I suppose I should start with how they are pronounced. The first four syllables are pronounced in the same way as the first two of thought. So not too hard to say. It is phthalates in the plural because phthalates are a family of chemicals that all share a common structure. You can find the […]
Phthalates – Are They Safe? Read More »
A comedo is the scientific name for a blackhead. An ingredient that causes comedones is comedogenic. The comedogenic scale is a five point scale that tells you how comedogenic that ingredient is. It is also complete nonsense. Let’s have a look at why.
Comedogenic Scale – Why You Should Ignore It Read More »
When I first started working in a cosmetic science lab there was a big brown bottle of triethanolamine on the end of the bench. We used it a lot. It is used as a neutralising agent to adjust the pH of formulations which you need to do a lot.
Since at least the nineties and arguably even before that, the trend has been towards making personal care products that are as natural as possible. The cosmetics business has gone green, both metaphorically and in the case of the labels often literally too. In fact at one point all the labels in the Body Shop
Cosmetic Ingredients – Natural or Synthetic? Read More »
A debate about the safety of chemicals in cosmetics chaired by Alice Hart-Davis with Chris Flower (Director General, CTPA) & Dr Peter Taylor (Pharmacy lecturer, De Montfort University) speaking for them and Jo Fairley (Journalist/Author of the Green Beauty Bible) & Jayney Goddard (President, Complementary Medicine Association) speaking against.
I got a good point made to me via e-mail responding to one of my posts about methylchloroisothiazolinone and methylisothiazolinone. He or she desribes themselves by the pathos ridden name foreverbotheredbythisallergy and referring to some products that readers have identifed as free of those two chemicals – Some the products above have the benzylisothiazoline which
Update 14/5/16 This post is from 2013 and was probably already getting out of date by that time. Since then I have started some MI Free Product Lists that I am trying to keep up to date, but I’ll leave this up as it is still a very long list and may be of interest
List of MI/MCI Free Products Read More »
Collagen shots are becoming popular. Most beauty enthusiasts know all about the role of collagen in the appearance of the skin, and how it is the webbing that holds everything together. It is a protein that has a spring like appearance that fits in with its ability to make your skin springy and resistant to
In March 2011 an accident at the Fukushima nuclear reactor in Japan led to a release of radioactive elements into the atmosphere. A few days later, these unique elements were detected in Oxford in the UK. Given that Japan and the UK are on opposite sides of the earth, that accident must have filled the
Should Pregnant Women Worry About Shower Gel? Read More »
When I first started working on cosmetic formulations back in the eighties, every month a list of the best selling shampoos in the UK market would appear. Sadly, I cannot remember who used to compile it. It wasn’t a tremendously exciting list- Head and Shoulders and Vosene were always at numbers one and two. They
Pantene Pro V Shampoo Read More »
