Niacinamide: It Sounds Like a Chemical Weapon. It’s a Vitamin.
The first time I hear the word niacinamide, it made me think of hazmat suits and warfare from WW2. It’s just got this big old scary clinical, FIVE-syllable energy that makes you think “surely this is not appropriate for skin.”
My friend, it is a form of vitamin B3. It’s just a vitamin B and that blew my mind.
That’s it. That’s the scary ingredient : the same B vitamin your body already knows and loves, just in a form your skin can actually use. Honestly though, once you get past the lab-coat vibes, niacinamide is one of the gentlest, most universally well-tolerated ingredients in skincare.
What is niacinamide, really?
Niacinamide is the active form of vitamin B3 used in skincare and it’s a lovely ingredient. It supports your skin barrier (the thing standing between your face and the harsh world), helps your skin hold onto moisture, and can help calm the look of redness and uneven tone over time. It plays well with nearly every other ingredient, doesn’t make your skin sun-sensitive, and rarely throws a tantrum, even on sensitive skin. It’s the easygoing friend of the skincare world that can really be effective - which is exactly why I built it into our niacinamide face serum.
Niacinamide and Vitamin B3 are all around us
Because it’s a vitamin B3, you’re already getting niacinamide from your dinner plate! It shows up in mushrooms, green peas, lentils, peanuts, sunflower seeds, brown rice, whole grains and chicken, eggs and even salmon and tuna. So while your serum feeds your skin from the outside, your lunch tops you up from the inside.
The takeaway
Please don’t let a freaky name scare you off a genuinely kind ingredient! Niacinamide isn’t harsh or fussy or new, it’s just B3’s government name. And when it’s formulated thoughtfully, at a functional level, in a water-based serum that actually delivers it to your skin? Oh yeah, that’s a reason it should earn a place in your routine.
Want to try it?
Our niacinamide face serum is handcrafted in small batches right here in Grand Valley, Ontario. It’s a water-based, barrier-friendly, and made-to-deliver-results kinda serum.
A note from the formulator : If you want to play with niacinamide yourself, I’ve got some good news for you!! It’s actually a really easy active to work with. Yay! It comes as a fine white powder that is easy to dissolve in water. I love using it at 5%, but the typical usage rate is around 2%-5%. A couple quick tips: dissolve it into your water phase (not oil because it just won’t mix!), and keep your final product in a skin-friendly, balanced pH range so it stays comfortable and effective. It’s really forgiving but like most formulas, I’d add this guy to a cool down phase like other actives, if possible.
- Andrea, Founder & Formulator, Lavish Earth
What Is BTMS-50 and Why It’s the Star Ingredient in Our Conditioner Bar
I don’t know what I did before BTMS-50 came into my life.
When I set out to formulate our conditioner bar, I had actually never tried one before. I knew what it needed to do (detangle, smooth, condition without buildup) so I went on an ingredient research deep dive and BTMS-50 kept coming up as the gold standard. I ordered it, melted it down, made my first bar, and honestly? It completely blew my socks off. I’ve never looked back.
Here’s why it works so well.
What Is BTMS-50?
BTMS-50 stands for Behentrimonium Methosulfate and Cetyl Alcohol. It’s a plant-derived conditioning emulsifier most commonly sourced from rapeseed oil. The “50” refers to its concentration; 50% behentrimonium methosulfate combined with 50% cetyl alcohol.
It is not a silicone. It’s a positively charged (cationic) conditioning agent, which means it’s attracted to the negatively charged surface of wet hair. That attraction is what gives it such effective detangling and smoothing properties because it deposits where it’s needed and stays there through the rinse.
Why We Use It in Our Conditioner Bar
Our conditioner bar is built around BTMS-50 as its primary active ingredient because it:
Detangles effectively without weighing hair down
Smooths the hair cuticle for reduced frizz and improved shine
Rinses cleanly without leaving heavy buildup
Works across hair types : fine, thick, curly, colour-treated
Performs in a solid bar format without added water
Customers who switch from liquid conditioner frequently comment that their hair feels better, not just different.
Is BTMS-50 Safe?
Yes. BTMS-50 has a well-established safety profile and is widely used in professional and commercial hair care formulations globally. It is considered mild, low-irritation, and is not associated with sensitization at standard use levels. It is biodegradable and considered a more environmentally responsible alternative to older cationic conditioning agents.
BTMS-50 vs. Other Conditioning Agents
You may also come across BTMS-25, which contains a lower concentration of behentrimonium methosulfate. BTMS-50 delivers stronger conditioning performance, which is why it’s the preferred choice for rinse-off conditioner bars where you want maximum efficacy in minimal contact time.
