I’m guessing this is the case for most beauty junkies, but I tend to think of my skincare routine as simple, but when I actually have to tell someone what’s involved, it turns out to be much more complex than I anticipated! Summer has recently hit Sydney (Sydney doesn’t really have in-between seasons – it was a high of 18 …
After Part 1, where I stained my nails (For Science!) to work out how best to prevent staining, the obvious next step was to figure out stain removal! I worked out in Part 1 that the teal colour is CI 77288, which is chromium(III) oxide. Here are my nails again – argh! I had to live with this for two …
Scientifically blonde. How does hair straightening work? There are a few different procedures for hair straightening, and different types of hair are better suited to different ones. They all work on similar principles though, and it’s actually the same as for perming. It’s not too complex, and you should believe me on this one because Elle Woods agrees. So there. …
There are a few common sciencey questions I get asked a lot, and for some of them, I have a strong suspicion on how they work, but I can’t confirm it properly (without misappropriating university resources, anyway). So here’s a post where I speculate about how things work, which may or may not turn into a series of posts… How …
15/9/2015: I’ve updated this post with better drawings and a better explanation of how micellar water works. Micellar water is taking off in a big way, with a bottle of Bioderma’s Sensibio H2O Micellar Water (formerly Crealine) sold every 6 seconds worldwide, and celebrity endorsements from Kylie Minogue and Gemma Ward. But what is micellar water and how does it …
Ceramides – where have I heard that before? Ceramides are in lots of moisturisers and serums. Brands which feature ceramides in their skincare range include Elizabeth Arden, L’Oréal, Ultraceuticals and Innoxa. What are ceramides? Ceramides are a family of lipids (fatty molecules) which make up a significant proportion of cell membranes, the “skin” of cells. They are also the main …
After researching AHAs and BHAs for my blog post here, I incorporated 8% glycolic acid and 2% salicylic acid into my nightly skincare routine and I’ve been very impressed with the smooth, glowy skin and reduced pores they gave me. I’ve recently embarked on Operation Freckle-Away, which is me trying to get rid of a few sun-induced freckles on my …
Benzoyl peroxide (or BP, as it’s affectionately known) is one of those products that seems to work for everyone. It’s a topical treatment (cream) that’s an essential component of many acne treatment regimens (Dan Kern’s acne.org, ProActiv, Paula Begoun just to name a few). But what does it do, and how is it most effective? Benzoyl peroxide is a peroxide, …