Lab Muffin Beauty Science.

"The Ordinary 10% has a texture like thick PVA glue and this is because azelaic acid is hard to formulate with. It isn't very soluble, so it's usually in a suspension. And I mean, you need a pretty high amount. Things that are lightweight are usually dissolved, so think sugar and water versus flour and water. So I kept giving up on using azelaic acid. And eventually, I just put it to the side."

"I also have some azelaic acid serums with a nice texture. Azelaic acid is a bit of an annoying ingredient for me. There is some evidence that it's good for a whole bunch of things like acne, hyperpigmentation, even rosacea. And it is approved as a drug for some of these which is cool because most treatments for these are pretty irritating. But azelaic acid is a bit of a pain. The first product I tried was the Paula's Choice serum and that had an okay texture but it was pretty small."

"I tried Finacea, which is the 15% drug version, which has a pretty nice texture, but then it burnt the crap out of my skin. It's in an aluminium tube, and so every time I squeezed it, a bit too much came out, and I didn't want to waste it, so I would just put all of it on my face. Not the smartest because the prickling sensation would just keep me up. And then the peeling I got was actually worse than with tretinoin."

"They owned the patent from 2005 on this very proven combination. There have been copycats around for quite a while, but there was usually some kind of workaround to avoid patent infringement. Some people who are more sensitive to vitamin C found that the SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic formula was much less irritating. SkinCeuticals was great, but pricey."

"I've also been using the Peach and Lily Glass Skin Refining Serum. This is another serum that has lots of different types of hyaluronic acid including an acetylated one. It also has niacinamide and a bunch of centella ingredients. It is just a really gentle product. The founder of Peach and Lily has really sensitive skin so this was just to me a really safe product to throw into my routine. I'll usually use this on nights when my skin is irritated but I want something soothing and hydrating and more active."

"The texture doesn't run down your fingers when you're trying to put it on, but it isn't so thick that it feels syrupy and draggy. The finish is really hydrating and soothing, it's not shiny and it gives me enough of a moisturizing effect that I haven't really needed an extra moisturizer, though I'd guess it's probably not enough if you have dry skin. Ascorbic acid has always been really good for helping my pigment get more even and evening out my skin tone in general, and this has been working really well. The packaging is also really cool, it's this protective tube, and I think it's really the best type of packaging for protecting something from oxygen. Tubes can protect against oxygen if the plastic is chosen carefully and the seal is good. I have a tube of Melano CC that is two years old and it's still colorless, so I have really high hopes for this."

"You would have to use up 2 kg of rosemary leaves every day to get 2/3 of the effect compared to finasteride. In my opinion, no, for me the lack of clinical trials besides this one puts it back at the bottom of the heap. There isn't much to support it apart from mechanistic reasons which just don't really give it a great chance of working, and the level of this mechanistic evidence is really not that high either. There's also the fact that it's a natural product so the levels of any potential active ingredients in rosemary oil are going to vary a lot depending on where it's grown, when it's grown, how it's harvested, how it's extracted, and how it's stored. Plus essential oils contain allergens and irritants and these could actually make hair loss worse. We can see hints of this in the study: scalp itching and dandruff actually increase for the rosemary oil group. But thanks to other better quality clinical trial evidence we know that any irritation that could lead to hair loss gets outweighed by the hair growth mechanisms for minoxidil. We don't know this for rosemary."

"If you put on moisturizer immediately, that can make a difference compared to putting on moisturizer 15 minutes afterwards, and that's because water does actually make skin more permeable. You're adding more water and that water makes your skin lose water more easily, so if you quickly slap on an occlusive when your skin is still wet, then that just sort of slows down that evaporation. If you like having extra water, then use it. If you don't like using extra water, don't feel like you have to, because I don't know if your moisturizers are stealing your water. It's entirely a preference thing."

"The Olay Super Serum is one of the serums that I feel like I could probably use on its own and my skin would stay really nice. The main focus of this is having niacinamide at a low pH which delivers it better into skin and it's got a bunch of other nice actives too. Some people pointed out that there is a night version with similar ingredients that is fragrance-free that might be worth trying although I haven't tried that yet."

"This isn't sticky but it does have that tacky hydrating texture. There's also two percent niacinamide and 0.5% salicylic acid, both of these are great at evening out skin tone. This serum ticks off a whole bunch of boxes for glow: even skin tone, smoother skin, and hydration. This is just a really lovely product that I use on my face when I want my skin to look smooth and even the next day without having to risk any irritation. It is one of the few products that I can use for that when my skin is irritated without having to worry about making it worse."

