Realize Beauty's Amanda

Amanda Foxon-Hill is the owner of Cosmetic Consultancy Realize Beauty.

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Qualified but not competent. What's going on with Cosmetic Science?

Qualified but not competent. What’s going on with Cosmetic Science?

You would think that the rise in people with qualifications in cosmetic formulating would be closely mirrored by a rise in formulating competency and (one would hope) a rise in scientific literacy but that’s not been my experience. I accept that my opening sentence may come across as a bit harsh. That it could indicate I’m a bitchy, stuck-up, better-than-you cow-bag that feels everyone should…

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Carbomer Chemistry & High Speed Mixing / Homogenising.

Carbomer Chemistry & High Speed Mixing / Homogenising.

The other week I was made aware of a new ‘rule’ that’s making its way around the virtual hallways of cosmetic school (which one, who said what and why doesn’t matter), the rule being that you should not homogenise Carbomers. Now I’m not sure of the wider context of this truth or how it was originally meant to be taken but it was clear that in this case the statement had been taken as literal…

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Room To Play - The Global Cosmetic Industry and You, The Outsider.

Room To Play – The Global Cosmetic Industry and You, The Outsider.

The world is made up of in-groups and out-groups and generally, that sucks! Sometimes, the in-groups are small and transient, like that group of girlfriends from school, the ones that decided collectively that they don’t like you so you can’t sit with them at recess today because you like the ‘wrong’ music or have the ‘wrong’ shoes. But sometimes the in-groups are so big and permanent, so…

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How does it feel? Cosmetic Science & Our Somatosensory System

How does it feel? Cosmetic Science & Our Somatosensory System

Somatosensory means ‘of the body’. The term embraces the three ways in which we experience the physical world. Proprioception focuses on the movement of bone and muscle. Exteroception centres around interpreting touch, Interoception focuses on the status of our organs (heart rate, breathing, digestion etc). The way we do science in the western world often starts by deconstructing a thing, taking…

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Academic Integrity & Cosmetic Science Communication

Academic Integrity & Cosmetic Science Communication

One of the surprising joys of being back at University (part time, very slow progress, yes I’m getting there but…) is the reminder that Academic Integrity is not only expected, measured and tested, it’s the law. My uni – Charles Sturt, here in the beautiful central tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, has put together a five module course on the subject and we all have to complete this…

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This Working Life: Autism, ADHD, Complex PTSD and Getting Stuff Done.

This Working Life: Autism, ADHD, Complex PTSD and Getting Stuff Done.

I’ve struggled my whole life to understand why, in spite of my love of learning, doing and investigating, I get lost, stuck in a loop, overwhelmed or frozen all the time! It happens when I embark on a course, take on new projects at work, join a club or group and even when I sit down to ‘switch off’ with a movie or book. I just can’t seem to get the balance right, enjoy one thing at a time or…

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Sustainable Palm: An ASCC panel discussion I missed out on being part of due to an I.T fail!

Sustainable Palm: An ASCC panel discussion I missed out on being part of due to an I.T fail!

Last week I hit a bit of a low spot after missing out on this event. I’ve had a lot stressing me out mentally for the last couple of years and only relatively recently felt on top of it enough to start participating in industry events, forums, talks etc. I was accepted into the IFSCC (International Federation of Societies of Cosmetic Chemists) event to showcase my research which was amazing.…

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One INCI List, Four Serums

One INCI List, Four Serums

I’m still thinking about that ‘turn and learn’ situation. The idea that an INCI list tells tells pretty much all you need to know about a product. After writing my blog article the other day I felt there was some unfinished business on my part. I’m always telling people that science is a doing word so what better way to demonstrate my point of view than offer up a demonstration. So, sit back and…

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INCI Lists: Examining the 'Turn-and-Learn' mindset.

INCI Lists: Examining the ‘Turn-and-Learn’ mindset.

As much as I’m fascinated by cosmetic chemistry and the beauty industry I’m not really one for seeking out said content anywhere I can find it. I don’t tend to watch other creators YouTube chanels, read their blogs, hang around their schools or follow them on Instagram. If you are starting to think this may be because I look down on those ‘peasants’ that’s not true, well not entirely… Sure, I do…

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Amino Acids for pH Adjustment?

Amino Acids for pH Adjustment?

I question the wisdom of normalising the use of amino acids for pH adjustment... Arginine is an amino acid and amino acids are famous for reacting together to build peptides and proteins. In a cosmetic sense, amino acids can be added into a formula individually to increase skin hydration or condition and strengthen the hair. In addition, they are frequently used as key actives in Mesotherapy…

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Butter behaviour is more about triglycerides than fatty acids.

Butter behaviour is more about triglycerides than fatty acids.

In 2016 I wrote two articles about Shea Butter and felt that I’d totally aced the subject! There was this one on the role of women in the Shea story and this one about its chemistry. While I still look back at these articles and think they are pretty OK, I’m now kicking myself that I let another, bleedingly obvious fact about the chemistry of Shea (and other butters) slide right through my…

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What if science is to neurotypicals what life is to autistics...

What if science is to neurotypicals what life is to autistics…

Being autistic means I process language and thought differently to neurotypicals (most people). This doesn’t automatically mean I don’t or can’t undertstand things that people say, it’s more that I have to think about it more. I seem to have come without an ‘assumption’ or ‘instinct’ button in that department, or more accurately that I do have one but mine came without the software (I have to…

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Break Point - What happens when you squish your balm to death!

Break Point – What happens when you squish your balm to death!

As some of you may know I’ve been conducting lots of experiments on Oleogel strength. One of the fun things to do with oleogels is to get them naked then squish them. Here is a video of just that. These oleogel lumps do vary in size a little but are roughly 2.5cm cubed. I’m re-running these tests with less variable sample sizes and will also make some adjustments to reduce the potential for the…

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When your preservative prefers your packaging to your product

When your preservative prefers your packaging to your product

Preservatives are surface-active. What you are hoping (or aiming) for is them prefering the inter-face (or surface) between your oil and water phases but that isn’t always what happens. Behold, exhibit A: A couple of weeks ago a help desk client sent an enquiry about a preservative they wanted to use but that was causing issues in their formula. I could see the current problem was one of…

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Oleogel Testing Experiment Update - The First Round of Data is in!

Oleogel Testing Experiment Update – The First Round of Data is in!

While it’s fair to say I’m not always the best at reading the room, I would put a good deal of money on me being right that most of you have NOT been joining me in my excitement driven sleepless nights waiting for this data. That said, this project is turning out to be very interesting and likely to provide insights that can spread further and wider than my oleogel under pressure! So what’s been…

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Developing a method for press/ squish testing balms and oleogels.

Developing a method for press/ squish testing balms and oleogels.

Hello people, Believe it or not I’ve had a lot of cosmetic sciency things going on in my mind and all over my house (mostly thanks to COVID lockdowns) over the last month or so and I’m just about ready to share them with you. I say ‘just about’ because in my head there’s always more to learn and invetigate and that’s as exciting as it is annoying (because nothing ever feels finished). Anyway, I…

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Getting INDI brands to class.

Getting INDI brands to class.

Warning, I am going to sound very old and set-in-my-ways in 3, 2, 1… There is no doubt that social media, especially visual platforms such as Instagram and Tiktok have created the perfect environment for small, start-up brands to thrive. In the cosmetic industry we call these ‘Indie’ brands and we worship them like Gods. Well, I don’t but that’s because the only thing I worship generally is…

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