Sugar-based surfactant development gains ground, riding on the success of growing demand for APG (excerpt from Doris de Guzman’s excellent overview on the future of carbohydrate based surfactants. Read Doris de Guzman’s green chemicals blog for the latest news on green surfactants) Growing demand for alkyl polyglucoside (APG) – a non-ionic surfactant made from vegetable […]

Companies can now source from approved EU and US organic ingredient suppliers for their NSF/ANSI 305 compliant products, increasing global access to certified products ANN ARBOR, Mich. — NSF International’s American National Standard for Personal Care Products Containing Organic Ingredients (NSF/ANSI 305) has been expanded to allow plant-based ingredients that are certified to European Union […]

The Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010, (H.R. 5786) passed by the House of Representatives into committee, is starting to look like it is going to be a reality, not in small part due to the lobbying of very large cosmetics concerns who would like the House to stop artisans from competing with them. You can […]

One of the groovy things about science is that obscure discoveries can suddenly become world-changing. As an example; examine the organic material called a Janus dendrimer. Janus was the dual-faced Roman god. Dendron is the Greek word for ‘tree’ or many branches. A dendrimer is a molecular sphere with many branches forming the shape. (Picture […]

Agrana Stärke’s has introduced a new selection of certified organic biopolymers. Agenajel 21.387, an organic native waxy corn starch suitable for both hot and cold applications. It is used for creams and lotions and as powder base. Quemina 21.257 is an organic pre-cooked corn starch used as an organic thickener in personal care emulsions. In […]

For years, I’ve been saying that “anti-aging” serums were junk.  I’ve read the white papers, I’ve tested the products, I’ve looked at the results…and I’ve said over and over that those bottles of hope were nothing more than modern snake-oil sold to a culture of women who have been taught to fear aging. I’ve gone […]

Recently a bill has been proposed in Colorado, the ‘Colorado Safe Personal Care Products Act‘.  Hearings on the bill begin in March. The bill would prohibit the sale of “…any personal care product that contains a chemical identified as causing cancer or reproductive toxicity.”  On the face of it, that sounds logical. I mean, who […]