Silicone-based conditioners coat the hair shaft but don’t penetrate or condition, they just create slip through a physical barrier. BTMS-50 conditions through electrostatic attraction, which is a totally different and a more functional way.
Handcrafted in Grand Valley, Ontario
Our conditioner bar is formulated and handcrafted in small batches in Grand Valley, Ontario with no sulphates, no silicones, no parabens. Just ingredients that actually do what they’re supposed to do.
Shop the Lavish Earth Conditioner Bar →
A note from the formulator : I’ll be completely honest when I say BTMS-50 is a trip to work with in the studio. In its raw state it has a very distinct, weird kinda scent. Wet dog and vanilla cream is the most accurate description I’ve ever landed on. Hahah. It’s easily my least favourite ingredient to measure out. But the cosmetic chemistry is pure magic: that scent completely vanishes in the finished bar. What you’re left with is the undisputed heavyweight champion of rinse-off conditioning. Twelve years in, the results still blow me away, even if I have to hold my breath for a second to make it happen.
🫧 Andrea, Founder & Formulator, Lavish Earth
How Rose & Lemon Face Cleanser Changed My Routine
Turns out I’m a picky formulator.
It took a few years of research, testing, and playing around before I finished formulating this face cleanser because it had to meet a specific list of requirements. It had to feel perfect on skin. It had to be stable enough to sit on your counter without drama. Clean ingredients, gentle enough for twice daily use, and (most importantly) it had to actually respect your skin barrier.
That last one matters more than people realize.
You know that squeaky, tight feeling after washing your face? That’s not clean. That’s your cleanser taking more than just dirt, it’s stripping your natural oils and disrupting your barrier in the process. Which is just rude.
Here’s a quick piece of skin science worth knowing: your skin’s natural pH is slightly acidic, sitting around 5.5. Keeping your cleanser close to that number means your barrier stays intact and happy.
Now....I make bar soap. I know. The obvious question is why not just use that? I tried. Traditional cold process soap runs at a pH of around 8, which works beautifully on the body (especially with superfatting : adding extra oils so your skin stays soft instead of stripped). But on delicate face skin? It’s just not the right tool.
So instead, I built this cleanser around Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, a coconut-derived surfactant sometimes called “baby foam” because of how exceptionally gentle it is. It cleanses without stripping, which was exactly the starting point I needed.
From there, I layered in niacinamide for visible redness support and meadowfoam seed oil which is an incredibly gentle, stable oil that reinforces the skin barrier without feeling heavy in a rinse-off formula.
And then the scent: lemon, rose, and ylang ylang essential oils. Light, floral, a little mood-lifting. Scented at 0.3% for just a touch of scent to treat yourself without being overpowering.
Rose + Lemon Gentle Face Cleanser started as something I was making for myself because I couldn’t find what I was looking for anywhere else. That’s kind of the origin story of most things at Lavish Earth.
I hope it ends up being exactly what you’ve been looking for too.
I formulated this because my own skin needed something better, and I can't wait for you to experience it yourself. Click here to bring the Rose & Lemon Cleanser into your vanity
Cetyl Alcohol is Not Rubbing Alcohol (here's how THAT works...)
Cetyl alcohol can throw people off when they are first starting to read ingredient lists. And I have people ask about it at markets too. And I totally get that because whyyyy does it say alcohol if it’s not. . .traditional alcohol??
Ok so real talk, there are actually different families of ingredients that are called alcohol and behave nothing at all alike!
The alcohol people are (rightfully) avoiding
Short-chain alcohols are the drying ones on skin. These include isopropyl alcohol, ethanol, and denatured alcohol are the ones that evaporate fast, feel drying, and can strip your skin barrier with repeated use. These are the alcohols in hand sanitizer and rubbing alcohol. They have their place but they definitely don’t belong in your moisturizer.
Cetyl alcohol is something else entirely
Cetyl alcohol is a fatty alcohol with lovely long chains and it’s derived from vegetable oils. The longer chains in it’s structure make it so it’s waxy and solid at room temperature. It doesn’t evaporate. It doesn’t dry your skin. It does the opposite.
In a conditioner bar or lotion, cetyl alcohol acts as an emollient and thickener. It gives the product its smooth, creamy texture and helps it feel luxurious on your skin and hair. It’s incredibly skin barrier friendly.
The same name but a totally different molecule.
The quick test
If an alcohol is listed near the top of an ingredient list and the product feels drying (like hand sanitizer), that’s probably a short chain alcohol. If cetyl alcohol, cetearyl alcohol, or stearyl alcohol appears? Those are fatty alcohols that are helping your skin.
Make sure you keep on reading the whole ingredient list! Learning more about the ingredients like these that are actually good for the skin and hair is the best way to do it.
