Notes from the workshop

When Familiar Words Stop Making Sense

Over the past few years, I've found myself thinking less about the products I make and more about the language we use to describe them.

As a soap maker and skincare formulator, I spend a lot of time choosing ingredients, refining formulations and thinking about how products perform. Every ingredient has a purpose, every formulation is a series of decisions, and every product has its limitations.

Yet, when I step away from the formulation bench and look at the wider skincare industry, I see a very different focus. We spend just as much time talking about skincare as we do making it, and over the years we've developed a language of our own.

Words like natural, chemical-free, clean, anti-ageing, clinically proven and dermatologist approved appear everywhere. They're on product labels, websites, social media and in magazine articles. Many of them have become so familiar that we rarely stop to ask what they actually mean.

For me, it started with one word: natural.

Like many small skincare businesses, I've used that word for years. I know why I use it. It's the language most people recognise, it's what many people search for, and in many ways it does describe the type of products I make.

But the more I tried to explain exactly what I meant by it, the more I realised I wasn't entirely satisfied with my own explanation.

Every answer seemed to lead to another question.

Where does natural begin and end? How much processing changes an ingredient? Does it matter? Am I using the word because it's the most accurate description, or because it's the clearest way to communicate with customers?

I challenged my own reasoning. I justified why I still use the word. Yet I found myself returning to the same questions. I realised I wasn't looking for reassurance that I was right; I was trying to understand whether there was a better way to think about it.

I haven't stopped using the word, but I have stopped taking it for granted.

What surprised me was that once I'd started questioning one familiar word, I began noticing others. Chemical-free. Clinically proven. Dermatologist approved. Anti-ageing. Words I'd seen thousands of times suddenly seemed less straightforward than I'd assumed.

That one question led me down a much bigger rabbit hole.

It made me think about the journey ingredients take before they ever reach a formulation. It made me wonder whether we focus too much on individual ingredients and not enough on the skill of formulation. It made me question why certain words inspire confidence while others create unnecessary fear. And it reminded me that the questions worth asking are rarely the ones with simple answers.

So, I've decided to write about them.

Not because I believe I have all the answers, and certainly not because I want to tell anyone what they should think. Quite the opposite.

This series is a record of the questions I've been asking myself as a formulator. I'll share the ideas that have challenged me, the assumptions I've reconsidered, the science and regulations that have shaped my thinking, and, occasionally, the moments where I've realised my first answer wasn't my best one.

Sometimes I'll arrive at a firm conclusion. Other times, I'll simply explain why a question is more complicated than it first appears.

If there's one thing making skincare has taught me, it's that experience doesn't always give you more answers. Quite often, it gives you better questions.

That's what I hope this series will be.

Whether you're someone who enjoys understanding the products you buy, you're curious about ingredients and formulation, or you simply like looking beyond the marketing, I hope you'll find something here that encourages you to pause, ask questions and perhaps see the skincare industry a little differently.

Because understanding skincare isn't just about understanding ingredients.

It's also about understanding the words we use to describe them.

And that feels like a good place to begin.