DEVA INSIGHTS & INDUSTRY NEWS

How Does Hair Get "Damaged"? Before discussing repair, we must first understand "damage." The hair shaft is structured in three layers from outside to inside: the cuticle, cortex, and medulla. The cuticle is the first line of defense—composed of 6–8 overlapping flat keratinocyte scales arranged like roof tiles. In a healthy state, these scales lie flat and tightly closed, imparting shine, smoothness, and water resistance. The primary component of hair is keratin (~85%–95%), w

The Scalp Is Not Just "Skin That Needs Washing" For decades, the core logic of shampoo formulation had only one mandate: cleansing. Wash away sebum, dirt, and dandruff; leave it feeling fresh; task complete. But recently, a research direction disrupting this paradigm has emerged: the scalp microbiome. The scalp is the body's second-largest microecological system (after the gut), hosting over 100 microbial species on its surface, including bacteria, fungi, viruses, and arthrop

How Big Is the Dandruff Problem? Bigger than you think. Latest data from the 2025 China Scalp Health Industry White Paper reveals that the population affected by dandruff in China has reached 409 million, with the 25–40 age group accounting for 71.8%—a 27.9% increase compared to five years ago. More concerningly, over 67.8% of dandruff sufferers experience "recurrent dandruff," with an 82.8% recurrence rate within 1–2 weeks after using conventional anti-dandruff products. "Tr

A Seriously Underestimated Formulation Ingredient Open the ingredient list of any premium shampoo, and you will almost certainly find "Cocamidopropyl Betaine" among the top five components. Its abbreviation, CAPB, represents the most widely used amphoteric surfactant in personal care. Yet most consumers know it by only one phrase: "auxiliary foaming agent." This perception is fundamentally wrong—or at least, severely incomplete. The role of amphoteric surfactants in modern ha

Why Is Antioxidant Formulation the Hardest to "Get Right" in Skincare? Free radical damage is one of the core mechanisms behind skin aging, dullness, and hyperpigmentation. While antioxidant protection seems straightforward in theory, translating it into a functional formulation presents a complex multivariable equation: stability of active ingredients, skin penetration efficiency, effective concentration thresholds, synergistic or antagonistic interactions... Each factor dir

Why Is Hand Cream Formulation the Toughest Balance Between "Sensory Experience" and "Efficacy"? Hand skin has a thin stratum corneum, sparse sebaceous gland distribution, and is constantly exposed to water washing, detergents, and physical friction—resulting in transepidermal water loss (TEWL) rates 2–3× higher than facial skin. As the structural backbone of hand creams, oils directly determine occlusive repair capacity, penetration depth, application experience, and shelf st

"Weakly acidic, pH 5.5, gentle and non-irritating"—this phrase has become one of the most frequently used marketing claims in the shampoo industry. But here's the question: Does pH 5.5 truly equal "gentle"? The answer is no. pH is merely one parameter influencing a formula's mildness—and often not the most critical one. Equating "weakly acidic" with "gentle" is a misconception amplified by marketing logic yet lacking support from formulation science. This article reconstructs

For shampoos or facial cleansers, 90% of functional performance is determined by surfactants. They dictate: How thoroughly the product cleanses Foam quantity and quality Whether skin feels tight or smooth post-wash Whether long-term use may compromise the scalp/skin barrier However, market information about surfactants is extremely fragmented and often misleading: "Are amino acid surfactants always the gentlest?" "Is SLES inevitably damaging to skin?" "Does 'natural' APG guar

Why "Pilling" Has Become the Primary Reason for Product Abandonment in the Layering Era of 2026? With multi-step layering routines like "AM Vitamin C / PM Retinol" and "serum + sunscreen + primer" becoming mainstream, 63% of consumers list "pilling/flaking" as the primary reason for discontinuing product use (Mintel 2026 Consumer Experience Report) . Pilling is not a sensory mystery—it is the physicochemical result of polymer film cross-linking, mismatched solvent evaporation