The Chemistry of Hair Colors
Yesterday, I did a talk for a cosmetic science class at the University of Toledo which outlined the hair research I did which eventually resulted…
Category: Science
Skin pH - what does it mean?
I’ve always thought it weird when people say that skin has a certain pH. This seems a complete misunderstanding of the term pH as pH…
What is a cosmetic?
Here’s a video I put together some time back. I’ve finally restored it since the crash.
Valentines Day and the Cosmetic Chemist
If you ever wanted to create a Valentine’s Day themed cosmetic product, here is an ingredient you might consider adding. Synthetic pheromones. In a study…
Creating New Hair Follicle Cells
If you could “cure’ baldness, you would be a billionaire. You wouldn’t even have to spend much money marketing the product. It would sell itself.…
Factors influencing the deposition of conditioning polymers
There was an interesting article in the November/December 2013 issue of the Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists. The research titled “Use of Statistical…
Stem Cells for the Cosmetic Chemist
I just read a story about a new skin care product that incorporates both plant and human “stem cells.” This type of marketing is a…
Why people age
Here’s a pretty good video demonstrating how and why aging is programmed right in your cells. I’m still trying to figure out this whole Hayflick…
Solubility – Basic Chemistry for the Cosmetic Formulator
Not everyone who formulates cosmetics received a degree in chemistry. In fact, most home formulators have very little chemistry training at all. While having a…
How to make a shampoo from scratch
I thought it would be interesting to deconstruct a shampoo formula. To do that, we need to begin with the formula. Here’s a nice, simple…
Beauty From Within Put to the Test
On my other blog The Beauty Brains we spend a lot of time answering questions about what beauty products work and which ones aren’t backed up…
How your sense of smell works
This is a pretty interesting bit of biology. It also explains why fragrance is such an important part of the cosmetic product experience.
3D printing for skin products
We are in the early phases of the development of 3D printing technology but I believe it has the potential to revolutionize the cosmetics industry.…
Skin biology - how it grows
This is a pretty good, short video explaining how skin grows and protects you from the environment (including cosmetic ingredients). Happy Halloween!
Why an oil phase heats faster than a water phase
I was sent an email asking me about what the best set-up was for heating batches. It seemed that this formulator was having a hard…
Cosmetic Preservation - Some Definitions
This is a post by Nitesh Rajput In my previous article I talked about natural cosmetic preservatives. To expand on that topic, here are some…
Forensic science and cosmetics
This story about University of Kent scientists who have discovered a way to identify the brand of lipstick at a crime scene reminded me of…
Good discussion of the science of soap
I’m a big fan of the website Reddit. But I just learned they have a section called “Ask a Scientist” where scientists in specific fields…
Natural Preservatives in Cosmetics - A Trend
This is a post by Nitesh Rajput Cosmetic products become easily contaminated by bacteria and fungi. Containing water, oils, peptides, and carbohydrates, cosmetics are a…
Surfactant Science - Traube’s Rule
While it doesn’t come up too often when creating cosmetic formulations, it is useful for cosmetic chemists to know the concept of Traube’s Rule. At…