You’ll find cetyl alcohol in our conditioner bars, where it contributes to that smooth, detangling texture your hair actually feels (and now you know what it is!).
A note from the formulator :
Cetyl alcohol shows up in our conditioner bar because of exactly what this post describes - it gives that smooth, creamy texture that detangles and thankfully, has nothing to do with drying alcohols! Easy to work with and actually works well as a co-emulsifier if you need extra stability in your recipe.
Why I Put Citric Acid in My Dish Soap Block Formulation (most formulas leave it out!)
If you’ve made the switch to a solid dish soap block, you already know the benefits : no plastic, lasts for months. But if you've ever stumbled across a bar that left... residue (eww) - that's a formulation issue.
It's all about this one little ingredient called : citric acid.
What is citric acid?
Citric acid is a naturally occurring acid found in citrus fruits. In cleaning formulations it acts as a "chelating agent", which is a fancy way of saying it binds to minerals in hard water and stops them from reacting with your soap.
Why does that matter?
Tap water has minerals and hard water especially is full of calcium and magnesium ions. When those minerals hit a soap bar, they react and form soap scum - that white filmy residue that ends up on your dishes, your sink, and your soap itself. It's chemistry gone wild.
Citric acid intercepts that reaction. It grabs onto the minerals before they can start soap scumming (that should be the technical term!), which means your dishes rinse cleaner, your sink stays cleaner, and your bar lasts longer.
So why doesn’t every dish soap block have it?
It really should be! It truly makes a difference in the quality of clean you can get from your soap bar. It is an extra ingredient, and a bit more complex to work with.
We’re a small batch formulation-first operation though. Every ingredient earns its place. And citric acid really does earn a spot in a dish soap bar.
The short version
Soap scum is hard water minerals reacting with soap. Citric acid stops that reaction before it starts. Your dishes are cleaner and your sink will be thanking you.
You’ll find citric acid in both scents of our solid dish soap block : Lemon, and Orange Tangerine. Available as a single bar or in a starter kit with a Canadian pine soap tray and bamboo brush.
A note from the formulator :
Citric acid is one of those ingredients that is a great addition but you have to work a little harder to make sure your calculations are spot on in bar soap. The citric acid will react with the lye during saponification, so you have to adjust your lye calculation to account for it, otherwise your bar will have too much unreacted (superfat) oils and can make a greasier/soap scum-prone bar. I formulate this bar to 0% superfat, which means every gram of citric acid gets accounted for, there’s no extra fats being left on dishes, and the bar is truly effective.
The Two Ingredients That Made Me Ditch Baking Soda Deodorant For Good.
You’re not alone if you gave up on natural deodorant. Most of the early natural formulas on the market leaned big on using baking soda, ripping up armpits across the nation. But sodium bicarbonate does work at first and it seems to do a good job. It works by making the skin alkaline enough to create a hostile environment for odour-causing bacteria. Which is awesome in theory but is obviously pretty rough on skin with repeated use.
The problem wasn’t natural deodorant, it was the ingredient they were relying on completely to fight odour.
Magnesium Hydroxide
This one is a superstar in natural deodorant. It has a pH of 8, which is mildly alkaline but juuust enough to create an environment where odour-causing bacteria are going to struggle. It’s a similar idea to sodium bicarbonate but at a fraction of the alkalinity and way gentler on skin.
Zinc Ricineolate
This ingredient is talked about less but it really shouldn’t be! I absolutely nerd out on this one (LOL). It’s derived from castor oil and works by (wait for it!) actually absorbing the odour molecules. Actually capturing that stink and neutralizing them. It’s one of the most odour-neutralizing ingredients in a natural formulation.
Together - The Perfect Couple
Magnesium Hydroxide and Zinc Ricineolate work through different ways because one stops the bacteria from the odour foolishness to start and one absorbs the odour. That’s why they work so well together - you’re covered in two directions.
Ready to try it? Our magnesium + zinc deodorant comes in a selection of awesome scents and ship across Canada in a fully compostable tube.
A note from the formulator :
This combination of ingredients is so effective that it made me truly fall in love with natural deodorant. Magnesium hydroxide and Zinc ricineolate are for so many more skin types and genuinely a great option for odour control. I’ve been formulating natural deodorants for long enough and this one still gets me so excited seeing this combination.
Let’s Talk About Those New Ingredient Names on Your Labels
You might notice something different on our product labels starting this spring: ingredients like “Limonene,” “Linalool,” and “Citral” showing up, sometimes in a separate section, sometimes with an asterisk and a footnote.
No, we didn’t change our formulas. We’re still using the same essential oils we’ve always used. But Health Canada’s new allergen disclosure rules mean we now have to list the naturally-occurring components within those essential oils.
