How do you check if information is reliable? One shortcut that works well (most of the time) is to check if the source itself is reliable! This is much faster and easier than trying to learn the science behind an area you’re not already familiar with – it takes a lot of time to properly factcheck information, even for experts. …
There’s been a lot of hype around Cyperus oil for hair removal, largely based on a study where it supposedly worked as well as laser. Unfortunately I don’t think it works, and if it did work, it would be a risky product to be using. For context, my PhD is in medicinal chemistry. Part of this involves looking at the …
If you’ve ever tried gel nails, you’ll know you have to bake your fingers under a UV lamp. And if you’re like me, you might’ve thought: I know UV from the sun is bad and causes skin cancer, tanning beds are extra bad, they cause extra skin cancer… is this thing that looks like a tanning bed (for ants) actually …
Here’s Part 2 of our deep dive into benzene contamination in your products. In Part 1, we talked about whether the experiments were “realistic” (no), and whether the cancer risk was described accurately (also no). This time, we’ll be discussing the wider issues around the private lab behind these findings, Valisure. This is adapted from the video version (which works …
Is rosemary oil a natural, science-backed treatment for hair growth? According to a lot of doctors, scientists and trichologists across the internet, yes – there’s “scientific proof” that it works as well as minoxidil. But unfortunately, that isn’t true. It all seems to be a misunderstanding of a single study: Rosemary oil vs minoxidil 2% for the treatment of androgenetic …
Sprays seem like the perfect way to reapply sunscreen without messing up your makeup. But how effective are they? I did some experiments to find out – the results were very eye-opening! The video with footage of the experiments is here, keep scrolling for the text version… A while ago, I looked at the protection you get from sunscreen sticks …
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 …
The La Roche-Posay UVMune 400 range has been super hyped up because it contains a brand new sunscreen ingredient: Methoxypropylamino Cyclohexenylidene Ethoxyethylcyanoacetate (MCE), or Mexoryl 400. It’s currently exclusive to L’Oreal, and was developed in conjunction with BASF. I’ve mentioned in passing that I don’t think it’s as much of a game changing “must have” for everyone that some people have …