Why Is It Called Shampoo?
The origins of the word shampoo.
Cosmetic History
Vitapointe – the secret of a classic brand
Vitapointe, the cult conditioner for funky hair is no more.
Sodium Benzoate
Sodium benzoate is an okay preservative but a first class lesson in the history of organic chemistry.
Egg and Yoghurt As A Hair Conditioner
I was talking to someone who grew up on the Indian subcontinent and he asked me about something his mother and sister do. They make their own hair conditioner using yoghurt and egg. It’s quite an interesting idea. As a cosmetic chemist I can draw on raw materials from several hundred suppliers and use all …
Taupe
Reading beauty blogs is a very educational process. I have for example just now come across a colour that hasn’t hit my radar before. I got this from Charlotte at LipGlossiping who announced that her favourite colour for eyes is taupe. Not having come across it before I googled it to discover it has quite …
Alcohol In Skin Products
If you put neat alcohol onto your skin and leave it there for any length of time it will dry your skin out. This is something that is well known. The exact details of how it works aren’t that well studied, but basically it disrupts your skin’s barrier function. Consequently it is not a good …
The Story of Cosmetics Part 1 -Neanderthals (Sponsored by Artful Teasing)
Let’s start at the beginning since as the song says, it is a very good place to start. And when I say the beginning I really do mean the beginning. Archeological finds have indicated that we have been using makeup for a very long time. In fact we may well have been using makeup for …
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Genealogy of Perfumes
I’ve had this Genealogy of Perfumes in my papers since I picked it up in the eighties. It was produced by a big fragrance house called Haarman and Reimer. It has always been something I have found interesting. I have had it stuck on the wall of labs I’ve worked in at times.
Create a Vestal Virgin Hair Style
So who thinks to themselves, “what did a Vestal Virgin Hair style looks like? “. Perhaps it isn’t all that surprising. Lots of people like history and archeology, and lots of people hair dressing. So there must be lots of people who like both. Janet Stevens from Baltimore has gone into the whole issue in …
Trotula di Ruggiero – The First Beauty Blogger
The first person to write on the science of beauty was an eleventh century Italian woman called Trotula di Ruggiero (often called just Trotula of Salerno – a bit easier to spell and remember). She worked in Salerno in one of the earliest medical schools. She is most famous as the first person to write …
