chemical – Lab Muffin Beauty Science

Factcheck: Low-Tox Sunscreen Swaps?

Michelle Wong — Fri, 13 Dec 2024 03:47:35 +0000

There’s been a few viral posts about how harmful chemical sunscreens are. The latest one is a post about “Sunscreen Swaps” from @a.glimpse.of.amelia (an Australian “low-tox” consultant) and @jordiepieface (a nutritionist from New Zealand), claiming that “some conventional sunscreens can do more harm than good”. Unfortunately, most of the post is inaccurate, and it’s likely scaring people away from using ...

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Fact-check: What is micellar water and how does it work? An Update

Michelle Wong — Sun, 01 Jan 2023 15:12:52 +0000

Over the past two years, my post on the chemistry of micellar water with dodgy photographed scrawlings has become one of the most popular, so I thought it was high time to update it with nicer drawings and finetune the explanation of the science. This also comes in video form – check it out here! There are tons of micellar ...

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Why Vitamin C Can Stain Your Skin (and How to Avoid It!)

Michelle Wong — Wed, 21 Dec 2022 09:55:34 +0000

Vitamin C is one of the few skincare ingredients with a decent amount of independent research to back up its properties, like its brightening and anti-wrinkle benefits. Related Post: Vitamin C – what does it do for your skin? But those of you who are vitamin C enthusiasts may have noticed that with some vitamin C serums that contain ascorbic acid, ...

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Do I Need a Special Cleanser to Remove Sunscreen?

Michelle Wong — Sun, 02 Oct 2022 10:31:14 +0000

Here’s a myth I’ve been seeing around skincare communities: that you have to use a special cleanser to remove water-resistant sunscreen. For example: “Keep in mind that most of these sunscreen actives are also oil-soluble (only dissolves in oil, not water), which gives sunscreens their water-proof and sweat-proof properties. Therefore, in order to completely remove sunscreen, you have to use ...

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All About Cleansing & How to Choose a Gentle Cleanser

Michelle Wong — Sun, 09 Jan 2022 20:04:07 +0000

Gone are the days of harsh cleansers that dried out your skin – everyone’s getting into gentle cleansers! What’s the science behind gentle cleansing, and how do you pick a gentle cleanser? Here’s the scientific background behind this skin-loving trend! Want more about the science behind choosing and using the right cleansers, moisturiser and sunscreen for your skin? Check out ...

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How Do Bath Bombs Work? The Science

Michelle Wong — Fri, 30 Aug 2019 23:00:00 +0000

Bath bombs are awesome balls of fizzy goodness, with some interesting science behind them! They were invented in 1989 by Mo Constantine, one of Lush’s founders. Bath bombs contain the chemical sodium bicarbonate, also known as baking soda, as their key ingredient. This is the text version – scroll down for the video! Some of you might remember that baking ...

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How Do Bubbling Oxygen Masks Work?

Michelle Wong — Wed, 06 Mar 2019 22:30:09 +0000

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 ...

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Powered By Chemicals Coffee and Tea Molecule Mugs

Michelle Wong — Thu, 18 Oct 2018 09:40:48 +0000

Earlier this year I really wanted a molecule mug, but I could only really find ones with caffeine on them. But the chemistry of tea and coffee is so interesting – there’s EGCG in green tea for example, an awesome antioxidant that you’ll also find in skincare products, and there’s a bunch of scent molecules in coffee that smell nasty ...

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How Does Olaplex Hair Treatment Work?

Michelle Wong — Fri, 21 Sep 2018 16:10:00 +0000

What is Olaplex? Olaplex is a line of hair repair, “bond building” treatments that’s getting heaps of buzz in the hair community, especially with people who have damaged hair from excessive bleach. It’s available in a couple of forms – Olaplex can be mixed in with bleaching products to minimise damage, or it can be used as a separate treatment. Here’s ...

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Surfactants Are Everywhere, aka Stop Being Terrified of Chemicals

Michelle Wong — Sat, 26 May 2018 11:39:48 +0000

This post was originally published on the now sadly defunct awesome website The Toast in 2014. A reader suggested that I repost it on Lab Muffin… which I thought I did, but apparently that was all a fever dream. Here it is! There’s soap in your mayonnaise! As a scientist with a degree in chemistry, the surge in chemophobia over ...

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