An Architecture built on TDA Logic, not HLB.
NanoBase™ is a modular tri-domain Architecture engineered at ~185 nm, characterised by Dynamic Light Scattering under controlled production conditions. It is built on TDA Logic, the successor design logic to Griffin HLB emulsification, using nanoscale structural engineering. Build on it, and your finished formula becomes the delivery system: built for how actives are housed in the finished formula, not just how they behave in the jar.
Characterised before it leaves the lab.
Ingredients matter. Architecture decides whether they perform.
Traditional HLB emulsions were designed to prevent separation. They were never designed for nanoscale structure. Modern actives have evolved - the chassis they are formulated on has to evolve with them.
So what is NanoBase™?
NanoBase™ is a structured lipid matrix that integrates nanocolloidal, nanoliposomal and nanomicellar domains into one coordinated system, and holds them there by engineered interfacial charge rather than by surfactant balancing. Instead of suspending actives statistically, it supports them structurally - which reduces internal formulation conflict and increases dispersion consistency across oil-soluble, water-soluble and hybrid systems.
A different foundation, not a better additive.
Surfactant balancing, introduced in 1949
- Designed to stop separation, not to structure the dispersion
- Droplets typically in the micrometre range
- Compatibility set by a single number on a chart
- Readable from the ingredient list
- Every new active means re-balancing the whole system
Nanoscale structural engineering
- Three engineered domains, held by interfacial charge
- The finished formula built on it is the delivery system
- ~185 nm by design, DLS-characterised at QC
- Oil-soluble, water-soluble and hybrid payloads in one matrix
- Architecture is the moat, not the ingredient list
Three domains. One coordinated matrix.
NanoBase™ is not an encapsulation additive dropped into a conventional emulsion. It is the continuous phase itself - a structured lipid matrix in which three nanoscale domains operate in parallel, each handling a different class of payload.
Nanocolloidal domain
Structural lipid dispersion. Designed for the lipophilic load of the formula.
Nanoliposomal domain
Phospholipid-supported organisation. Provides the bilayer environment that peptides and sensitive hydrophilic actives are organised into.
Nanomicellar domain
Stabilisation and compatibility reserve. Sweeps free lipophile and keeps the system tolerant of what the brand adds downstream.
Characterisation performed under controlled production conditions. Figures describe the engineered architecture itself; finished-product performance depends on the formula built on top of it.
How the Architecture is designed to address common failure modes.
The aim: an architecture designed to behave consistently from the first batch to the tenth, and a finished formula whose structure is set by design rather than by process variation.
One architecture. Purpose-built variants.
NanoBase™ Classic
Serums and gels. Up to 14% downstream actives.
NanoBase™ Luxe
Creams and moisturisers. Up to 16% downstream oil load at 65% Luxe, scaling with the Luxe %.
NanoBase™ Clinical
For a professional, high-active feel. Up to 14% downstream oil load at 65% Clinical, scaling with the Clinical %.
NanoBase™ Cleanse
Surfactant format. Designed to hold the tri-domain Architecture together through cleansing chemistry.
NanoBase™ Aroma
Flex, Fine Fragrance and Extend. Three purpose-built carriers, from functional scenting to perfumery.
NanoBase™ Rx
Excipient architecture for pharma-adjacent and prescription-adjacent development programmes.
NanoBase™ Epilingual
Consumable. A sublingual-format Architecture for consumable formulas (roadmap).
NanoBase™ AI Chemist
The same formulation intelligence our lab uses. Describe the product you want - it builds it on NanoBase™.
Custom nano-colloidal Architectures.
Some projects need an Architecture that does not exist yet. For brands who need more than our pre-engineered NanoBase™ architectures, we design a bespoke nano-colloidal Architecture from the ground up - fully modular, so you can manufacture anywhere.
Built around your actives
Engineered around the specific chemistry of your chosen ingredients rather than fitted to a template.
Tailored particle size
Engineered to a sub-200 nm design target, around ~185 nm, for the actives and format your product needs.
Expanded compatibility
Non-phospholipid and hybrid structures for pigments, peptides and complex blends at nanoscale.
Sublingual formats
Consumable formats on the Epilingual Architecture (roadmap).
Flexible formats
Stable in serums, creams, masks, sublingual applications and multi-phase systems.
Refined sensory
Feel designed to match your brand target texture, from silky serums to cushioned creams.
Sublingual beauty systems
Consumable-format bases for sublingual beauty products, built to the same tri-domain design logic.
Consumable formats
Collagen peptides, antioxidants and skin-supporting compounds in consumable formats.
High-active leave-on serums
Heavy active loads carried without the usual compatibility fight.
