Benzene in your products, Part 1: Bad science

valisure benzene video

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 …

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Amodimethicone: The Science of My Favourite Hair Ingredient

Amodimethicone: My New Favourite Hair Ingredient

Since I bleached my hair and dyed it purple (and am now slowly shifting to pink), my hair care needs have changed massively. Related Post: My Asian Hair Bleaching Experience (Video) Related Post: What to Expect After You Bleach Your Asian Hair Typical straight, black East Asian, hair naturally has low porosity, with the outside cuticle lying very flat. This means that …

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Why you can’t trust study abstracts

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 …

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Why “scientific” products don’t always work: mechanistic reasoning

good bad mechanism outcome

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 …

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Why “peer reviewed” studies aren’t reliable (especially for beauty science)

peer review process

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 …

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DMDM hydantoin and formaldehyde in haircare

Tony Youn dmdm hydantoin

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 …

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