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
Rice bran wax
An oil refiner separates out a waxy fraction; a balm maker can give it another job. Rice-bran wax shows how one crop can lead to several useful materials.
Ingredient Atlas
Rosemary essential oil
A rosemary sprig on a chopping board is instantly recognisable. On a cosmetic label, the same plant can lead to different preparations.
Ingredient Atlas
Rice starch
The same grain that becomes soft in a cooking pot can lend a balm a softly powdered finish. The difference starts with the tiny granules selected from it.
Ingredient Atlas
Pink clay
A rosy clay shade can come from a thoughtful blend of mineral materials. Pink clay invites you to look past the colour and meet its components, then see how those...
Ingredient Atlas
Quinoa seed extract
A quinoa panicle can hold seeds shaped by very different growing places. Follow the farmers’ choice of variety, the outer seed layers and extraction, and a familiar kitchen crop gains...
Ingredient Atlas
Phenoxyethanol
A supporting ingredient can be almost invisible in use and still have a practical job. Phenoxyethanol follows a clear liquid into the preservation system of a cosmetic that will be...
Ingredient Atlas
Pea sprout extract
A pea begins with stored reserves; a sprout begins to use them. Follow that brief growing stage into tended trays, a timed harvest and extraction, and Sprout Extract becomes a...
Ingredient Atlas
Peppermint essential oil
Peppermint can smell like a familiar sweet and feel unexpectedly cool. That everyday combination opens a remarkable science story: aromatic leaves, a distilled oil and a sensory channel whose discovery...
Ingredient Atlas
Patchouli essential oil
Patchouli can suggest a dark wooden room, damp earth or a perfume remembered years later. Its botanical beginning is more surprising: leafy growth.
Ingredient Atlas
Ozokerite
A short wax name can preserve an old geological story while covering different present-day grades. The useful question is what the declared material brings to a stick now.
Ingredient Atlas
Panthenol
Panthenol can flow slowly and still mix readily with water. That small material surprise is a useful entrance to provitamin B5, its manufacture and the moisture-related work that can sit...
Ingredient Atlas
Sweet orange peel essential oil
An orange can scent the room while you are still lifting the first strip of rind. Sweet orange essential oil starts with that peel fragrance, then joins other botanical ingredients...
