This video is sponsored by Pantene. The text version is unsponsored. There are a lot of myths about hair conditioners – we’re going to bust some in this post! I usually bust myths for free, but this video (but not the blog post) is sponsored by Pantene – even though it is sponsored, everything is my own opinions and research …
It’s been a few weeks but I realised I forgot to announce this on my blog: I’m now a qualified cosmetic chemist! A lot of people assumed I was a cosmetic chemist and called me that in comments and interviews (understandable, since I’m a chemist and talk a lot about cosmetic chemistry), so instead of continuing my standard practice of feeling …
Social media has been a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, experts (scientists, doctors etc.) can become far more prominent – on the other hand, misinformation endorsed by an expert carries more weight and causes more harm than if there’s no authority behind it. Unfortunately, social media algorithms also reward churning out content quickly, regardless of accuracy. Hot …
I really hate washing my face over the sink – how it gets everything wet (sink, benchtop, sleeves, hair, front of my shirt), and how it takes a ton of effort to dump enough water on my face that I feel like I’ve thoroughly cleansed and rinsed away my cleanser. I generally end up washing my face in the shower, …
I recently asked on my Instagram stories about cleansing myths, and I got back tons of replies! So here’s some cleanser mythbusting – unfortunately I couldn’t fit them all in this one post, but there’ll be a follow-up soon. A word of warning before we begin: the answer to a lot of these is going to be “it depends”. I …
Warning: Very nerdy content ahead! If you’ve been following sunscreen discourse (apparently this is a thing now) you’ll know that mineral sunscreens mostly work by absorbing UV and only scattering a small amount, in the region of 4-5% across the range of UV. This was quantified in a pretty commonly cited 2016 paper by Curtis Cole, Thomas Shyr and Hao Ou-Yang, “Metal …
The myth that “60% of what’s applied to your skin is absorbed into your bloodstream” is one of my pet peeves. It’s so far from the truth, and it’s cited with such an air of authority that it really ticks me off. It also tends to be cited by the sorts of people who push “non-toxic” products, which is very …
In case you haven’t already heard, the 2021 edition of “This Anti-Cancer Product Is Giving You Cancer” is that there’s been benzene found in a bunch of sunscreens. How much should we be freaking out about this? I did an Instagram post on this already, but I thought I’d elaborate a bit more. The video is here on YouTube, scroll …