Here’s what’s happening: when you see “Limonene” listed, that’s the compound that makes lemons smell like lemons. It’s not an added chemical - it’s a natural part of lemon essential oil. Same with Linalool in lavender, or Citral in lemongrass. These components have always been there. We’re just required to name them now.
The threshold that triggers disclosure? 0.001% in a leave-on product, 0.01% in a rinse-off. That is a genuinely tiny amount - trace-level compounds that exist naturally inside ingredients we’ve always used. The goal is transparency for people with severe contact allergies who need to avoid specific compounds even in small amounts. And honestly? Transparency is kind of our whole thing. So we’re not mad about the intent.
But here’s where it gets interesting.
Ever notice how big commercial brands just list “parfum” or “fragrance” on their labels? That single word can contain dozens of undisclosed compounds. They don’t have to tell you what’s actually in there.
Full disclosure: we do use fragrance oils in a small number of our products - roughly 10% of our line, always clearly marked.
Here’s my honest reasoning: I want everyone to have access to the skin-loving benefits of ingredients like shea butter, argan, and all the plant- and mineral-based ingredients that makes our product line. If a familiar, comforting scent is what makes someone reach for a product with 99% of the good stuff in it - I’m not going to gatekeep that. We also offer fragrance-free options across the line, because choices matter.
And who knows? Maybe the person who starts with a familiar scent eventually gets curious about a Pink Lotus essential oil face oil. That’s the hope. Meet people where they are, show them what’s possible, keep it kind.
What I won’t do is use fragrance carelessly. Every fragrance oil we use gets vetted. I read every MSDS and run the allergen components through the same calculations I use for essential oils. When it’s in one of our products, it earned its place.
So yes, even our fragrance-containing products will list every disclosed allergen component. No hiding behind “parfum.” Not here.
A note for the formulators in the room.
Here’s something worth talking about, because it caught even my eye at first.
The current common format looks like this:
Ingredients: … Lavandula angustifolia (Lavender) oil … Linalool*, Limonene*
*naturally occurring in essential oils
The problem? To a trained eye (and honestly to a lot of consumers) that reads like linalool was added separately. Like it was refined and put back in for fragrance impact. That’s not what’s happening. It’s the compound that exists naturally inside the lavender oil already listed. But the format makes it look like an extra ingredient.
We’re currently working toward a nested format instead:
Lavandula angustifolia (Lavender) oil (contains Linalool, Limonene)
Same information. Way clearer. The compound lives inside the ingredient it came from, right there where it makes sense.
I’ve reached out to Health Canada to confirm this format meets compliance requirements and are waiting to hear back. Once confirmed, that’s the direction we’re going - because how a label reads matters as much as what it says.
So when you see a longer ingredient list on our products this spring, don’t panic. Nothing changed in our formulas. We’re just showing you more - including the molecular compounds that exist naturally in the plants we use.
I’d rather you know exactly what’s on your skin than hide it under a vague term.
Full disclosure, always.🌿
Fall Into Winter Skin Care: Your Seasonal Transition Guide
The air changes fast here in Canada. One minute you’re crunching through autumn leaves, the next your skin is begging for mercy against cold winds and cranked-up heaters. Fall is beautiful, but it’s also the warning bell that winter skin season is coming. This is the perfect time to swap a few routines so you glide into the colder months feeling nourished, not dried out.
Why the Transition Matters
Your skin doesn’t just react to products, it also reacts to the environment. In fall, the humidity drops, the air dries, and suddenly your light summer moisturizer isn’t cutting it. Instead of waiting until your knuckles are cracked and your lips are chapped, make small adjustments now.
Moisture, Moisture, Moisture
This is the season to reach for shea butter in all its forms. Our Triple Whipped Shea Butter is like a cozy sweater for your skin - rich, fluffy, and ready to keep dryness at bay. For everyday wear, our argan rich hand & body lotions give lightweight hydration you can layer without feeling greasy.
Don’t Forget the Night Shift
Night is when your skin does its repair work. A richer cream, like our Frankincense Night Cream, helps seal in hydration while you sleep. Waking up with skin that feels soft instead of tight? Absolute game-changer.
Lip + Cuticle Heroes
These are the spots we forget until they start to hurt. Keep a lip balm handy (compostable tube, of course) and tuck a cuticle balm tin into your bag. It’s a five-second step that makes winter mornings so much easier.
Final Thoughts
Fall is your friendly nudge to get ahead of winter skin struggles. Switch to richer hydration, stock up on targeted care, and treat your nighttime routine like the cozy ritual it deserves to be. By the time the snow flies, you’ll already be two steps ahead.
👉 Explore our Winter Skin Heroes lineup — from shea butters to night creams — and give your skin the smoothest seasonal transition yet.
