Articles and guides
Practical advice, ingredients and stories about solid cosmetics.
In-depth guides
Choose a topic and find practical answers.
Ingredient Atlas
Ingredient origins, textures and practical answers about cosmetic labels.
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Solid Cosmetics School
Practical lessons for using, storing and travelling with solid cosmetics.
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Which One? Comparison Studio
Clear comparisons for the cosmetics you use, the routines you enjoy and the gifts you give.
Read the guideArticles: 776
Ingredient Atlas
Sodium sulfite
A tiny spelling change takes us from a mineral salt to an ingredient that can help manage oxidation. Sodium Sulfite’s story is about keeping unwanted chemical changes in check.
Ingredient Atlas
Sodium sulfate
A mineral salt, a desert-lake story and a common label mix-up. Sodium Sulfate is a useful reminder that the full name matters more than a familiar fragment.
Ingredient Atlas
Zinc oxide
A white mineral powder can arrive at a cosmetics factory as something that looks more like a cream. Zinc oxide dispersions reveal a useful hidden stage: particles are prepared with...
Ingredient Atlas
CI 47005 · quinoline yellow
Yellow has more than one material identity. CI 47005 is the code associated with quinoline yellow, a colour that can be a quiet partner in a wash bar rather than...
Ingredient Atlas
Sodium isethionate
One missing word changes the story. Sodium Isethionate is not an abbreviated way to write Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate: it is a separate ingredient, with a place in the manufacture of...
Ingredient Atlas
CI 60730 · the violet in a colour-care bar
If your hair is silver, highlighted or blonde, violet shampoo may already be part of your bathroom vocabulary. CI 60730 is one colour identity that can appear in a solid...
Ingredient Atlas
Sodium hydroxide in soapmaking
A good soap-making story contains a transformation. The oils that go into the pot are not simply the oils you wash with afterwards, and the alkali has a changing part...
Ingredient Atlas
Titanium dioxide
White is an active choice in a colour palette. Titanium dioxide can make a cosmetic more opaque, turn a translucent-looking blend into a creamy-looking one, or form part of a...
Ingredient Atlas
Sodium citrate
This relative of citric acid has two quiet talents: helping keep a formula’s acidity steady and managing the minerals that arrive with water. It also has an unexpectedly useful dry...
Ingredient Atlas
Tin oxide
A tiny-sounding name can belong to an elaborate visual construction. Tin oxide often appears beside mica-like particles and titanium dioxide in pearlescent pigments. Its story is less about a metallic...
Ingredient Atlas
Sodium benzoate
You may recognise sodium benzoate from a food label, then find it again on a conditioner bar. The shared name has a sensible explanation: both products need protection from spoilage....
Ingredient Atlas
Talc
Talc's familiar powder image hides a useful detail: its particles are tiny mineral leaflets. Their shape helps explain the slip and soft feel for which it is used. Its story...
