Handbook

This course will explain how cosmetics and personal care products work from a scientific standpoint. Chemistry plays a key role in the manufacturing and continual improvement of personal care and other household products. It is involved in all stages, from chemical extraction of natural products to the packaging of final consumer products. Throughout the course, students will learn the interaction of skin-care chemicals with lipids in the skin, the suspension of oil in emulsions, how foundation products scatter light to hide skin blemishes, and how sunscreens filter or scatter UV light. Furthermore, the students will learn how to interpret ingredient lists and understand their role. 

Marketing hype and trends, such as anti-aging, will be dissected to examine the underlying scientific principles and negative campaigns analysed to evaluate their veracity. Additionally, we intend the course to have a practical component, where students will learn to make their own cosmetics and household products (soaps and sanitisers) in a chemistry laboratory and understand some of the techniques used in the personal care products industry to assess products prior to taking them to market.