Surfactants are the things which make your bath foam bubble and your shampoo lather. They’re create this action to help clean skin and hair by drawing in and carrying away dirt and oil. The most common surfactants are sodium laureth sulfate and ammonium laureth sulfate. However, over the last few years surfactants have come into [...]

Monoi Oil is a traditional Tahitian coconut oil. It is often used as a base product in luxury massage oils and skin balms, as well as being a key ingredient due to its gorgeous scent. Monoi gets its signature fragrance from Tahitian gardenias, which are saturated in the pure oil and left there to soak. [...]

Better known as those white spots on your nail, Punctate Leukonychia can be the sign of a range of health issues from zinc deficiency to an allergic reaction. Most commonly, they don’t mean anything. White spots are the result of imperfect nail formation. When the nail is forming, an air bubble or irritant which gets [...]

Now that it’s December, I’m beginning to get into the Christmas spirit. So I thought we could have a post to match my mood. We know all about gold, but not so sure about frankincense and myrrh — did you know that they’re both used in the beauty industry? Frankincense is an aromatic resin taken [...]

Calendula is another name for the flower marigolds. However, the term Calendula is used when the plant’s extract is being sold for cosmetic or medicinal purposes. Even though marigolds aren’t exotic or little know as you might believe under the name calendula, they’re very good for a number of beauty issues. They are commonly used [...]

Onsen is a Japanese word that refers to the bathing facilities provided by the country’s many hot springs. These therapeutic hot spring baths are an ancient Japanese tradition, and they’re famous internationally partlydown to the fact that they’ve historically been nude and communal. Now, many onsens allow patrons to wear bathing suitsn (thankfully!) , although [...]

Carmine red, also known as Cochineal, Crimson Lake, and Natural Red 4, was used by the ancient Aztecs and is thought to be the oldest true red dye. It’s no less popular today than it was in the court of Moctezuma I, and is used in everything from Cherry Coke to makeup like lip glosses [...]

You’ve probably heard of the deceptive terms white lies and whitewashing, and now  greenwashing is joining them. Greenwashing is the term given to describe making a product seem more environmentally friendly than it actually is. Words like organic, all-natural, and green are often used by companies to make products seem more attractive and eco-friendly. However, [...]

I’ve often heard the words ‘cold cream’ thrown around, but have never really known what a cold cream is other than something that sits in a jar on grandmother’s dressing tables. The product is often thought to be invented by T.T. Pond in the early twentieth century, as the cream is now synonymous with the [...]

Occurring naturally in the body, glucosamine is composed of glucose and an amino acid called glutamine. Essential for the production of a molecule that helps repair cartilage, it also works wonders as an ingredient in anti-aging skin care products, though it is better known for preventing arthritis. Since the amount of glucosamine production tapers off [...]