I hope you enjoyed my guest week! I’m back today with some hardcore beauty science, looking at the fascinatingly confusing world of perfumery. Do you love the smell of roses? It may reveal more about you than you think! People have been using perfumes for over 5000 years. But what makes one person like a scent and another hate it, …
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. …
I love gel eyeliner’s longevity, user-friendliness and colour payoff, so naturally I was very excited when I was given the change to try out a limited edition gel eyeliner from Mary Kay. (I didn’t even know that Mary Kay were active in Australia, but it turns out they had 10 000 consultants in Australia in 2010, and have been here …
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 …
The latest buzz-phrase in skincare seems to be “stem cells”. Here’s the nitty gritty on what they are and how they’re relevant to skin… What are stem cells? Your body is made up of lots of different cells with different functions – some types of cells include red blood cells, nerve cells and muscle cells. But as you might know, …
My first real cosmetic purchase was deodorant when I started high school, but not until recently did I really think about deodorant and how it works. So I did a little digging and here’s what I found: (not actually sweat) How is sweat produced and why does it smell? There are two types of glands which produce sweat: eccrine and …
Plastic is unavoidable in modern society, and unfortunately the vast majority of the plastic products we use will long outlive us. While we can (and should) recycle a lot of our plastic waste, microplastics (including microbeads) are a form of plastic that is difficult to dispose of thoughtfully. (Photo credit: Kenny Louie) What is microplastic? Simply put, microplastic …
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 …