Hey everyone! Shauna and Amber here.
It’s been a minute since we’ve published a blog post, and honestly, it feels incredibly good to be back in this space with you.
Over the last 11 years, we’ve ridden the wildest waves of the CBD and cannabis skincare boom. As a community of licensed estheticians, cosmetologists, bodyworkers, and clinical skincare professionals, we have watched the beauty industry swing like a chaotic pendulum. We’ve watched brands launch overnight with flashy marketing, massive promises, and astronomical price tags attached to unnecessarily high milligram amounts. And, honestly, we’ve watched most of them disappear.
Through all of it, our team has consistently chosen integrity first, anchoring ourselves in science-backed formulations deeply rooted in our own lab and our own professional treatment rooms. We’ve remained grounded in the same priorities because we refuse to inflate claims, chase fleeting internet trends, or compromise our formulation standards for a quick marketing play. If the science doesn’t support it, and our treatment-room experience doesn't align with it, we don’t do it. Period.
Lately, a piece of generalized "skincare education" has been aggressively making the rounds on our feeds, and it's time to call it out:
“All foaming cleansers—no matter how gentle or plant-based—destroy your skin’s lipid barrier, strip your microbiome, and ruin your skin.”
It sounds deeply scientific. But it reduces complex formulation chemistry to a blanket conclusion the evidence doesn’t support.
Let's be completely real: we are a company founded by licensed estheticians with over a decade of clinical experience. We formulated a multi award-winning foaming cleanser that's been one of our top two selling formulations for 9 years strong. Do you honestly think we would ever put our name on a product that stripped your lipid barrier or compromised your skin health?
Absolutely not! Even the idea of it is an insult to our formulations.
And listen, if credible evidence showed that one of our formulas was performing differently from what we’d intended or represented, we’d investigate it immediately, communicate transparently, and reformulate when necessary. That's because doing the right thing—even when it’s the hard, expensive thing—is the only way we operate.
For us, good education shouldn’t simply tell you what to think—it should give you the tools to ask better questions. It should empower you to examine a trending industry claim, look at the molecular data, and decide for yourself whether it holds weight, rather than being frightened into accepting a blanket statement.
With that, we stand firmly behind the design of our cleanser. Why? Because chemistry dictates function, and a great formulation isn’t just a list of random ingredients—it’s an interconnected system in which every ingredient affects the performance of the whole.
Let’s break down the molecular science and examine why the "all foam is bad" narrative doesn’t hold up when applied to advanced cosmetic formulation.
Structure Determines Function
Much of the concern surrounding foaming cleansers comes from antiquated experience with traditional, cheap drugstore soaps and strongly detergent anionic systems—specifically formulas relying heavily on sulfates like Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS).
These systems can interact strongly with your stratum-corneum proteins and natural lipids, which can increase dryness, irritation, or barrier disruption depending on concentration, pH, contact time, frequency of use, and the complete formulation.
The cool thing is that creating foam doesn't require harsh, aggressive detergency.
In advanced cosmetic chemistry, we can design a foam that is incredibly rich and dense, yet fundamentally protective of your skin’s biological age and barrier integrity.
Here is exactly how our ingredients stack, layer, and dance together to create a formulation that actually supports your skin while you wash.
The Ultra-Gentle Surfactant Engine
Instead of cheap sulfates, our primary surfactant system (wash phase) is powered by a sophisticated duo:
Polyglucose (Decyl/Lauryl Glucoside): A sugar-derived, nonionic surfactant commonly selected for comparatively mild cleansing systems. Because it has no permanent electrical charge, its molecules are incredibly gentle. They lift surface dirt, makeup, and daily debris without interacting with or disrupting your skin’s native proteins.
Coco Betaine: A coconut-derived, amphoteric surfactant, Coco Betaine acts as a natural buffer, wrapping around the cleansing molecules to stabilize the luxurious foam while actively moderating the overall irritation potential of the entire wash phase.