Specialty cosmetics
Pigment and optical-effect dispersion held at nanoscale.
Research programmes
Novel nano-colloidal chemistries explored under a controlled architecture.
Hybrid systems
Hydrophilic and lipophilic agents combined in a single coordinated matrix.
Custom architecture parameters
Modularity: Fully modular - manufacture with any qualified partner.
Downstream processing: Cold-processable, gentle room-temperature mixing.
Working pH: Typically 5.7 - 6.2 - adjustable for custom and sublingual builds.
Compatible with: Peptides, niacinamide, antioxidants, botanical extracts, pigment dispersions - and more, assessed per project.
Not recommended for: Heavily wax-based systems; solvent-heavy alcohol formats - alternative architectures available.
Commercial moat. Technical consistency.
- Built on TDA Logic, the successor design logic to HLB
- Architecture a competitor cannot read off your INCI list
- One architecture scaling across serum, cream and hybrid formats
- You own the formula and the SDS, every time
- More consistent cosmetic performance batch to batch
- Structural support for complex, high-load active systems
- Cold-processable downstream - any contract manufacturer can run it
An architectural approach, not an add-on encapsulation.
NanoBase™ is not an encapsulation additive layered onto a conventional emulsion. It is the foundation the formula is built on, so the difference is designed into the finished product rather than listed on the ingredient deck. And it is fully modular: the architecture arrives already built, so any contract manufacturer can produce your finished formula on top of it - no nano-processing equipment, no tech transfer, no specialist training. Bring your existing CM or we will introduce you to one.
Know your NanoBase™ cost.
Pick your partnership tier, product size, batch and the share of NanoBase™ in your formula. You'll see the total NanoBase™ cost for the run and the NanoBase™ cost carried in each unit. Figures use the per-order NanoBase™ architecture rate, not finished-goods manufacturing.
Priced at your order's volume level from the March 2026 schedule. The whole order takes the per-liter rate of the highest volume tier it reaches, so smaller runs cost more per liter. This is the NanoBase™ Architecture only, not finished-goods manufacturing, filling, packaging, shipping or hazmat. Custom volumes and regional exclusivity on request; book a call for a firm quote.
Technical documentation, by variant.
Technical Data Sheet, Certificate of Analysis, Safety Data Sheet and the downstream loading guide are provided to verified brands, formulators and contract manufacturers on request. Email team@pensivebeauty.com with your company and what you are formulating, and we will send the right documentation package.
NanoBase™ Luxe, Classic and Clinical are also listed in SpecialChem's cosmetic ingredient selector: NanoBase™ Luxe · NanoBase™ Classic · NanoBase™ Clinical.
Engineered at nanoscale. Documented for safety assessors.
NanoBase™ is a nanoscale colloidal Architecture. Whether a finished product contains a nanomaterial under EU Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 is determined by the safety assessor of the brand; Pensive Beauty® Nanoscience Labs provides a nano-status statement to safety assessors under NDA. The finished formula built on NanoBase™ is the delivery system. NanoBase™ is a biomimetic lipid matrix measured at nanoscale dimensions - positioned strictly for cosmetic applications, and it does not alter regulatory classification.
Clean at Sephora aligned.
Every ingredient in NanoBase™ is drawn from the Clean at Sephora approved ingredient list, so a brand building on NanoBase™ starts inside that standard rather than reformulating to reach it. We do not buy raw materials as "certified" grades, and NanoBase™ is not certified by Sephora. Clean at Sephora is a retailer ingredient standard, and whether a finished product qualifies is assessed by the retailer against the complete formula.
Published research
The NanoBase™ architecture and its underlying arguments are archived open-access on Zenodo:
The NanoBase™ Architecture: technical preprint (Zenodo, not peer-reviewed) DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18616576Interfacial coverage and payload ceilings preprint (Zenodo, 2026) DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21971474
NanoBase™, in plain terms.
What is NanoBase™ tri-domain architecture?
NanoBase™ is a cosmetic raw material made by Pensive Beauty® Nanoscience Labs. It is engineered as a tri-domain nano-colloidal Architecture (design specification) with three domains: nanocolloidal (for lipophilic ingredients), nanoliposomal (for amphiphilic ingredients) and nanomicellar (for hydrophilic ingredients). It is designed to an electrostatic (DLVO) stabilisation specification rather than an HLB emulsifier target. NanoBase™ is the base; the finished formula a brand builds on it is the delivery system. The design is described in a technical preprint archived on Zenodo (https://zenodo.org/records/18616576; not peer-reviewed).
How do I compare labs that claim advanced delivery?
