Aisha Vyas
Cosmetic Formulator · 9 years in Estée Lauder R&D.
About Aisha
Aisha Vyas trained as a cosmetic chemist at Rutgers and spent nine years inside Estée Lauder's R&D division, where she worked on formulations that ended up in Clinique, Origins, and a handful of products that never made it to market. She left to consult independently in 2024 and now writes for Glow on the ingredient science behind every category she touches.
She is not a doctor. She is not a dermatologist. She is a formulator — which means she can tell you why a 10% niacinamide formula behaves differently from a 5% one, why most 'vitamin C serums' oxidise within three months of opening, and what the chemistry actually allows for in topical anti-aging.
Her writing is the technical underlayer of Glow's reviews — when a product makes a claim, Aisha is the one reading the back of the bottle and explaining whether the chemistry supports it.
How Aisha writes.
Patient, precise, conversational about complex chemistry. Will use words like 'delivery vehicle' and 'bioavailability' but always defines them on first use. Reads like Hank Green if Hank Green had spent a decade inside Estée Lauder.
Three things Aisha actually believes.
- The single biggest determinant of whether a topical actually works is the delivery vehicle, not the active percentage. Most consumers (and most brands) get this backwards.
- Anything in a clear bottle that contains L-ascorbic acid is oxidised. The packaging is the formulation decision.
- The 'skincare ingredient cycle' you see on TikTok runs four years behind the formulation labs.
What Aisha writes about.
- The actual chemistry of an ingredient — what marketers leave out
- Why your vitamin C serum is probably oxidised — and what to do about it
- The five formulation tells of a serious skincare brand
- What 'fragrance-free' actually means in the lab
- Reading a skincare back-of-bottle: a formulator's walk-through
Keyword themes Aisha owns.
what is retinol · niacinamide explained · cosmetic ingredients · vitamin c oxidised · skincare science
Aisha holds independent consulting relationships with three small skincare brands, none of which are reviewed on Glow. Any article involving a brand she has formulated for is recused from her byline.
Other Glow editors.
For Glow's full editorial team, see /editors. For our editorial standards and how we review, see /how-we-review.