Solving cosmetic formulation problems
One the cosmetic science formulation forum we often get people looking for advice on how to improve their formulas. While each question and formulation is…
Author: Perry
Perry has been formulating cosmetic products and inventing solutions to solve consumer problems since the early 1990’s. Additionally, he has written and edited numerous articles and books, taught continuing education classes for industry scientists, and developed successful websites. His latest book is Beginning Cosmetic Chemistry 3rd Edition published by Allured.
Chemistry concepts most important for cosmetic formulators
Whenever we do a webinar, we find that about 30 - 40% of people interested in formulating cosmetics don’t have a background in science. In…
Environmental Impact of the cosmetic industry
When I started formulating cosmetics back in the late 1990’s, one regulatory movement was to reduce the VOC (volatile organic compounds) of cosmetics. What this…
Why companies might change a product formula
As a new cosmetic formulator you might be surprised to learn that you won’t get many opportunities to create completely new formulas. It is rare…
Cosmetic thickeners and stabilizers
Thickeners are considered an aesthetic modifier (as discussed more in this post about types of cosmetic ingredients). In a formula they are essential for creating…
Research and the cosmetic industry
In my recent post about cosmetic chemists and marketing I made some assertive claims about the effectiveness of Green Tea extract. Basically, I said it…
Cosmetic Chemists - Are we Scientists or Marketers?
We just recently started posting things on Instagram. (Be sure to follow us there if you like). And in going through Instagram seeing the sheer…
Why beauty products are going waterless
Water (aqua) is usually at the top of most ingredient lists - and for good reason. It’s an effective and inexpensive solvent. Still, waterless beauty…
Are sunscreen claims and other beauty claims accurate?
The recent “scandals” related to sunscreen testing of brands like Purito, Krave and other sunscreen brands, made me think about cosmetic claims in general and…
What conditioner ingredients work the best?
This question was posted in our cosmetic forum. The answer took many more words than the forum would allow so I post it here. Hi.…
Cosmetic product effectiveness
In our post related to do cosmetics work we went through and explained how a cosmetic product can both work, and not work. Much of…
Do cosmetic products really work?
On my beauty science podcast we frequently get asked about whether this or that product works. And more often than not the answer is “maybe,…
Cosmetic brand transparency - More marketing fluff?
The other day a reporter contacted me about a story related to a new brand that was highlighting their clinical results right on the front…
Misunderstood motivations of big cosmetic companies
There is a lot of misinformation posted about beauty products on the Internet. For consumers this is a big problem because it causes them to…
Places to find ingredient lists for cosmetics
In the days before the Internet became what it is now, it was tough to find lists of ingredients. Even back then analyzing cosmetic ingredient…
Cosmetic product analysis - How do you do it?
Someone wrote in and asked the following. “If you were given a formulated scrub containing pulverized avocado seed/peel. What steps would you take to evaluated…
Why natural cosmetics aren’t better
It’s easy to find people claiming on the Internet that natural cosmetics or natural skin care is better than synthetics. These claims are inherently believable…
Cosmetic innovation challenges - Is there innovation in cosmetic science?
Every year, many of the magazines and websites dedicated to the cosmetic industry publish their lists of cosmetic innovations or trends that will affect formulating.…
Cosmetic science - why isn’t there more research?
I was having a discussion on a recently developed Discord channel about cosmetic science and people were lamenting the fact that there were not very…
How to analyze a cosmetic ingredient list
An important skill for every budding cosmetic chemist or formulator to develop is the ability to analyze a cosmetic ingredient list. By honing this skill…