FAQ

Where can I purchase ingredients?

As a US resident, I commonly purchase ingredients from Making Cosmetics and Lotion Crafter. For color cosmetics, you can purchase ingredients from TKB Trading. If you work for the industry, you can request samples from UL Prospector. (You need a company email to make an account with ULP.)

Supplies you need

Here is a list of supplies I like to have on handy:

  • Beakers of various sizes
  • Slicone spatulas
  • Flat stainless steel spatulas (like the ones you use to ice a cake!)
  • Stainless steel scoopulas or weigh spoons
  • Plastic, disposable pipettes
  • Scale (if you’re just starting out, a food scale with one to two decimal places is fine)
  • Weigh paper or weigh boats
  • Stir bar(s)
  • Stir bar mixer
  • Propeller mixer with impeller (emulsion sticks or coffee foamer with a propeller attachment work as well)
  • pH paper or pH meter
  • Thermometers
  • Lipstick molds and pans (if you’re making color cosmetics)
  • Jars and bottles
  • Heat resistant gloves (to hold hot beakers)
You can find these supplies from the suppliers I mentioned above as well as Amazon (although I do encourage you to purchase from these suppliers over Amazon if you can!)

INCI vs Trade Name

In cosmetic formulation, everything is referred to by two names: their INCI or trade names. INCI stands for International Nomenclature Cosmetic Ingredient. They are published by the Personal Care Products Council in the International Cosmetic Ingredient Dictionary and Handbook. For more information on which ingredient names are found on a label, see FDA’s guidelines here. To view the 2016 version of the International Cosmetic Ingredient Dictionary and Handbook, click here.

Trade names are the marketing names of cosmetic ingredients designated by the suppliers/manufacturers (aka the companies who make, supply, and distribute the ingredients.) Trade names can refer to a mixture of ingredients or single ingredients.

Should you pre-weigh everything at once, or weigh things out one at a time?

I suggest when you first start making formulas, add ingredients one at a time so that you can see how a formula changes with each addition (with exceptions of course--if you need to melt a whole bunch of waxes together, you just have to pre-weigh everything before you melt them).

Once you become familiar with a specific formula, you can feel free to pre-weigh everything to save yourself time.

How to read scientific literature

Most people will turn to Google, type their question, and read through the results of the first page. This is what I do, and I’m sure this is one of the first steps you take as well. But can you tell if the source is reliable or not?

The following are important questions you need to ask yourself when reading a piece of scientific literature:

  • Is the source a blog post, news article, white paper, or peer-reviewed academic paper?
  • Who is/are the author(s)?
  • What is their experience with the subject matter?
  • Any conflicts of interest (e.g., white papers written by suppliers about their own raw material)?
  • Do they list any references?
    • Whom are they referencing?
    • Do the references “lead to nowhere” (i.e., do the references actually state what the paper is about)?
  • Do you have access to the paper, or are you just reading the abstract?
  • Is the academic paper published in a reputable journal or a junk/predatory journal?
  • How is the experimental design?
  • Is there a control?
  • Does the conclusion match the results?
  • How are the findings shared by the author(s)?
    • If it’s a blogger or reporter who is not from the field, do they give a caveat that they are not an expert on the subject, that this is simply what they understand? Or do they share that info with authority and an air of expertise and certainty when they actually don’t know what they’re talking about?

I know it’s a lot—trust me, I get fatigued going through these questions myself when I’m reading scientific literature. However, these questions must be asked to catch your own biases and to critically look at information.

Want to share this information on Twitter? Retweet my original thread about it here!

Where can I find example formulas?

The best formulas to start with are the ones posted by Making Cosmetics and Lotion Crafter since you can purchase the ingredients from them. For more formulas, you can check out UL Prospector.

See an error?

Hey, boosuke! Did you find something not factual in a blog post? Leave a comment on the appropriate blog post or send me an email and let me know! Although I teach a beginning cosmetic formulation course, I will never feel like a master in the craft of formulation. Why? Because I never want to stop learning. I prefer to be (kindly!) corrected so that I can keep improving my craft.

Be respectful in the comments. Cosmetic science has become a contentious topic over the years due to rampant misinformation perpetuated by the internet and ignorant/dishonest brands.

Let’s facilitate friendly discussion and assume (at first) that everyone is coming from a good place.

How do I become a cosmetic chemist/break into the field?

I’ve written about this subject extensively and also made a YouTube video on my personal journey. Here are some of my most helpful blog posts that have helped people for years: