Neostrata Enlighten range – review

Neostrata have recently released a range called Enlighten recently, which claims to lighten spots and reduce hyperpigmentation. Will it work? You may remember a recent post here on non-hydroquinone skin lighteners – for more information on the whiteners mentioned here, you can refer back to that. Neostrata Enlighten Ultra Brightening Cleanser ($39.95 for 100 mL) is a creamy cleanser that …

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Fact-check Friday: Do Stridex products have the right pH to work?

Note: This information is not quite correct. There’s some evidence to show that the pH of salicylic acid products isn’t that important to how well they work – for a longer explanation check out this post on pH and AHAs and BHAs. ——————————- Stridex “in the red box”, manufactured by Blistex, is a cult product that’s worthy of the hype …

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Guest Post on The Toast!

Surfactants Are Everywhere, aka Stop Being Terrified of Chemicals

In case I haven’t already managed to bombard you with this on other channels, an article I wrote was just published on The Toast, about surfactants and not being scared of chemicals. I’m very proud of it – click through here to read more! (I have to add a special thanks to the lovely and talented Cassie of Reluctant Femme …

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Aztec Secret Indian Healing Clay and apple cider vinegar – a tale of pH

Apple cider vinegar and Aztec Secret Indian Healing Clay are two budget-friendly, cult status beauty products that work beautifully together. Why are they such perfect partners? Well… it’s got something to do with the magic known as pH. What is pH? pH is a measure of acidity or alkalinity – the amount of hydrogen ions (H+) in something. It’s a …

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What are the skin lightening alternatives to hydroquinone?

Recently we looked closely at the most famous of the whitening agents, hydroquinone – it’s the most studied and very effective, but has some serious (though often overstated) side effects, is irritating to the skin, and has been heavily restricted in some countries as well. Today let’s have a look at some of the other whitening agents on the market …

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Korean cosmetics haul

I’ve been skeptical of Asian cosmetics and skincare for a long time, mainly because I can’t read the ingredients labels. But I recently discovered CosDNA, a database which contains the ingredients listings for thousands of Korean products, and armed with that info, I went on a haul just before I left Australia. The main thing I like about Asian cosmetics …

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Nail blogger secrets for pretty nails 6: Don’t go it alone (epilogue)

Here’s the final part of the Nail Blogger Secrets series (though there may be some addenda in the future). If you haven’t already, make sure you check out the other installments (links at the bottom of this post). Every polish journey is different, so I’m not going to tell you how to go about your glittery bidness. Except for this. …

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Fact-check: The Dangers of Hydroquinone

This week’s Fact-check (it’s late, I know, sorry!) looks at another controversial skincare ingredient, hydroquinone. What is hydroquinone, what benefits does it have in skincare, why do people say it’s harmful, and is it actually bad? Let’s find out… What is hydroquinone? Hydroquinone (sometimes referred to as “HQ”) is a chemical with the structure shown below: It occurs naturally in …

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