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
Lecithin
The same seed can supply an oil and a very different material that helps oil meet water. Lecithin belongs to that second story. It is a mixture rich in phospholipids,...
Ingredient Atlas
Octyldodecanol
Not every fatty alcohol arrives as a waxy flake. Octyldodecanol is a liquid, with a branched structure that opens a different texture story. It can help a compact solid carry...
Ingredient Atlas
Myristyl myristate
The repeated name is a useful clue. Myristyl myristate joins a myristyl alcohol part to a myristic-acid part, creating a wax-like ester that can bring body and a substantial emollient...
Ingredient Atlas
Acacia senegal gum
A tree can supply an ingredient without giving up a seed or a leaf. Acacia gum begins as an exudate from stems and branches, drying into glassy-looking pieces. Prepared for...
Ingredient Atlas
Glyceryl stearate citrate
An emulsifier can be selected for a light, elegant skin feel even when it has a solid, fatty-acid-related identity. Glyceryl Stearate Citrate is a useful example: glycerin, stearic acid and...
Ingredient Atlas
Myristyl lactate
A small lactic-acid connection leads to an unexpectedly velvety emollient story.
Ingredient Atlas
Mineral Oil · the quiet liquid inside a solid
A solid perfume can begin with a liquid. Mineral Oil is a useful example of an ingredient whose own form is quite different from the object that contains it. Refined,...
Ingredient Atlas
Polyquaternium-10
The care ingredient in a shampoo may begin as a dry cellulose-based powder. Give that powder water and a different character emerges: a dissolved polymer that can help a washing...
Ingredient Atlas
Meadowfoam Estolide · a seed oil with a second chapter
Meadowfoam sounds like a landscape, but on an ingredient list it begins a material story. Its seed oil can be transformed into Meadowfoam Estolide, a derivative chosen for conditioning and...
Ingredient Atlas
Cetrimonium chloride
The word surfactant often brings bubbles to mind, yet some surfactants have a different centre of attention: the feel and handling of hair. Cetrimonium chloride makes that distinction worth exploring....
Ingredient Atlas
Lauryl laurate
Here is a useful surprise from the wax shelf: a material can be solid at room temperature yet behave more like a liquid emollient once incorporated. Lauryl laurate helps separate...
Ingredient Atlas
Arachidyl/behenyl betainate esylate
A sugar beet and a rapeseed crop can end up contributing to the same conditioning material. Arachidyl/behenyl betainate esylate connects their different resources in a prepared surfactant. Its story reveals...