"I did one on Olaplex in 2018 and in it, I messed up. I went through how Olaplex claimed their product worked, and there was and still is a bit of controversy around this. But more publications and a lot more products have come out since then. Products with ingredients that cannot work that way seem to give similar results to Olaplex, so it is probably not how it works."

"Skinceuticals Phloretin CF has L-ascorbic acid, ferulic acid, and phloretin. Skinceuticals works as you would expect. The reason I think vitamin C works so well is not only just because it's an antioxidant but also because this apple browning reaction involves an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase, it needs copper to work, and ascorbic acid can interact with copper, it can grab onto it, and this is actually thought to be part of how it inhibits tyrosinase to reduce pigment."

"It's actually so safe that it's been specifically approved for truncal acne, so like your chest and back, because it's safer you can apply more of it on a larger surface area compared to if it was just approved for your face. It is a lot more potent, which is why it's at such a low concentration. Because it is new there is only this one formulation. The brand name is called Aklief and it's got a polymer in it that spreads out the active more evenly. It's also got allantoin, which is soothing."

"Trifarotene is designed to be safer. Those orange bits there make it easier for your liver to inactivate it if it gets into your blood, and it's actually so safe that it's been specifically approved for truncal acne, so like your chest and back. Because it's safer, you can apply more of it on a larger surface area compared to if it was just approved for your face. It is a lot more potent, which is why it's at such a low concentration. The formulation has a polymer in it that spreads out the active more evenly, and it's also got allantoin which is soothing."

"Petrolatum is the gold standard occlusive, it's really good at sealing water. Your skin can get dried out and itchy and tight and this helps prevent that. On top of that, more hydrated skin can also let in some skincare ingredients a bit more easily into the skin, so this can also have an effect of helping your skincare ingredients penetrate a bit more deeply. I do like this because it is a very cheap hack and a lot of people do have a jar of Vaseline lying around that they will never get to the bottom of, so it is something that I think most people can try without too much risk. The downsides of this is first off your skin gets really sticky and your hair and cat fur."

"Heart leaf, or Houttuynia cordata, is a herb that's used in a lot of Asian food and like most plant extracts it is full of antioxidants. The main thing I saw this recommended for is cooling and calming and I feel like this 100% lives up to that. I found this a very lightly hydrating product. It's also meant to be good for gentle acne care. It's also got wintergreen leaf, allantoin, hyaluronic acid and trehalose, so these are mostly humectant moisturizers that hold on to water and keep your skin hydrated. The cotton pads have one side that's rough and one side that's smooth, so the rough side is meant to be gently exfoliating, it is very gentle. And then after you use it you can leave it with the smooth side down as sort of like a little targeted sheet mask. I found that the cotton pads are quite nice, like having that little gentle sheet mask. If you leave it on it does seem to work a lot better. The cooling effect does last for a good amount of time after taking it off. I found that it lasts for maybe 10 to 15 minutes."

"It has that clear formula, it's silicone, it is water free. It starts off with a slightly stronger solvent smell that goes away pretty quickly after you start rubbing it in. When you squeeze this out it has a slightly less smooth texture and it feels a little bit thicker and heavier on my skin, but honestly the difference is not that big. This is definitely worth a try if you think this sort of formula might work for your skin. It is really popular and works well for some people. I just prefer products that are a bit lighter on the silicones and they're more of that cream gel moisturizer feeling rather than like a primer."

"When you start looking at things like dose, how much you're getting, how much UV, how much parabens, then you can start to see what does and doesn't make a difference, and of course this changes depending on your skin as well and your susceptibility to some. But there are very very few people in the world who are sun sensitive enough to have to wear sunscreen to bed. Wearing sunscreen definitely belongs on the top tier."

"This is a chemical sunscreen with a lot of the new filters and I found that this is slightly heavier than some of the Korean sunscreens I've tried. It has a little bit of pilling if I rub, and this is pretty standard what I expect for a water-resistant sunscreen because they contain a bit more film formers, but it is still really nice and light. I found that it had a slight white cast when I first applied it, I'm guessing that's from the MBBT, but it goes away after it dries down on my skin. I can definitely see why this is so popular. One interesting thing is this is water, sweat and sand resistant, which is relatively rare for a Korean sunscreen. It looks like it's to Korean standards, which is less than 50% loss of SPF after 40 minutes. Now as an Australian, I wouldn't trust it for sports or for swimming. We have 4 hour water resistant sunscreens that stay at the labelled SPF, but I think it is probably longer wearing than the lightweight Korean sunscreens that have no testing."