This dual-action engine gives you that deeply satisfying, airy lather without ever compromising your skin's natural acidic mantle (pH 4.5–5.5).
The Silk Barrier Protective Pillow
A sophisticated formulation is never just a collection of isolated ingredients; it is a synergistic system. To counter the transient drying effects inherent to the physical act of washing the skin with water, we infused a heavy-hitting conditioning complex directly into the wash phase. This is where the real formulation magic happens.
- Organic Jojoba Oil: A liquid wax ester that is compositionally and structurally almost identical to your skin's native sebum. As you wash, Jojoba acts as a protective shield, lubricating your skin cells so the surfactants never actually reach your deeper lipids.
- Organic Hemp Seed Oil: Packed with a perfect 3:1 ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 fatty acids, mirroring the skin's natural lipid profile. It provides lightweight, non-comedogenic nourishment that rinses clean while keeping your skin feeling supple, never stripped.
- Glyceryl Oleate Citrate & Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride: These plant-derived esters and coconut lipids are the secret to our texture. They wrap the surfactant bubbles in a cushion of moisture, transforming the foam into a velvety, creamy cloud that leaves a gorgeous, silky, touchable "after-feel."
The Hydration Flood
True skin longevity is all about moisture retention. REMOVE uses highly hygroscopic Vegetable Glycerin and Organic Aloe Vera as a hydrating tag-team.
Instead of allowing the rinse water to evaporate and take your skin's moisture with it (trans-epidermal water loss), these humectants bind water molecules directly to the skin surface during the wash. They support your skin's Natural Moisture Factor (NMF), ensuring your face feels plump, calm, and intensely hydrated the second you pat it dry with an aesthetician-approved towel.
The Preservation System
A water-based cleanser requires an effective preservation system to control microbial growth and ensure the finished product remains within acceptable microbiological limits throughout its intended life and use.
Our cleanser uses a globally respected preservation blend containing Benzyl Alcohol, Salicylic Acid, and Sorbic Acid. In this formula, salicylic acid is present as a component of the preservation blend; it isn’t included at the concentrations ordinarily used to market an exfoliating or peeling active treatment.
This system allows us to preserve the formula effectively while remaining consistent with the ingredient standards we’ve chosen for Color Up. The formula doesn’t rely on formaldehyde-releasing preservatives or parabens.
Cannabinoid Architecture
Over our 11 years in this industry, we’ve rented space to dozens of brilliant, licensed service providers, running thousands of treatments in our rooms. During years of providing and observing these professional services, our team began noticing a recurring treatment-room pattern: certain clients with highly reactive facial skin appeared to tolerate our CBD-only facial formulas better than formulas containing higher amounts of THC or broader full-spectrum extracts. In some reactive clients, those broader profiles coincided with localized flushing or warmth.
That observation deeply influenced our product-development decisions and our formulation philosophy. It wasn't a controlled clinical trial, and we will never present it as one. But it inspired us to look closer at the emerging science of the skin's unique endocannabinoid system (ECS).
Topical cannabinoid research is an active, rapidly evolving field. Emerging preclinical studies suggest that CBD interacts with a complex network of cutaneous pathways, and is being actively studied for its potential influence on inflammatory signaling, sebocyte biology, oxidative stress, and pathways involving nuclear receptors like PPAR-gamma.
While rinse-off cleansers have limited contact time compared to leave-on treatments, we chose to anchor our facial formulations around isolated CBD, with no intentionally added THC, providing a consistent cannabinoid component designed to support skin comfort.
Color Up's Formulation Transparency
True professional education gives you the power to ask the right questions so no one can weaponize oversimplified science against your skin health or your business.
Our award-winning REMOVE Foaming Cleanser isn’t an accidental formulation. It is an intentionally designed, oncology-approved, clinical-grade masterpiece built around a balanced surfactant system, emollient support, and more than a decade of professional experience.
