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.
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Gift & Gifting Encyclopedia
300 articles about thoughtful gifts: people, occasions, traditions, beautiful presentation and words that feel like you.
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Body Cleansing Explained
Does your skin feel tight after the towel? Are you choosing a bar, or wondering where to put it when it’s wet? Start with the part of the shower you’d like to make easier.
Read the guideArticles: 1444
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...
Ingredient Atlas
Isostearyl isostearate
The almost-repeated name belongs to an emollient that helps turn a compact perfume into a pleasurable swipe.
Ingredient Atlas
Sodium cocoamphoacetate
A good washing partner can influence lather, texture and the way hair feels afterwards. Sodium Cocoamphoacetate is an amphoteric surfactant with that kind of supporting versatility. Its most useful story...
Ingredient Atlas
Isononyl isononanoate
A light, powdery impression can begin with a clear liquid. Isononyl isononanoate is one of the ester emollients used to explore that contrast, helping a formula move smoothly without making...
Ingredient Atlas
Sodium C12–18 alkyl sulfate
Those numbers are doing a useful job. C12–18 describes a range of fatty-associated chain lengths, giving a more explicit clue than many familiar ingredient names. Behind the compact notation is...
