Clean beauty has become one of the biggest trends in cosmetics. Retailers have clean sections, brands carry clean seals and many shoppers now look for the word clean before anything else on a label. Yet two clean products can have very different ingredient lists. A clean-label cosmetic is a product marketed as being made without…
Emollient is one of those words that appears on moisturiser labels, in dermatologist advice and in ingredient guides, often without much explanation. It is worth understanding, because emollients are one of the three building blocks of almost every moisturiser. Emollients are ingredients that soften and smooth the skin by filling in the tiny gaps between…
Hypoallergenic is one of the most reassuring words on a makeup label. It suggests the product is gentle, safe for sensitive skin and unlikely to cause a reaction. For many shoppers with sensitive or allergy-prone skin, it is the first thing they look for. Hypoallergenic makeup is makeup that the manufacturer says is less likely…
Talc is one of the most common ingredients in face powders, blushes, eyeshadows and setting powders. It is also one of the most debated. If you break out after wearing powder, it is natural to wonder whether talc is the culprit. Talc itself is not considered strongly pore-clogging. It is a soft mineral that absorbs…
You put on mascara in the morning and by mid-afternoon there are grey smudges under your eyes. Some mascaras seem to stay perfectly in place for one person and transfer within hours for another, even when both use the same tube. Mascara smudges when something softens the formula after it dries. The most common causes…
A glossy, glass-like finish is one of the most requested makeup looks, but the usual advice is to pat facial oil over everything. That works for some people, yet it can feel greasy, break down foundation, slide around by lunchtime and leave oily or acne-prone skin looking shiny rather than fresh. You can create a…
Foundation labels describe finish as matte, soft matte, satin, natural, dewy or radiant, and it is not always obvious what separates them. The finish you choose affects how your skin looks in daylight and photos, how long your makeup lasts and how comfortable it feels. A matte finish has little or no shine. It controls…
Lipsticks, balms, cream shadows, cleansing balms and many sticks are held together by wax. Glosses, facial oils, cleansing oils and liquid highlighters rely more on oils. Both are part of the same family of oily ingredients, but they behave very differently on your skin and lips. A wax base uses ingredients that are solid at…
Mixing makeup is one of the easiest ways to get exactly the finish you want. A drop of illuminator makes a matte foundation glow, a little moisturiser turns full coverage into a skin tint, and two shades combined can give a better match than either alone. But not every mix works, and some can make…
pH has become a selling point in skincare, with labels promising pH-balanced cleansers and low-pH toners. Behind the marketing is a real idea: the surface of healthy skin is slightly acidic, and products that push it too far in either direction can cause problems for some people. The skin’s surface is mildly acidic, with research…
The front of a skincare bottle is designed to sell. The back, where the ingredient list sits, is where you find out what is actually inside. Learning to read that list takes a little practice, but it makes it much easier to choose products that suit your skin and avoid the ones that do not….
Waterproof and water-resistant foundations promise to survive sweat, humidity, rain and even tears. Some genuinely last through a hot day or a wedding; others slide off at the first sign of moisture. The difference comes down to how the formula is built. Foundation becomes waterproof or water-resistant mainly through film-forming polymers that create a flexible,…
Making your own creams, lotions and mists can be satisfying, and it lets you control exactly what goes on your skin. But the moment a recipe contains water, aloe juice, floral water or anything water-based, it becomes a place where bacteria, yeast and mould can grow, often without any visible sign. If a DIY cosmetic…
A moisturiser that separates, a sunscreen that turns grainy or a serum that goes brown halfway through the bottle are all signs of a product that is not stable. Stability testing is how responsible brands try to prevent those problems before a product ever reaches the shop shelf or your bathroom. Stability testing checks whether…
Some bottles on your bathroom shelf arrive in two or even three distinct layers, often in different colours, with a note to shake well before use. Eye makeup removers are the most familiar example, but multi-phase formulas also turn up in toners, serums, facial mists and sunscreens, and they can be confusing if you have…
If fragrance makes your skin itch, sting or break out, choosing products labelled fragrance-free seems like the obvious answer. But labels can be misleading. Some unscented products contain masking fragrance, and some products marketed as clean or natural are packed with essential oils that behave just like perfume on the skin. To tell whether a…
Scan the ingredient list of almost any cleanser, shampoo or moisturiser and you are likely to find disodium EDTA, tetrasodium EDTA, sodium phytate or tetrasodium glutamate diacetate near the end. These are chelating agents, and although they rarely appear in marketing, they do an important behind-the-scenes job that affects how long your products stay fresh….
Finding a foundation that matches your skin can feel like guesswork. One shade looks right in the bottle and orange on your face; another matches your jaw but turns grey on your cheeks by lunchtime. Understanding how shades are made explains a lot of these frustrations. Most foundation shades are built from a small set…
Foundations, tinted moisturisers, CC creams and powders increasingly carry an SPF number, and labels often highlight whether the protection is mineral or chemical. It is worth understanding what those terms mean, and just as importantly, what an SPF in makeup can and cannot do. Physical or mineral SPF uses zinc oxide or titanium dioxide, which…
Your foundation looks smooth at eight in the morning. By lunchtime it has broken up on your nose, chin and forehead, with patches of bare skin showing through and pigment gathered around your pores. Separation is one of the most common foundation complaints, and it rarely means the foundation itself is bad. Foundation usually separates…
If you have hooded eyes, you have probably followed an eyeshadow tutorial step by step, opened your eyes and watched most of the work disappear. The crease colour vanishes under the fold of skin, shimmer transfers onto the brow bone, and winged liner looks bent or broken. To blend eyeshadow on hooded lids, apply it…