MSc Cosmetic Science Year 1

Summary: SPC Magazine

Marta Azarpour
The Beauty of Water Summary
The article The Beauty of Water, written by Barbara Brockway, discusses the significance of water availability within
countries all over the world with the purpose of creating awareness towards its consumption, over price and value.
The writer provides an example to enhance the value of water, by discussing the price of a moisturizer and its dry
weight of 65% water content.
The importance of water is highly mentioned in the article as the author frequently uses examples which highlight its
significance. This is for the effect of reinforcing humanitys callousness towards the presence of water, as it is a
source that the majority takes for granted. Experts on the matter have hypothesized that its availability will decrease
as its demanding continues to increase, which develops concern regarding its availability in the future. It is predicted
that throughout the years water availability will reduce until an extent where populations will experience shortages,
which links to the dilemma of dehydration. Not only have countries such as Israel started discouraging the
exportation of oranges in order to use it as a source of water, as companies have also started looking into the
amount of water used to formulate a product.
In a skin-care level, an experimental test has proven that replacing water by non-alcoholic drinks doesnt affect
healthy skin; whereas aging decreases water levels by impacting the skin tissues, however, water loss could be
regulated by adding moisturizers. The presence of water has been proven to depend on humidity levels, as it has
been proven with the case of hair.
The author makes a comparison between the usage of water in both the food and cosmetic industry by referring that
while the food industry cant increase water activity due to spoilage and presence of microorganisms, the cosmetic
industry uses preservatives do so. Yet, controlling water activity in cosmetics might replace the need for
preservatives in the future.
There are different sources of water which impact the effect of its composition. The article reflects myths and
realities regarding water by using examples involved with the level of iron in water and swimming pools. Skin care
companies are interested in the benefits from Eastern European water because of the beneficial properties of certain
elements because of claimed evidence, regarding mineral composition.
The article concludes that the composition of water is very vulnerable to spoilage and therefore it should be
preserved. Using alternatives to natural water, such as exotic or demineralized, as a replacement in the cosmetic
industry would globally help slow down the process of water shortage.