Loki’s Lacquer Futurama Space Pilot 3000 collection Pt 1 – Swatches and Review

I bloody love Futurama! My sister and I used to dawdle before dinner so we’d eat right at 6:30 pm every weeknight, when Futurama would play on free-to-air TV. We’ve definitely seen every episode at least twice! So you can understand my excitement when Tara, the creator of Loki’s Lacquer, announced her Futurama-based collection, with every polish named after a …

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Orly Hope and Freedom swatches and review – Coachella Dweller and High on Hope

Today I have two shades from Orly’s forthcoming limited edition Hope and Freedom collection. It’s predominantly a range of pastel shades, with a dark navy shimmer thrown in the mix. They have very hippie names, and the shades remind me of faded 70s psychedelic album covers. Coachella Dweller is a pale green creme, with a slight yellow tinge. I love …

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Flashback: Big 3 – DBP

I’ve decided to finish off the Big 3 (maybe even Big 4!) series I started on at the beginning of this blogging journey, and thought revisiting my original DBP post would be a good way to start – read on… If you’ve ever looked at the ingredients list on the back of any of your cosmetics, you’ll see a massive …

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Benzene in your products, Part 1: Bad science

valisure benzene video

It’s now Round 5 of “benzene in your products is giving you cancer” – over the last three years, this “known human carcinogen” been found in hand sanitiser, sunscreen, deodorant, dry shampoo, and now benzoyl peroxide acne products.  I previously talked about benzene in sunscreen and dry shampoo, but it’s time for a deeper dive into these findings, and the …

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Amodimethicone: The Science of My Favourite Hair Ingredient

Amodimethicone: My New Favourite Hair Ingredient

Since I bleached my hair and dyed it purple (and am now slowly shifting to pink), my hair care needs have changed massively. Related Post: My Asian Hair Bleaching Experience (Video) Related Post: What to Expect After You Bleach Your Asian Hair Typical straight, black East Asian, hair naturally has low porosity, with the outside cuticle lying very flat. This means that …

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Does rosemary oil work for hair growth? The science

rosemary oil hair loss

Is rosemary oil a natural, science-backed treatment for hair growth?  According to a lot of doctors, scientists and trichologists across the internet, yes – there’s “scientific proof” that it works as well as minoxidil. But unfortunately, that isn’t true. It all seems to be a misunderstanding of a single study: Rosemary oil vs minoxidil 2% for the treatment of androgenetic …

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Why you can’t trust study abstracts

One of the biggest sources of myths in beauty is misunderstanding how scientific research works, and how to interpret scientific evidence. A huge problem I’ve seen is people relying on abstracts – the short summary of the paper – instead of reading the full text. Here’s why this isn’t a good idea. This article is based on part of this …

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Why “scientific” products don’t always work: mechanistic reasoning

good bad mechanism outcome

There’s a troubling pattern with a lot of “science-based” cosmetic products. Many of them make claims solely based on mechanistic reasoning, rather than any actual measured effects on humans.  This is a big problem because mechanistic reasoning often doesn’t predict what happens on actual humans – and it’s especially the case with the ways these claims are often used for …

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