How Do Different Types of Hair Dye Work? The Science

hair-dye-science

Dyeing your hair is one of the easiest ways to change up your appearance. It’s quick and low maintenance, but the science behind it is actually very interesting. The Structure of Hair To understand what happens, first we need know what exactly a strand of hair contains. Each strand of hair is made up of three layers: Medulla – This …

Read more

Do peeling gels really peel off my skin?

“Is all the stuff that rolls off with a peeling gel really my skin?“ This is a question I come across a lot! In case you’ve forgotten, a peeling gel is a popular type of cleanser in Asia. You start off with a watery gel like this, which you spread over your face (the one picture here is Laneige Strawberry …

Read more

Scientism or “Science-Washing” in Beauty

Scientism or "Science-Washing" in Beauty

This is an amended version of a series originally published on my Instagram account @labmuffinbeautyscience. As science has gotten more trendy, scientism is starting to show up more in beauty marketing and the beauty community. Scientism, which I call “science-washing” (although apparently no one says that except me, but I’m vainly trying to make it happen) is science used in …

Read more

Foundation Clumping Science, and How to Fix It

Foundation Compatibility (with Video)

You might’ve had the experience where you apply your foundation over primer/moisturiser/sunscreen etc., and then a little while later your foundation’s gone clumpy. This is foundation incompatilibility. What’s happening, and what can you do to avoid it? Let’s talk about the science behind foundation! [Note: I would recommend watching the video in addition to reading the post, if you’re usually …

Read more

How Do Bubbling Oxygen Masks Work?

How Do Bubbling Oxygen Masks Work?

Oxygen masks are products which come out of the bottle as a gel, but start bubbling with oxygen gas after a few seconds on the skin. Brands like Bliss, Peter Thomas Roth, Dr Brandt, Oseque and Sephora have oxygen bubble masks. What do they do, and how did they get the gas into the bottle? Here’s the video, scroll down …

Read more

How to Use Comedogenicity Ratings

rabbit-ear-test-comedogenicity

You’ve probably seen a comedogenicity chart like these ones (and the one further down the page) before, rating different ingredients on their ability to cause pimples. Supposedly you check the ingredients list of your product against the comedogenicity list. If it has highly comedogenic ingredients, it will cause pimples, if it doesn’t, then it won’t. It’s simple, systematic and foolproof, right? …

Read more

Why you should protect your skin from UVA (and how)

You already know about SPF, UVB, sunburn and its relationship with skin cancer… but what about UVA protection? Newer research has really highlighted the important of UVA protection, so this post will tell you all about what UVA is, what it does and how to protect your skin against it (i.e. lots of nerdy sunscreen talk). The video version is …

Read more

Why You Shouldn’t Use Lemon Juice on Your Skin

There are more DIY skincare recipes on the internet than you can shake a stick at, and most of them really, really like lemon juice. According to these DIY tips you should be slathering it all over your face and hair. Lemon juice smells nice, and it’s pretty cheap. But is it effective? And is it safe? Let’s talk about …

Read more