or I’ll come across a topic while researching
something else. Most blog posts take a long
time to research and write - I’d estimate over 4
hours of reading and researching, and 4 hours
of writing and editing. Sometimes if I’ve read
about a topic before it takes a bit less time,
but I’m pretty fastidious so I tend to quadru-
ple check everything that goes into a post. For
longer posts where I have to analyze the stud-
ies like my post on parabens, it can take weeks
to put together. I’m sure I could write faster,
but It’s really important for me to have accu-
rate information.
Have here been any topics you’ve
covered that you found particularly
interesting or surprising?
I used to be really skeptical about thermal
water, jar packaging and alcohol in cosmetics,
but once I read more about them I realized they
were fine! I’ve also gotten more interested in
the non-product side of skincare, like the ef-
fects of dietary habits and mental wellbeing.
It’s a lot less well-researched and the studies
are much harder to interpret but I think it’s go-
ing to be a really exciting area.
Going back to the lack of science
based blogs — what are your
thoughts on the matter? Did you
have any resistance from readers
after launching because of it?
I’ve always had really supportive readers!
I’ve had quite a few weird reactions from other
scientists and science writers though - science
still has a lot of misogynists in it who find top-
ics like skincare and makeup unworthy of at-
tention. This is sometimes the case even with
female scientists and within the cosmetic sci-
ence community!
didn’t have the necessary background to find and digest
the information, so I started my blog! I’ve always really
enjoyed teaching, so it was a natural progression.
Tell us a little about how you go about
developing each of your posts? Do you
decide what to look into based on reader
request, personal interest or a little of
both? What’s your process and research
period like for writing?
Inspiration for blog posts comes from a lot of plac-
es - sometimes I’ll see a product while shopping, or a
friend or reader will ask me an interesting question,
Since you’re deep in the science
industry you have access to a
few more reference sources than most
of us—do you have any suggestions for
how ya peasants can find accurate, good
information on cosmetics and beauty
products? Or any other suggestions for
other bloggers who want to have more
accurate information?
Good bloggers: my favorite is my friend Kind of Ste-
phen, a cosmetic chemist. The Beauty Brains is fantas-
tic as well. It’s always difficult to find accurate infor-
mation and digest it without a science background, but
familiarizing yourself with peer-reviewed databases
like Pubmed is a good place to start!
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