Soapy Hollow

Contributed by Ruth Esteves at Sirona Springs Handmade Soap.
Soapmakers often get asked about the use of lye in their soap. The fact is that lye (sodium hydroxide) is indeed used to make soap. While in many minds, “lye soap” brings up images of grandmas and washboards and red, red hands, anyone who [...]

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 [...]

I’ve talked before about how lotions work, and skin absorption rates, and the claims of certain cosmetics manufacturers that they have a product which will “penetrate the skin” and do magical mystical (usually anti-aging) things. But we know, unless a product has been deliberately designed to penetrate multiple skin layers, the skin doesn’t let much [...]

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. [...]

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 [...]

Some science stories are echoed all over the media and quickly. Here are a couple of common headings for a recent story: “Psychopaths’ Brains Wired to Seek Rewards, No Matter What the Cost” and “Psychopaths Produce Excessive Dopamine.” The original story is in Nature Neuroscience under the website title Psychopathic [...]

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 [...]