"Round Lab is the version that's super popular in Korea. It's very similar to the Beauty of Joseon sunscreen which has been my longtime favorite. I would say that this is like a touch more moisturizing. It's glidey and moisturizing without being like sticky or greasy. In terms of white cast, if I apply this unevenly and let it dry, sometimes I will get a bit of a white streak but it blends out really easily. On some people with darker skin there is a slight white cast though that doesn't go away. There's no alcohol in the sunscreens from this family and most of these also don't have fragrance."

"I was really excited about the Olay Retinol Body Wash. I started using it a few times and it was really nice, but then I noticed that my skin was just getting a little bit itchy and I decided at that point to check the ingredients. It had Mica in it, which I am allergic to. I wasn't sure it was that, but I didn't really want to risk it getting worse. There are tons of good reviews on it from people like Esther the Melanin Chemist, and I really trust her."

"The Geek and Gorgeous Mighty Melt really impressed me because it is from a western brand and I usually expect those to need a cloth to rinse off well but this one feels very much like an Asian style cleansing balm. It's fragrance free which is nice because there really was a lack of fragrance-free cleansing balms for a long time for people who couldn't handle fragrance or just didn't like it. This one is nice and soft, it rinses off without too much residue, and the only issue I've had is that it doesn't take off my super longwear gel eyeliner very well."

"The Beauty of Joseon Green Plum Refreshing Cleanser is a really lovely inoffensive cleanser and inoffensive is really what you want from a cleanser, you want it to clean well without messing up your skin so your skin is nicely prepared for the rest of your skincare routine. It foams really well but it doesn't dry out your skin. I would say that this is actually one of the most hydrating cleansers I've used. There was zero tightness on my skin after using this. There are a bunch of antioxidants in it which can potentially help reduce a bit of that cleansing irritation and it is slightly acidic to match your skin's natural pH. With a lot of foaming Korean cleansers you tend to get this really amazing fluffy dense foam but then they have a really high pH and that tends to help strip your skin and irritate it. If your skin is prone to dehydration, which my skin very much is, it does take a little bit more effort to get a fluffy lather with this compared to those more drying cleanser formulas, but I think it is really worth it. I am a huge fan of hydrating cleansers because it feels like you don't need to use as many hydrating products after cleansing. This is a fragrance free cleanser so another really good option if your skin doesn't like fragrance."

"This foundation is pretty pigmented. It has pretty high coverage and it dries to give a satin sort of finish. The application isn't as easy as some others. It has a standard sponge with the big holes as the dispenser, so you do have to work it on a bit to get rid of the dots. The standout thing for me with this product, aside from the fact that they actually have a shade range, is how well it stays on skin and doesn't transfer very much. That "mask fit" part is actually because they designed it to not smudge as much when you're wearing a mask. And they did clinical testing to substantiate this, which I think is just really cool."

"I've probably heard me rave about the Paula's Choice 2% BHA Liquid, and this is mostly I use it on my face. I use my fingers to apply it and I find that this just never runs out. Once I get to a low enough level and I feel like maybe it's a bit too dicey to use it on my face, I start using it on my body. BHA is salicylic acid, it's a chemical exfoliant. I've also mostly been using salicylic acid over alpha hydroxy acids like glycolic acid or lactic acid because it is summer here and alpha hydroxy acids have been found to make your skin more sensitive to the sun, and this happens even after you wash it off. It is a change to your actual skin. But salicylic acid in those same studies did not have this effect."

"The KP Bump Eraser from First Aid Beauty is really densely loaded with pumice, has a toothpaste sort of texture, and is just really thick and really intense as a scrub. I have a very low tolerance when it comes to beauty products, so this one is actually borderline too much for me. My biggest tip here for KP is that you do need to really be consistent with exfoliating. You can't just try to overload yourself on one day and then hope that that will last for two weeks."

"This is one of my favorite peeling gels I've tried. My big test of whether a peeling gel is good is whether or not it bunches up and gives enough scrubbing fibers when I use it in the shower when there's lots of extra water around. This one works really really well, but a lot of them don't and they turn kind of sad and watery, or they actually go kind of sticky and stick to all your little hairs. This one passes with flying colors. And it is fragrance free and it has minimal smell for a fragrance free product, which is rare for a peeling gel."

"My hair also just really loves the Redken Acidic Perfecting Concentrate Leave-in Treatment. My hair loves this range, it's great for me. It is pricier. I tend to use like a much smaller blob, maybe like two Tic Tacs in size. This one just seems to spread a bit better as well. I personally find that if I use these ones on dry hair it kind of feels like I'm spreading it all around the outside of my hair and it's not like in the middle, but this one just spreads really really nicely."

