I recently talked about how I don’t think tranexamic acid works in most skincare products I’ve come across, in both a YouTube video and an Instagram post. Perry Romanowski and Valerie George of The Beauty Brains podcast commented on my opinions in Episode 369, “Can Tranexamic Acid Really Reduce Hyperpigmentation?”, published 14 July 2024. Unfortunately I don’t think they looked …
It’s now Round 5 of “benzene in your products is giving you cancer” – over the last three years, this “known human carcinogen” been found in hand sanitiser, sunscreen, deodorant, dry shampoo, and now benzoyl peroxide acne products. I previously talked about benzene in sunscreen and dry shampoo, but it’s time for a deeper dive into these findings, and the …
One of the biggest sources of myths in beauty is misunderstanding how scientific research works, and how to interpret scientific evidence. A huge problem I’ve seen is people relying on abstracts – the short summary of the paper – instead of reading the full text. Here’s why this isn’t a good idea. This article is based on part of this …
There’s a troubling pattern with a lot of “science-based” cosmetic products. Many of them make claims solely based on mechanistic reasoning, rather than any actual measured effects on humans. This is a big problem because mechanistic reasoning often doesn’t predict what happens on actual humans – and it’s especially the case with the ways these claims are often used for …
There are a lot of myths in beauty, and over the years, I’ve noticed that a lot of them come from misunderstanding how science and scientific evidence works. Here’s one big misconception: the idea that if a source is “peer reviewed”, it’s automatically higher quality than a source that isn’t. Unfortunately, it isn’t any sort of guarantee, especially for a …
Batiste is one of the most popular dry shampoos, but there are lots of posts on social media warning people not to use it. Is it actually bad for your hair? Here’s the lowdown. What are the claims? Here’s an example of one of these videos, which I debunked recently as part of a YouTube video on haircare myths: Video: …
You might’ve seen videos of people testing their heat protectant products by trying to light them on fire. As many of you may have suspected, this is a really ineffective test for whether a product protects your hair from heat. Where does this test come from? This test seems to be promoted by a lot of people selling Monat, an …
DMDM hydantoin is a preservative commonly found in shampoos. It started getting a lot of attention in 2021, thanks to a number of lawsuits surrounding hair loss – so let’s talk about the science behind it and whether it’s safe. (This post is partly based off a longer video about haircare misinformation on TikTok, which also covers sulfates, silicones, testing …