Analysis – Lab Muffin Beauty Science

Drug, cosmetic or compounded retinoid: Which one should you use?

Michelle Wong — Thu, 21 Dec 2023 20:30:20 +0000

Retinoids are the gold standard skincare ingredients. They’re the next essential product after sunscreen, because they can help with so many skin issues, and there’s scientific evidence to back them up. But there are a lot of options, so it’s tricky to work out which one you should use – and it doesn’t help that there’s so much incorrect info ...

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Vitamin C doesn’t work? Debunking Science Vs Skin Care Podcast

Michelle Wong — Thu, 23 Nov 2023 13:30:05 +0000

The Science Vs podcast episode on Skin Care: Is Anti-Aging a Scam? in part inspired my recent post on whether retinol in cosmetic skincare products worked. I’ve had some questions about some of the other parts of the podcast, especially about vitamin C and whether it actually penetrates skin. As I’ve discussed before, vitamin C in L-ascorbic acid form is ...

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Is Retinol a Scam? The Science

Michelle Wong — Tue, 07 Nov 2023 09:33:27 +0000

If there’s one skincare ingredient that works, it’s retinol. Pretty much everyone agrees – whatever skin concern you have, it’s one of your best bets. But is it all a scam? Let’s dive into the science behind retinol, and the bigger question of why skincare science looks so different from what academic scientists are used to. The video is here, ...

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DIY sunscreen test? Reacting to Style Theorists’ video

Michelle Wong — Tue, 03 Oct 2023 10:44:32 +0000

The Style Theorists recently did a video where they tried to test sunscreen “scientifically”, including… in a tanning bed. A lot of people sent it to me, so I filmed a video reacting to it! You can watch it here. Some of the topics covered: People should wear more sunscreen Sunscreen absorbing into blood Coral reefs and science by press ...

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Sunscreen myths in the media

Michelle Wong — Mon, 26 Jun 2023 22:30:52 +0000

It’s sunscreen season, and as you’d expect, there are lots of sunscreen articles coming out, full of common myths. I’ve debunked a lot of myths about sunscreens before – sunscreens are toxic, you can make your own sunscreen – but this time I’m going to focus on incorrect advice from trusted media sources. These myths tend to be a bit ...

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Are plastics and petrochemical products bad for the environment?

Michelle Wong — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 20:00:05 +0000

More beauty brands are talking about sustainability, but there’s a lot of greenwashing. In the last installment we talked about the impact of producing natural ingredients and after they go into the environment, as well as organic versus conventional farming. In this part, Jen of The Eco Well and I are breaking down myths about synthetic ingredients made from petroleum ...

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Natural ingredients aren’t actually better for the environment

Michelle Wong — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 13:00:35 +0000

Beauty brands are talking a lot more about sustainability and the environment, and it makes sense. Climate change is a huge problem, and most of us don’t want to make things worse. But beauty marketing is full of false promises and meaningless buzzwords. What’s actually better for the environment, and what’s just feelgood fluff? Well… a lot of it is ...

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Sulfate-Free Shampoo? The Science

Michelle Wong — Sat, 13 May 2023 16:02:41 +0000

Lots of people say you have to use sulfate-free shampoo to avoid damaging or stripping your hair. There also people who say you have to use shampoo with sulfates to get your hair clean. They are both wrong. I’ve been paying more attention to hair science info on the internet lately. There are a lot of completely wrong explanations, and strong ...

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Fading Hair Dye With Low Damage

Michelle Wong — Fri, 12 May 2023 21:30:56 +0000

I had purple and mauve hair for about six months, but the purple I had really sunk and it’s way in, and I couldn’t get it to the warm, peachy color that I really wanted. But I was a bit scared of just bleaching it because I had to bleach it twice the first time to get it to get ...

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How Much of a Sunscreen Stick Should You Apply?

Michelle Wong — Mon, 13 Mar 2023 20:30:14 +0000

Sunscreen sticks are really convenient, but it’s difficult to measure out how much you need to apply, or whether you’ve applied enough. So I decided to put them to the test! I recently did a few investigations of sunscreen sticks. I tried to work out: How much protection you’re getting with reasonable amounts of sunscreen sticks How much you would ...

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