Your channel viewers will see links here, including "subscribe" and "add as friend".
Profile
Name
Lab Muffin Beauty Science
Description
I’m Michelle, a science educator and chemistry PhD from Sydney, Australia. I’m here to help you work out which beauty products are worth buying and which aren’t, using science!
I started Lab Muffin because I was frustrated that there weren't enough easy-to-understand explanations of the science behind beauty products. I firmly believe that anyone can understand the science behind skincare and beauty.
For business/PR enquiries: michelle@labmuffin.com
DISCLAIMER: I am not a medical doctor. Care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information here, but it is provided for education and research purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider regarding any medical conditions. No liability is accepted for any injury, loss or damage incurred by use of or reliance on the information provided by me.
I started Lab Muffin because I was frustrated that there weren't enough easy-to-understand explanations of the science behind beauty products. I firmly believe that anyone can understand the science behind skincare and beauty.
For business/PR enquiries: michelle@labmuffin.com
DISCLAIMER: I am not a medical doctor. Care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information here, but it is provided for education and research purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider regarding any medical conditions. No liability is accepted for any injury, loss or damage incurred by use of or reliance on the information provided by me.
Subscribers
835K
Subscriptions
Recent Activity
 |
Lab Muffin Beauty Science
Quick quiz: Here's the methods section from a study abstract.
Given this description, what would you expect the control shampoo to be?
----
Methods: Male and female subjects with normal scalp condition and self-perceived hair thinning participated in a 24-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical study assessing either a regimen of treatment shampoo and leave-on treatment containing functional antioxidant and barrier-enhancing agents or an identical placebo chassis shampoo control. The functional ingredients were piroctone olamine, zinc pyrithione, zinc carbonate, niacinamide, panthenol and caffeine. At baseline and after 8, 16 and 24 weeks of product use, several measurements were taken: hair shedding, total hair count (by phototrichogram), hair samples, TEWL and evaluation of biomarkers of scalp and hair conditions. Subjects also completed self-assessment questionnaires.
Vote on a poll:
Same shampoo without functional ingredients Different shampoo formula 15% SLS in water
|
|
|
Lab Muffin Beauty Science
Estrogen face creams - do they work and are they safe? Here's a breakdown of the benefits and risks, in collaboration with
@Moskinlab
and
@DrJenGunter
A recent 2026 systematic review in J Am Amer Dermatol came to similar conclusions:
"Confident conclusions about efficacy cannot yet by drawn [...] larger controlled trials are needed to assess long-term safety, particularly endometrial risk in women with an intact uterus not on a progestogen." (Farkas et al, 2026)
Unfortunately there's a 10 image limit here, so the slides on safer alternatives, common myths and references didn't fit - you can see them on my IG or TT though, and I'll be doing a dedicated video on estrogen face creams with
@Moskinlab
🤓
#estrogen #beautyscience #cosmeticsafety #toxicology
          |
|
|
Lab Muffin Beauty Science
Something I've noticed a lot more lately is identity-based motivated reasoning and confirmation bias - people only accepting evidence when it aligns with their political or other alignments. This has always been the case with a lot of anti-science movements like clean beauty, and I'm seeing this happen a lot around the issue of plastic...
Note: I definitely think we're using too much plastic, and there are concerns around the health impacts of microplastics. But overblowing the concerns, and switching to "eco" alternatives without looking at evidence, actually goes against the goals of better human and environmental health.
You might remember me debunking the famous "you have a spoon's worth of microplastics in your brain" study a while back. This is a massive overestimate, because the analytical method used was probably measuring fats as microplastic (the brain is a very fatty organ).
Mainstream media outlets like The Guardian are finally talking about this issue, and correcting their previous misinformation - something rare and commendable!
But because The Guardian quoted a former Dow chemist, there's been a lot of comments are accusing them of being "bought by Big Plastic". This is despite them ALSO quoting 2 independent scientists working at public institutions saying the same thing, plus they referenced a response letter written by 9 European scientists working at public institutions.