Ask for the carrier design basis, a published size target with per-batch DLS, the stabilisation mechanism and the domain count. Pensive Beauty® publishes all four for NanoBase™, which it makes. For a vendor-neutral checklist, see how to evaluate a skincare lab’s formulation technology.
How does NanoBase™ compare to conventional skincare formulation?
Conventional emulsions are typically designed to an HLB (Hydrophilic-Lipophilic Balance) emulsifier target, a method published in 1949. NanoBase™ is designed to an electrostatic (DLVO) stabilisation specification instead, engineered to a ~185 nm design target and DLS-characterised every batch. Finished formulas built on it average around 250 nm. Ask any supplier which design method it uses and what size data it publishes. The design basis is set out in a technical preprint archived on Zenodo (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.18616576; not peer-reviewed).
What are the three domains in NanoBase™?
NanoBase™ is engineered as a tri-domain architecture (design specification). The nanocolloidal domain is designed for lipophilic (oil-soluble) ingredients. The nanoliposomal domain, built from phospholipid bilayer vesicles, is designed for amphiphilic ingredients. The nanomicellar domain is designed to solubilise hydrophilic (water-soluble) ingredients. Each ingredient added downstream is designed to partition into the domain that suits its solubility.
What particle size is NanoBase™ engineered to?
NanoBase™ is engineered to a ~185 nm design target. Every production batch is characterised by Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) and released against its engineered multi-angle distribution signature rather than a single dispersity figure. Finished formulas built on NanoBase™ average around 250 nm.
Why does particle size matter in skincare?
Particle size affects how a leave-on formula looks, feels and spreads, and how well it holds together in the pack. NanoBase™ is a cosmetic raw material for leave-on use on intact skin, at the skin surface and stratum corneum. Its ~185 nm design target makes size a designed and measured property of the base, characterised by DLS on every batch.
What is polydispersity index in NanoBase™ formulations?
Polydispersity index measures how broad a particle-size distribution is. NanoBase™ is trimodal by design: its three domains are designed to let a downstream-added oil, peptide or texture partition into the domain that suits it, so a single polydispersity figure is not a quality metric for this architecture in isolation. Each batch is released against its engineered multi-angle distribution signature.
How is NanoBase™ quality checked?
Every NanoBase™ batch is characterised by Dynamic Light Scattering for mean particle diameter, polydispersity index and full size distribution. Batches must meet the ~185 nm design target and are released against their engineered multi-angle distribution signature. Batches that fail are rejected and re-processed.
Can NanoBase™ hold both oil-soluble and water-soluble ingredients?
Yes, by design. NanoBase™ is engineered as a tri-domain architecture (design specification): the nanocolloidal domain is designed for oil-soluble ingredients, the nanomicellar domain for water-soluble ingredients and the nanoliposomal domain for amphiphilic ingredients. The finished formula built on NanoBase™ is the delivery system.
What does published research report about actives at sub-200 nm?
Published third-party studies of actives delivered at sub-200 nm report active utilisation up to 700% above conventional macroemulsion delivery. These are results from the published studies themselves, not tests or results of NanoBase™. They are collected in a benchmark of 364 cosmetic actives, 183 of them linked to a published study. NanoBase™ is engineered to a ~185 nm design target; no delivery or deposition result for NanoBase™ itself has been published.
Is NanoBase™ suitable for sensitive skin formulations?
Formulas on NanoBase™ can be built for sensitive-skin positioning. The brand chooses gentle lipids, surfactants and actives for the finished formula, and any sensitive-skin, tolerance or safety claim for the finished product rests on the brand’s own testing and safety assessment.
How does NanoBase™ differ from liposomal delivery systems?
A liposomal system uses a single carrier type. NanoBase™ is engineered as a tri-domain architecture (design specification) with nanocolloidal, nanoliposomal and nanomicellar domains and a ~185 nm design target, so ingredients of different solubility classes can be held in one base rather than in one carrier type.
Can any formulation lab produce NanoBase™?
NanoBase™ is a proprietary cosmetic raw material developed by Pensive Beauty®, and it is produced exclusively by Pensive Beauty®, which DLS-characterises every batch. Finished products built on NanoBase™ are different: any contract manufacturer can make them with standard cosmetic equipment and room-temperature mixing, with no nano-processing equipment.
A boutique lab. A 9,000 sq ft production floor.
NanoBase™ is engineered by the lab team in our boutique nanoscience lab, built around characterising every batch, and manufactured in a 9,000-square-foot production facility. The precision of a specialist lab, the capacity of a manufacturer.
HLB solved shelf stability. On NanoBase™, the formula is the delivery system.
Bring us the product you want to build. We will show you what it looks like engineered properly.
team@pensivebeauty.com · 508-206-6500 · Pensive Beauty Labs, Seffner, FL