Retinoids are vitamin A derivatives, and they’re some of the most popular ingredients in skincare. They’re anti-aging, anti-pigmentation and anti-acne, plus their effectiveness is backed by lots of studies. But like everything else in skincare, there are lots of myths and half-truths about how they work and how you’re meant to use them. Here’s the video on YouTube – keep scrolling for …
I’ve been seeing a lot of people say that it’s impossible to see results from retinoids (vitamin A derivatives used in skincare, like retinol, tretinoin, adapalene, tazarotene) for a certain amount of time. This time varies: some people say 2 months, or 3 months, or 6 months. While it’s true that retinoids can take months to start working, they can …
Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic there’s a hand sanitizer shortage… and a ton of DIY hand sanitizer recipes. Will they actually work? (Spoiler: Most of them won’t.) I’ve made a video breaking down some of the good bad DIY hand sanitizer recipes out there. Check out the video on YouTube here. Key points: COVID-19 is caused by SARS-CoV-2 (novel coronavirus …
This post is sponsored by P&G. I recently had the incredible opportunity to visit the Procter & Gamble Innovation Centre in Singapore. P&G have a longstanding dedication to science, so I was very excited to be able to go behind the scenes. And I’ve documented some of the underlying work that goes into making mass market consumer products for you …
Alcohol (ethanol, ethyl alcohol, SD alcohol or alcohol denat) is one of the most controversial ingredients in skincare. You might’ve heard that it speeds up aging, kills skin cells, and creates inflammation. But what do the studies actually tell us? Stephen (@kindofstephen) and I have been working on this topic for a long time, and we hadn’t decided on the …
If you’re wondering what the difference is between all of the different acne patches around, and whether they even work, you’re not alone – I get asked this a lot, so I made a video about them! I was also itching for an excuse to use my microscope again, so there are some fun(?) closeups of microneedle patches. I was …
I watched a 5 Minute Magic video recently, titled “25 THINGS ABOUT COSMETICS YOU NEVER KNOW”. It had a lot of interesting skincare, makeup and haircare demonstrations in it, followed by… random hacks and tips that were completely unrelated to the demonstration, or just completely wrong. So I thought I’d re-explain the science behind the demos, and talk about whether …
You might remember a similar post that I published in May 2019, after the previous flurry of “The FDA Admits Sunscreens Are Poison” headlines. Now that the second study has been published, it’s time for Round 2. Gratifyingly, this time the coverage seems a little less hysterical (maybe they learned from last time?), with the exception of the Daily Mail, …