gone from being an obscure aspect of botany to an all round marketing  ’good thing’.  You can even by washing powder now that trumpets that it contains essential oils.  What actually are they?

Posted in Essential Oils, Ingredients | Tagged | 3 Comments

Titanium Dioxide – A Pure White Ingredient

Posted on August 23, 2012 by Colin

Titanium dioxide is a white pigment widely used ingredient including in cosmetics and particularly in sunscreens. Continue reading →

Posted in Ingredients | 6 Comments

What is Micellar Water?

Posted on July 15, 2012 by Colin

Micellar water based eye makeup removers are getting a lot of coverage right now. They are mild and effective and are a good choice, but aren’t as different or new as you might think. Continue reading →

Posted in Ingredients, Product Reviews | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Polysorbate 80

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Colin

Polysorbate 80 and the other polysorbates are versatile materials that can be used to create products that might otherwise be impossible. Continue reading →

Posted in Emulsifiers, Ingredients | Tagged | 2 Comments

Benzene

Posted on March 3, 2012 by Colin

  The very first job I ever did in a laboratory, literally the first week when my lab coat was still pristine, was to try out a new QC test that had been worked up using toluene instead of  benzene … Continue reading →

Posted in Ingredients | 3 Comments

Vegetarian and Cruelty Free Products

Posted on February 29, 2012 by Colin

I have written before that I don’t see any need for animal tests on cosmetic products. This isn’t really a moral thing. I think we know enough about the way things work already.  All animal tests tell you is what … Continue reading →

Posted in Ingredients | 3 Comments

Methylchloroisothiazolinone & Methylisothiazolinone Free Products

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Colin

One of the most commmented on blog posts I have done recently was the one on the preservative combination of methylchloroisothiazolinone and methylisothiazolinone.  But I was surprised by the number of people who have written in to talk about their … Continue reading →

Posted in Ingredients | 4 Comments