analysis

Sunscreen safety and the FDA situation: Huberman’s skincare podcast response (Part 2)

huberman thumbnail small

The most controversial topic in Dr Andrew Huberman’s skincare episode is probably sunscreen safety, which is hugely misunderstood even by scientists and medical doctors. Much of the confusion comes from differing sunscreen regulations around the world, and the fact that “not safe” has different meanings in everyday, regulatory and toxicological contexts. This is part 2 of my articles responding to …

Read more

Physical barriers for sun protection? Huberman’s skincare podcast response (Part 1)

huberman thumbnail small

A little while back, Dr Andrew Huberman, a Stanford neuroscientist with a massive podcast, released an episode called “How to Improve Skin Health & Appearance”. It had a bunch of slightly weird recommendations if you’re familiar with skincare science. He mentioned some of his sources, but didn’t have any experts talking. 1.5 months later, he released another skin episode, this …

Read more

Factcheck: Low-Tox Sunscreen Swaps?

sunscreen swaps factcheck

There’s been a few viral posts about how harmful chemical sunscreens are. The latest one is a post about “Sunscreen Swaps” from @a.glimpse.of.amelia (an Australian “low-tox” consultant) and @jordiepieface (a nutritionist from New Zealand), claiming that “some conventional sunscreens can do more harm than good”. Unfortunately, most of the post is inaccurate, and it’s likely scaring people away from using …

Read more

Is benzene in benzoyl peroxide a cancer risk?

fingertips benzoyl peroxide

There’s been a lot of stories about benzene contamination in personal care products over the last 4 years. This year, benzene was discovered in benzoyl peroxide, a staple acne treatment. How concerned should we be?  Petition and original paper I’ve written about the background behind Valisure’s benzene analyses before, as well as questions about the accuracy of their data and …

Read more

How to dry your hair, according to science

how to dry your hair science

What’s the best way to dry your hair, according to science? Is it hair dryers, hair straighteners, towels, or just leaving it to dry naturally? I have fragile, expensively damaged hair and try a lot of hair products, so I have a special interest in this. Here’s the science of drying your hair. The video is here, keep scrolling for …

Read more

Red flags for unreliable sources: a guide

red flags for questionable sources

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. …

Read more