The cure for contaminated cosmetic manufacturing equipment?
A big problem for contract manufacturers and finished goods makers in general is the development of a contaminating biofilm on the manufacturing equipment. Even after…
How long do cosmetics last?
In Colin’s post on nail polish, he reminded me of a common question I’m asked about beauty products and cosmetics is “how long do they…
7 Tips for Falling in Love with Formulating Again
Over time, the job of a cosmetic chemist can occasionally get boring. With the endless stability test measurements and prototypes that fall apart, you can…
Olay Oil Minimizing Toner – Dissecting the Label
One of the most simple products that a formulator might be called on to produce is a toner. This Olay Oil Minimizing toner is one…
Skin Physiology for the Cosmetic Chemist
For chemists and other scientists coming out of college, one area in which you will likely be deficient in knowledge is skin biology. But if…
What does percent solids tell you?
This question came in via the cosmetic science discussion forum and it was something that we hadn’t covered before. The question specifically was “what is…
How do Alpha Hydroxy Acids work?
Despite what many comsetic marketers claim, there aren’t a lot of anti-aging actives that work when delivered from topical applications. Retinol, maybe Niacinamide but not…
Sunscreen Simulator Formulation Tool
Here is a pretty useful sunscreen formulation tool created by BASF. I put together a video to show a formulator exactly how she might use…
Penetration of Cosmetic Ingredients
When you are meeting with a cosmetic raw material supplier, they often talk about how their ingredient will penetrate the skin. Even cosmetic marketers use…
Where to find Free Cosmetic Formulas
One of my goals is to create a website that gives starting formulas to anyone who is looking for one. I’m modeling it after the…
Coloring the Cosmetic World – Book Review
Faulkner’s new book Coloring the Cosmetic World: Using Pigments in Decorative Cosmetic Formulations is the latest color cosmetic technology book from Allured Publishing. The book…
What is in a sunscreen spray, and why?
This is a guest post by Gary Neudahl who is currently Product Application Manager, Personal Care Ingredients, for the HallStar Company and is based at…
A List of Cosmetics that have FDA Monographs
On the cosmetic science forum someone posed this question, “Where can I find the monograph for cosmetics?” It’s an interesting question for a number of…
Ideas for solving the toughest hair problem facing cosmetic chemists
Being a cosmetic chemist can be frustrating. You’ll want to create products that can solve consumer’s problems but the reality is that you are handcuffed…
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…
Simple ways to make cosmetics
Are you familiar with Instructables.com? It’s a website where people share their methods for making different things. They have a number listings for different cosmetic…
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Cosmeceuticals
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Cosmeceuticals I saw this interesting review study about cosmeceuticals. The article goes through and looks at the best scientific evidence available…
Organix Conditioner – Dissecting the formula
Another installment of our Dissecting the Label series. In these blog posts we dissect a lable and discuss what each of the ingredients do in…
Why do you need multiple preservatives in your cosmetic formula
We received this question here at Chemists Corner central and thought it would be a good one to write an article about. “Why do the…
Basic Cosmetic Formulating – Antiperspirant
This is a guest post by Gary Neudahl. In personal care, there are cosmetics and there are toiletries. What’s the difference? In general, a cosmetic…