"Tretinoin is the oldest, it was approved in the 1960s, so it has been studied the most. Most of the evidence we have on retinoids are based on tretinoin, so we know that it works for all the standard retinoid things like acne, pigment, and wrinkles, but there are also studies on more unusual things like skin cancer, stretch marks, and cellulite. It's the drug retinoid that has the biggest variety of formulas. You can get concentrations between 0.025 and 0.1% and it's compounded a lot so you can control the percent there too. Some studies sort of suggest that if you have a low concentration it'll end up working as well as a higher concentration, it might just take a bit longer but they will be less irritating. You can get tretinoin in gels and creams, and there are some studies that indicate that cream bases might be less irritating."

"This cream has a really interesting texture. It is a lightweight gel with brightening and soothing ingredients. The key ones are 10% panthenol, niacinamide, squalane, and bamboo extract. This is lightly hydrating and it forms a sort of film on skin that stays on really well and gives a glass skin sort of slightly shiny look. I'm actually wearing it right now under my makeup. It has no noticeable scent. I used this as a sleeping mask over my other products to lock them in and it worked really well. I could still feel this there in the morning. And I have seen a few people say that this clogged their pores. I personally didn't have an issue with this, but if you are prone to clogged pores, keep an eye out for that."

"The cleanser I'm currently using is the Bioderma Shower Oil. I really love this product. It's really gentle and it has tons of moisturizing ingredients in it. This does have a light fragrance, which is pretty unusual for a Bioderma product, but the reason for that is that this is really rich in lipids. Lipids are fatty substances they're in our skin and this is meant to replenish them. The ones that are especially good for our skin are unsaturated, but that also means that they go rancid pretty easily, so the light fragrance is just to cover up that smell."

"It's really handy when your skin is really dehydrated and your regular moisturiser isn't quite doing enough, so instead of trying to find a whole new moisturizer you can just add another hydrating product underneath and together they can hydrate enough. I found this super useful for applying to my skin right after cleansing, it stops my skin from drying out if I wait a bit too long before my other steps. This is super hydrating, it's got a lot of glycerin, it's also got hyaluronic acid, and it leaves a kind of plump hydrated feeling on my skin that is just shy of being tacky, and that is such a hard balance to get in a product like that, maximum plumpness but just not sticky. Although I can't guarantee that it will hit that spot for everyone else, it depends on how humid your environment is and your skin, but it does hit that spot for me. There is no extra oil in this either, so again just less stuff on your face. There are a lot of different types of ginseng extracts in this which have lots of antioxidants as well as niacinamide, so this is a really good way of adding niacinamide and antioxidants and ginseng to your routine without adding much weight or stickiness. The lack of oil is also awesome for when you need something in summer to just hydrate and soothe your skin but you can't handle any extra oil on your face. I use this as my hot weather moisturizing product at night a lot and just skip moisturizer. It is fragrance free and to me it smells like nothing."

"This has pretty much zero fragrance and no white cast, and it dries with a sort of glowy skin smoothing finish. It uses ultrafine priming particles to fill in fine lines and blur to create smooth looking skin, and that's definitely what I noticed. It just made my skin look really nice and smooth and plump. I think this is fantastic, especially if you're not planning to use foundation on top, if you're planning to go makeup free. It is really hydrating, and I think this is probably from all the different types of hydrolysed collagen they have in this. It contains a retinoid, hydroxypinacolone retinoate or granactive retinoid, and it's really interesting to see it in a sunscreen. It's obviously there for this anti-aging formula. It also has a UV aging barrier, which is Round Lab's own ingredient mix containing arginine and quercetin. These are antioxidants that can soak up free radical damage, which UV does cause. This also has a bunch of clinical testing for the anti-aging claims. For example, it's got reduced pore size after 4 weeks, which I think is pretty cool. With sunscreens, most of the time I'm just looking at texture, wearability, and UV protection, but for this one, I think the added skincare benefits are actually pretty cool."

"Using this means that I can dry and style my hair at the same time. I usually let it air dry for maybe 45 minutes to an hour and then it takes me about 15 minutes to dry and curl my hair with this. I did this hair last night and then I slept with it in a ponytail and it is extremely extremely sweaty and humid today, so it's doing pretty well. This is my hair after 3 days in humid Sydney summer. And this again includes sleeping with it in just a ponytail. And usually, even if I do end up with messed up hair, I can usually refresh the curls really quickly, like less than 5 minutes. I mostly use the curl attachments, also the frizz flattening attachment. It is also just really easy to use. The curl attachments are really nice because it's a lot easier than trying to consistently get similar size waves on both sides of my head with a hair straightener. It's also a lot smoother because styling it from damp to dry in the one step means that you get better shaping. It also doesn't need to be as hot as a straightener or a curling iron because it uses air and heat to dry, so it reduces the chance of bubble or popcorn hair."