Gray hair is not caused by stress
I have a couple of gray hairs. At the age of 43, I have much less gray hairs than other people my age but I…
Category: Science
Journal of Cosmetic Science Summary
There is actual science that happens in the cosmetic industry and you can find much of it written in the peer reviewed Journal of Cosmetic…
Progress on hair bleach technology
Here’s an article which discusses a new development in hair bleaching technology. Rather than using hydrogen peroxide as is typically the case, scientists from Kao…
Advances in penetration of skin creams
Last week I wrote about skin penetration and the difficulty of both creating a product that works and the problems associated with cosmetic products that…
A Cosmetic Chemist at the Museum of Science and Industry
Here in Chicago we have an excellent science museum, the Museum of Science and Industry. I make a trip there almost once a year and…
Cosmetic ingredients that can be harmful
There is so much ridiculous fearmongering about the dangers of cosmetic ingredients that people often ignore cosmetic ingredients that can actually be harmful. Here is…
Is Coffee the Next Big Skin Cosmetic Ingredient?
Here was a recent report on research published in the jorunal Cancer Research demonstrating that coffee consumption could lower your chances of developing the most…
Cosmetic Stability Testing is Soft Science
One of the most surprising things to me when I started a career as a cosmetic science was how subjective things were. There are no…
Science demonstrations you can do
One of the greatest things about science is that you can set up demonstrations / experiments that have unexpected results. And these demonstrations don’t have…
Why Nonscientists Think They Know More than Scientists
As a cosmetic chemist you will no doubt run into people (either in person or on the Internet) who hold strong opinions about beauty products,…
Surfactants in action
Here’s a pretty good demonstration that you might use in the future for a presentation to your marketing group or other people you want to…
Science fun with a box
I’m going to take a break from writing about cosmetic science today and show you some other sciencey thing that caught my interest. It is…
Evidence for Beauty From Within Products
There is a trend in the cosmetic industry some market research folks have labeled ‘beauty from within’. These are products which consumers are supposed to…
The Joy of Chemistry book review
I don’t know how I stumbled upon the book The Joy of Chemistry (received it as a Christmas gift) but I’m glad I did. It…
Inorganic chemistry and the cosmetic chemist
I just finished reading the excellent book The Joy of Chemistry and in a future post I’ll do a review but while I was reading…
Entropy for your weekend
I like to amuse myself with chemistry videos on youtube. Here is an interesting about entropy that might be helpful for current and future cosmetic…
The Known Universe - From Smallest To Biggest
This is a little outside the realm of cosmetics but I like science and thought this animation was very cool. It takes you all the…
Cosmetic Chemistry Basic Science Background - pH
Some of the followers of this website do not have degrees in chemistry. In truth, you don’t have to know chemistry to formulate products. However,…
Why are there preservatives in cosmetics
With all the fear mongering that goes on about cosmetic preservatives, it is no wonder consumers and some cosmetic manufacturers wonder why they can’t make…
Hey Skin Care Formulators - Here is your competition
Articles about anti-aging treatments always catch my eye because let’s face it, that is one of the main functions of cosmetics. This article about new…