The Toxic Makeup Scam
Do your makeup products contain toxic ingredients that even the manufacturers don’t know about?
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ingredients
Sodium Benzoate
Sodium benzoate is an okay preservative but a first class lesson in the history of organic chemistry.
Are Floral Waters A Health Hazard?
I think this is a universal truth, but it is certainly true in labs. The most stressful role is middle management. I enjoyed my time as a bench chemist doing the actual work. I enjoy supervising projects at a higher level. But most of my bad memories of my career are when I was in
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The Ordinary Hand Chemistry Review
A review of a hand cream product from the highly original Decium family, makers of the Ordinary.
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Cannabidiol (CBD) In Skincare
Fashions come and go in the cosmetics and personal care world, and everyone is keen to be on the latest trend as soon as possible. The latest buzzy thing seems to be Cannabidiol or CBD. This has an interesting background, being a derivative of hemp which is also the source of cannabis – which has
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Flawless Beauty, LLC Issues Voluntary Recall of Unapproved Drugs
What is the difference between a drug and a Cosmetic? The simple answer is it depends on the claims you make for it. So if you sell a shampoo to treat dandruff, it is a cosmetic. If you say it cures psoriasis then that makes it a medicine. The more complicated answer is that if
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What Do All These Labels Mean?
We now live in a world where information is freely available in quantities much greater than we can possibly need. But information is not knowledge. Knowing facts isn’t much use without the knowledge of how to use them. A story I came across made this clear to me. A gentleman had bought a deodorant specifically
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Is There Asbestos In Claire’s Accessories?
People often assume that I spend most of my time in the lab formulating products. If only! There are people who can manage to do that but only in very big companies which have big teams. The reality for most formulators, and certainly for me, is that you spend the biggest part of your time
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Sweet Almond Oil
Sweet almond oil is a viscous oil with a yellowy colour. Cosmetic scientists like it because it gives a rich lubricious feel to cream formulations. Marketers like it because it sounds natural. More on that in a minute. It contains a lot of unsaturated fatty chains. This is something that might turn out to
PEG-75 Lanolin
Here’s an ingredient with a mixed pedigree. Lanolin is a pure and rather lovely natural ingredient derived from wool. PEG-75 Lanolin is lanolin that has been ethoxylated. This means that the lanolin is treated with ethylene oxide to make it more water soluble. This enables it to be used in ways that you can’t use lanolin
