BREAKING DOWN THE SCIENCE OF SKIN.
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In-depth ingredient analyses, formulation science, and industry breakdowns. No marketing. No sponsored content. Just the chemistry.
READEvery week: one ingredient, one brand exposed, one thing the label is not telling you. Delivered to your inbox.
SUBSCRIBEMore opinionated. More timely. Digesting the biggest stories in skincare — the ingredients, the brands, the science they hide.
COMING SOONVisual breakdowns of key skincare topics. Ingredient deep dives and formulation science, delivered every two weeks.
COMING SOONRosa canina seed oil contains one of the highest concentrations of linoleic acid of any carrier oil — up to 54%. That single fact explains most of its cosmetic benefits. Everything else is marketing.
The hyaluronic acid in a £10 serum and a £100 serum may share the same INCI name — Sodium Hyaluronate — but behave completely differently on skin. Molecular weight is the variable that marketing never mentions.
Squalene is unstable, oxidises rapidly, and was historically sourced from shark liver. Squalane is its hydrogenated, stable, plant-derived counterpart. The INCI list will tell you which one you are buying — if you know what to look for.
Retinol has the strongest evidence base of any cosmetic anti-ageing ingredient. It also has the highest rate of misuse. The gap between the clinical literature and the consumer experience is almost entirely a formulation and education problem.
HLB values, phase inversion temperatures, and the difference between O/W and W/O emulsions — the fundamentals that anyone evaluating a moisturiser needs to understand before they trust a label.
Vitamin C requires a pH below 3.5 to be effective. AHAs need to be below 4.0. Retinol is most stable above 5.5. Most brands do not disclose their product pH. Here is why that matters — and how to find out.
I grew up obsessed with skincare — not the products, but the why.
Why does a £10 serum with the same active ingredient as a £200 one perform differently? Who decides what gets put on a label — and what gets left off? Why does every brand claim their formula is "clinically proven" when the study they're citing involved 22 people for two weeks?
I built Behind The INCI for people who think about skincare the same way. People who understand that the INCI list is the one honest thing on any product — and who want to know how to read it.
BINCI is independent journalism. No brand partnerships. No sponsored content. No affiliate links. Just the science, the evidence, and the questions the industry does not want you asking.
Mara Sollis
Founder & Editor, Behind The INCI