#3: New retinoid video, vit C launch, sunscreen recall, grainy lip balms
Updates for the first half of December.
Here’s the last Lab Muffin Update of 2023! The whole archive is here.
Shorter content
My latest posts on Instagram and TikTok:
Why doesn’t 10 hour sunscreen exist everywhere?
You don’t need to disinfect your makeup
Why is Rhode lip balm going grainy? And how to fix it (with ice cream analogies)
Should you even use tretinoin?
My newest long video is Part 2 of what’s shaping up to be a 4 part series on retinoids!
This part covers:
Drug vs cosmetic retinoids - their pros and cons
How to work out which one you should use
The benefits and drawbacks (mostly drawbacks) of compounded retinoids (“custom” formulas from places like Apostrophe, Curology, Dermatica etc.)
It’s on YouTube and Nebula, and there’s a slightly altered blog post version too. A lot of people commented on my crochet top - yes I made it, it’s one of my favourites! It’s the Granny Tee by Larami Loops. I still need to work on a handmade-clothes-in-my-videos directory…
Part 3 will break down all the different drug retinoids. It’s filmed and mostly edited, and should be out before the end of the year.
Parts 2 and 3 were originally one video, but when I was reviewing the final cut, I realised no one wanted to sit through 34 minutes of info that dense. I had to take a lot of breaks when I was watching it back!
Part 4 will be on cosmetic retinoids. It’s pretty gnarly since the data requires so much more guesswork, but I’m working on it. We’ll probably have a couple of other videos first to give me some extra breathing space.
Poems From the Lab: vitamin C launch
Some of you might also be fans of my friend Stephen, also known as kindofstephen - he’s a cosmetic chemist and I respect his opinion immensely. We’re collaborated on content before, including this article and video on why alcohol in your skincare probably isn’t destroying your skin.
He’s been working on a vitamin C serum for years, and it’s finally launched! His brand is called Poems From the Lab, and the serum is called Future Focus. It’s a proper water-based L-ascorbic acid serum, with a bunch of clever tricks to make it more stable and effective, while still being gentle and pleasant to use.
I’ve been trying it out for a couple months and it’s one of my favourite formulas so far! (Obviously I am biased because he’s my friend, but the reason we’re friends is because we agree on most things skincare science, so… it’s less biased maybe?)
You can find out more and order it here through my affiliate link, which gives you a 5% discount (you can also use the code LABMUFFIN - both will give me a small commission).
And if you want to read more about vitamin C formulas, check out this post/video!
Bondi Sands sunscreen recall
This is probably only big news for Australians, but two batches of Bondi Sands sunscreens have been recalled. My friend Hannah has an explainer here - she has great content that’s a mix of science and fashion/makeup/cats! The official TGA notice is here.
This seems to be an example of one of the drawbacks of zinc oxide sunscreens I talked about in this article (also comes as a video). Because zinc oxide is dense and comes in relatively big particles, it settles out of formulas easily, and batch-to-batch variation tends to be more extreme. However, there are still many zinc oxide formulas out there that are stable, including the other batches of the Bondi Sands sunscreens. Just don’t use them if they’ve separated!
Random recommendations
LISTENING: Radio New Zealand had me on to answer a bunch of beauty questions, and they got flooded with more questions so I did it a second time.
READING: Some people have asked me about bakuchiol since I’ve been talking about retinoids - here’s an old post going through the evidence.
WATCHING: I’ve been watching a whole bunch of Bobby Broccoli videos. He’s made a series of deep dives into scientific controversies with very cool visualisations, including a two-parter on a Korean researcher who faked human cloning. In undergrad physiology I did a special project on the case, and even though I knew most of the details I was on the edge of my seat!
EATING: I’m obsessed with chilli oil noodles at the moment. This recipe is delicious, and some nights I dream about the Baijia A Kuan instant noodles.
Poll: Video topics
I’ve been thinking about a bunch of different video topics for next year - which one are you most interested in?
How all the different pigments in makeup and nail polish work - chameleon pigments, glow-in-the-dark pigments, holographic pigments, thermal pigments…
How different nail products work: nail polish, gel polish, acrylic, dip powder…
Common traps people fall into when reading peer-reviewed papers, and some of the common beauty myths that have come from bad papers
How temporary, semi-permanent, demi-permanent, permanent hair dyes work
Hope you have a good rest of the year - I’ll see you in 2024!
Hi, Michelle i am a fairly new subscriber, one thing i noticed and love about your emails are that even though they are on longer side they are so informative and well thought out and i enjoy them alot. Most of the time i am so busy i barely go through entire emails but yours i always read all the way to the end.
Hi Michelle, thanks for another great update! I'm not sure if you read the comments on here, but I'd love it if you could explain self-preserving cosmetics. I usually associate "preservative-free" marketing with somewhat sketchy "natural" brands, but I noticed that kindofstephen's vitamin C serum is self-preserving and recently also found out that Bioeffect products are preservative-free. I think most people who follow you and similar content creators know that preservatives are good and generally something we want in our products (at least the ones containing water), so I'd like to better understand when seeing "preservative-free" in a product label is a red flag and when not.