this is a very interesting article about the preservative market and the difficulties in preservative innovation. You've probably not even heard about most of the preservatives mentioned here but the overall article may give you an idea why there are so little preservatives available and why the progress is so slow:
http://cen.acs.org/articles/94/i47/Restrictions-cosmetic-preservatives-ramp.html

last week's conference video is online now. We have sponsored the ingredients of the workshop and have had an amazing time with Formula Botanic and its students
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqu70tfWXbY

we usually advocate artisan skincare formulators keep their fingers away from sunscree. This FDA update might help you understand why it is impossible to make artisanal sunscreens
http://www.cosmeticsdesign.com/Regulation-Safety/FDA-announces-new-sun-screen-ingredient-safety-efficacy-guidelines?nocount

25% weekend discount on our sunflower lecithin: https://shop.skinchakra.eu/en/Cosmetic-Lab/Emulsifiers/Sunflower-Lecithin-non-GMO.html

Celebrating our very first customer in Zambia

have you ever checked what could happen to your butters and balms if the accidentally melt and re-solidify? http://skinchakra.eu/blog/archives/474-How-to-stability-test-balmd-and-butters.html

I think you may find this video interesting. It's about hygienic procedure in a food manufacturing company. The first 3:30 minutes are relevant for cosmetic manufacturing as well. There are different detectors and barriers to check whether the hands, boots, aprons and instruments are clean and disinfected before the workers can eneter manufacturing/filling zones. Can you imagine that still despite all these procedures some cases of contamination may occur? You don't need any automatic and high-tech detector in your small lab but you can adapt a certain routine and workflow in your GMP to avoid possible contamination routes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q58SWnAHRw

this is a simple but hilarious GMP video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fg143U95zg

It seems as if the mainstream is re-inventing "natural ingredients". This is anyway an interesting short article about the tea tree oil from the mainstream viewpoint:
http://knowledge.ulprospector.com/5597/tea-tree-oil-natural-anti-acne-alternative/

Today's cosmeceuticals talk is about tocopherols:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BNrawwlg59p/?taken-by=skinchakra

Check this post on our blog about stability of vitamin E with many useful links:
http://skinchakra.eu/blog/archives/428-Thermal-stability-of-Tocopherol.html

no microbeads anymore for Canada:
http://www2.specialchem.com/optiext/optiextension.dll?ID=CFoCt31i6oiYIu1LN%2B2DGdFcqLxbwlkbdPnNm7Cp3KnulTiKZzb1DJSvlk9HJRM3Rx2HHkvJ7HN38e_OsisXbzNT5%2BUDCJ

20% discount on our newly arrived Amazonian oil, pequi fruit oil till Monday

Macadamia oil rich in oleic and palmitoleic acid, gamma tocopherol and beta-sitosterol. An excellent hair and skin care ingredient

Celebrating our very first customer in Poland

not skincare related but a very interesting article about soy isoflavones and the controversy about their impact on breast cancer:
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/dietary-factors/phytochemicals/soy-isoflavones

Today's cosmeceuticals on Tuesday is about lycopene, a non-provitamin A carotenoid
https://www.instagram.com/p/BN9g1HxgYlo/?taken-by=skinchakra

more about lycopene:
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/dietary-factors/phytochemicals/carotenoids

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11192026

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0939641108000398

not cosmetic related, but an example of "mind your claims". Although citric acid is not listed as a preservative in cosmetics, it's pH-regulating and chelating properties boost preservative performance. In food however, citric acid is considered as preservative:
http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Regulation/Nestle-USA-to-fight-lawsuit-over-citric-acid-in-Lean-Cuisine

20% discount for our organic apricot kernel oil:https://shop.skinchakra.eu/en/Cosmetic-Lab/Plant-oils-butters-and-waxes/Apricot-kernel-oil-organic-and-cold-pressed.html