Skincare
The skin barrier is a physical structure, not a marketing word
Bricks and mortar is a real description of how the outer layer is built. Knowing what the mortar is made of explains why some…
Kiss Me Miss — Skin, colour and what actually works
Skincare
A cleanser has one job, and the tight feeling means it overdid it
Squeaky-clean skin is surfactant damage wearing a compliment. What a cleanser is built to remove, what it should leave behind, and how to read the difference on your own face.
In focus: Skincare
All of Skincare →Cleansing, barriers, sun and the small number of things with real evidence.
Skincare
An SPF number is a ratio, which is why how you apply it decides everything
SPF is measured under laboratory conditions almost nobody reproduces at a bathroom mirror. Understanding what the number describes…
Skincare
Broad spectrum matters more than chasing a bigger number
Ultraviolet A and ultraviolet B do different things to skin, and only one of them is what SPF measures. Here is how the second half…
Skincare
Mineral and organic filters reach the same result by different chemistry
The reflect-versus-absorb story is mostly wrong. What actually separates the two filter families is texture, cast, photostability…
Skincare
Sunscreen under makeup: what survives the morning and what does not
Layering a base over a filter film disturbs it, and reapplying over makeup is genuinely awkward. What holds up, what pills, and…
Skincare
Exfoliation is subtraction, and most faces get more of it than they need
Removing surface cells changes texture and light reflection quickly, which is why it feels so effective and why it is so easy to…
Ingredients
All ingredients →
Ingredients
How to read an INCI list, and where the order stops meaning anything
Ingredients are listed by descending concentration until one per cent, after which the formulator can arrange them freely. That…
Ingredients
Niacinamide is the least dramatic active on the shelf, which is why it stayed
It does several small things reasonably well rather than one thing spectacularly. That profile makes it unusually easy to fit into…
Ingredients
Vitamin C is three different molecules wearing the same name
L-ascorbic acid, its derivatives and the marketing term are not interchangeable. The differences in stability and pH explain why…
Makeup
All makeup →
Makeup
Foundation matching fails on undertone far more often than on depth
Most people get the lightness roughly right and the temperature badly wrong. Undertone is a separate axis, and it is the one shop…
Makeup
Foundation oxidation is real, and it is not usually the foundation's fault
A base that looks right at eight and orange by noon has changed, but the cause is often sebum and pH rather than the pigments…
Makeup
Primer is not one product, and the wrong sort makes things worse
Blurring, mattifying, hydrating and grip primers solve different problems by different means. Buying one because it is called…
Lips
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Lips
Lip skin has no oil glands, and every lip problem starts there
The structure of the lip is genuinely different from the rest of the face. Once you know how, most of the standard lip advice…
Lips
Lip balm does not add moisture, it slows moisture leaving
Almost every balm on the market is an occlusive. Knowing that changes when you apply it and why applying it to bone-dry lips…
Lips
Matte, satin and gloss are three different engineering problems
Finish is not a style choice made at the end of formulation. It determines the wax, oil and pigment structure of the entire product.
Hair
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Hair
Hair is dead, and that single fact sets the limits on every product
Nothing applied to a strand can heal it, because there is nothing alive there to respond. What products can do is coat, fill and…
Hair
Shampoo is for the scalp and conditioner is for the length
The two products are aimed at different parts of the head, and applying each one everywhere is why so many people find their hair…
Hair
Sulfates are surfactants, and the argument is really about strength
Sodium lauryl sulfate and sodium laureth sulfate are not the same molecule, and neither is uniquely harsh. The useful question is…
Routines
All routines →
Routines
A routine has three jobs, and everything after that is optional
Cleanse, protect the barrier, protect from ultraviolet. Everything else is an addition you should be able to justify individually.
Routines
Layering order follows texture, and price has nothing to do with it
Thin to thick is a rule about whether a product can reach the surface at all. Every exception to it has a physical explanation…
Routines
Morning and evening routines answer two different questions
One is about the day ahead, the other about the hours after it. Treating them as the same list applied twice wastes both products…
Also worth reading
- The skin barrier is a physical structure, not a marketing wordSkincare
- An SPF number is a ratio, which is why how you apply it decides everythingSkincare
- Broad spectrum matters more than chasing a bigger numberSkincare
- Mineral and organic filters reach the same result by different chemistrySkincare
- Sunscreen under makeup: what survives the morning and what does notSkincare
- Exfoliation is subtraction, and most faces get more of it than they needSkincare
- Patch testing works because reactions need time and a small stageSkincare
- Stinging is a signal to stop, not evidence that something is workingSkincare