Sulfates: why the foam is cheap, and what it costs your skin
Sodium lauryl sulfate is the chemical dermatologists use on purpose to irritate skin in experiments. It is also in most washes. Here is why, and what...
Our working notes
We write down why we made each choice
Longer pieces on the ingredients we use and leave out, how we formulate, and how to read a label.
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What you put on your skin does not stay on your skin
Skin is a barrier, not a wall. Here is what the measured evidence says about how much of a cream reaches your blood, and why small...
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How to read an ingredient label — and what "Parfum" can hide
An ingredient list is a legal document written in Latin, ordered by weight, and designed to be skimmed. Here is how to actually read one.
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Cold-pressed vs. refined: what heat does to an oil
Two bottles of almond oil can look identical and have almost nothing in common. The difference is the hour after the nut was crushed.
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Why most of our formulas need no preservative
If there are no parabens in it, what stops it going off? The honest answer is water — or rather, the absence of it.