As my friend and misinformation PhD student Jen of
@TheEcoWell
says: "Discounting something solely based on funding source or affiliation is actually the opposite of critical thinking."
Looking at financial conflicts of interest is just ONE factor to take into account - you have to do the much harder work of actually thinking about the arguments presented. The Guardian article is communicated in a way that non-experts can definitely grasp!
Anyway, here's my analysis of the parallels between clean beauty and "plastic-free"...
there are LOADS more parallels I could've gone into:
- overfocus on endocrine disruption (linked to regressive traditional gender role BS)
- assuming really diverse ingredients are all the same
- brands trying to justify pseudoscience with "but it speaks to our customers"
- dodgy animal studies (one SICKO kept putting dogs and rats in polyester panties??!)
Also worth noting: a lot of the same "experts" fearmongering about parabens and phthalates are also now fearmongering about microplastics.
Good further reading:
Scientists talk about if you should be freaking out about microplastics (no, but it's reasonable to take some practical steps to reduce risk)
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/the-feed/...
Guardian article on microplastics
https://www.theguardian.com/environme...
My video with
@TheEcoWell
on greenwashing, including talk about plastic and LCAs:
https://youtu.be/QpRNoDn59Lg
@TheEcoWell
podcast with a microplastics researcher
@dr_oli_jones
https://www.theecowell.com/blog/the-t...
My video debunking "microplastics in your brain" https://www.youtube.com/shorts/g0380f...
         |
|
|
Lab Muffin Beauty Science
How do you spot dodgy experts? Here's a quick guide to some common red flags 🤔
I go through this in my Fake Experts video as well! I designed this with Jen of
@TheEcoWell
who has a great free conference coming up on beauty misinformation - please let us know if you find this useful!
      |
|
Friends (1)
Channel Comments
|
0Great_White0
(6 months ago)
People complaining about your eyelashes is a huge compliment: They have nothing else to point out.
|
|
Carpinchofan123
(6 months ago)
The rant was spot on
|
|
adw6894
(6 months ago)
If a woman puts on makeup, people will say "she's thirsty for attention". If women doesn't put on makeup, people will say "she's lazy and unprofessional". Typical misogyny society.
|
|
kristencurtis7031
(6 months ago)
I didn't even notice you're not wearing mascara. I was too busy thinking about the valuable and fascinating information that you were sharing.
|
|
aFarAwayGalaxy
(22 minutes ago)
People complain that you are not wearing mascara? Never have I heard of anything so ridiculous. You do you and thanks for making great, science-backed content!
|
|
JaimeC-h9v
(6 months ago)
I can’t believe that the state of your eyelashes is even a topic of discussion! Some people need to find better things to do with their time than complain about eyelashes!!!
|
|
esormirp
(6 months ago)
hating on a creator for "not wearing mascara" is actual insanity. how do these people survive living in real life
|
|
sarahjersild875
(6 months ago)
Who the hell is so concerned about non-mascaraed lashes? WHY?
|
|
ucha10
(6 months ago)
I’m glad you spoke up about the misogyny and racism. People need to be aware how bad it is.
|
|
lexii8415
(6 months ago)
I use to be a manager at ulta and always warned people about the side effects of prostaglandin analogs in lash serums, especially when they were there to buy them for their daughters (which happened a lot). One of the times I was very thankful for my background in health sciences
|
|
みどり-e4b
(6 months ago)
Thank you Michelle. I have Chinese background and lived there until 18. I know they have decent products and tbh felt a bit uncomfortable about how people are talking about made in china products like evil here. But even for my own personal experience, I found products from aliexpress and SHEIN to be way worse than those I purchased from TaoBao(the Chinese website that sells to locals).
|
|
ankyfire
(3 months ago)
7:07 if anyone followed Simply Nailogical - she had experience with paint thinners and immediately recognised the smell
|
Add comment