2026 has started with a fresh batch of misinformation (are we surprised?), as well as me scrambling to correct older myths. As always, Brandolini’s law rings true: The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than that needed to produce it…
Latest posts on Instagram and TikTok:
FDA talc testing - a debunk of some of the common misconceptions about the FDA scrapping their proposed talc testing rule, in collaboration with The Eco Well. Many thanks to Dr Lyle Burgoon (toxicologist with a lot of experience in regulatory toxicology) for his assistance on this!
Science isn’t team sports - Somehow the FDA talc rule post, and my stories pointing out that “no, believing pseudoscience isn’t limited to people on the political right” was twisted by a handful of specific people to claim I’m alt-right, despite all publicly available evidence to the contrary.
These people are a small group of bad actors (my Instagram stories here document how this stemmed from beauty science-washing and brands trying to protect profits during SunscreenGate, and how the main person lied about using ChatGPT to make “science” content). But it reflects a wider troubling trend I’ve seen, of motivated reasoning by supposedly “pro-science” people - more on this and the current “plastic-free” marketing trend below…
Be careful with lash serums - many of these should really be regulated as drugs, and can have unexpected side effects. More info in this YouTube video
Plastic-free is the new clean beauty - this has now been extended into a blog article (see below)
Sun protection is cheese - reminding everyone of the Swiss cheese model, applied to sun protection! Using multiple forms of sun protection means you’re somewhat covered, even if one form fails.
You don’t need to be scared of chemical sunscreens - a response to a video by medfluencer and anaesiologist Dr Myro Figura. His video promoted common myths around sunscreens absorbing into blood, hormone disruption, and zinc oxide being reef-safe.
I was pretty disappointed by his reaction to my comments on his video on IG, and his comments on mine - for example, dismissing my response as “emotional”, and insisting that his opinion was still valid, despite the difference in relevant expertise and scientific arguments.
He seems to have deleted his video on Instagram, although given that it’s still up on all his other platforms, it doesn’t seem to be because he’s changed his mind. It had 2.5 million views when I last looked at it, versus my correction’s 222,000 views - another example of Brandolini’s law in action.
I had a lot of people ask for more products I don’t use, after my first video on the topic, so here’s the sequel! Includes:
Toothpastes that cause mouth ulcers
Products with plant oils
Illegal ingredient lists
Natural hair removal (cyperus oil)
Solid hair conditioners
Estrogen face creams (featuring the excellent Dr. Jen Gunter)
As usual with any safety topic, Mo Skin Lab’s amazing work also makes some appearances!
You can watch it on YouTube or Nebula.
A lot of people asked me to elaborate on estrogen face creams, and since then I worked out a better way of explaining the problems, so there’ll probably be a dedicated video on this coming soon… or at least a few social media posts!
I recently came across a Threads post from @idea.soup saying “I don’t have any evidence for it but I have a weird feeling the anti-polyester movement is about to become a right-wing pipeline”.
This was a lightbulb moment for me!
I started doing scicomm in 2011 because I realised the “non-toxic” clean beauty movement could be a pipeline to anti-vax beliefs, and the current “anti-plastic” trend has been giving me the same vibes.
(Note: I’m referring to blanket “plastic-free = better” sentiments here. 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 underlying goals of better human and environmental health… much like how removing “dirty” ingredients leads to misaligned outcomes.)
I did an Instagram post on some of the key parallels I’ve been seeing between clean beauty and “plastic-free” claims, and then expanded it into a longer blog article.
There’s also a little detour into identity-based motivated reasoning at the end. This was inspired by social media reactions to a Guardian article explaining issues with microplastic measurements, and correcting misinformation about the “you have a spoon’s worth of microplastics in your brain” study from about a year ago.
This was an excellent article that broke down the science really neatly, but one of their sources was a former Dow chemist. Disappointingly, many people ignored all the other scientists and sources they cited, and used this single issue to deny all of the science presented in favour of their “anti-plastic” stance.
I’ve been seeing more and more of this sort of thing lately, and I think it’s related to how increasingly polarised society has become, especially since the start of the pandemic - this may also need to be a topic for a future video!
Read my full “plastic-free” article here.
I was interviewed for this great article on sunscreen myths from SBS News. I also made a sunscreen myth directory on my website for easy reference!
Some videos I really enjoyed recently:
The Present Past’s video on the history of the Italian gesture
Angela Collier’s “AI does not exist but it will ruin everything anyway” video
Ordinary Things’ 2025 wrap-up
I’ve had a lot of questions about the makeup I’m applying in my videos, so I finally made a little collection on ShopMy to collect the details (note these are affiliate links, meaning I get paid a small commission if you decide to purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you)
Thanks to the sunscreen study I was running (report coming soon!), I’ve really gotten into behavioural science - a lot of the research around getting people to wear sunscreens/masks/condoms overlaps! A couple of social scientists I’ve discovered recently:
Dr Devon M Price talks a lot about HIV and masks on Instagram
Dr J Offir has a blog called Essays You Didn’t Want to Read delving into interesting psychology, like why some people are more upset by masks than covid’s health effects
If you’re into clean indoor air, my state (NSW) have submissions open for their inquiry until January 25
My husband Omar accidentally got me into anime - at the moment I’m watching Jujutsu Kaisen.
Knitting updates (I feel like a small but dedicated number of people might be hanging out for these?):
The Rota Sleeveless Top is finished but it’s a tad small, and I’m procrastinating on weaving in the ends before road testing it properly.
In my videos I’m now knitting a maroon Agnete Cardigan, which is a brioche pattern. The splitty yarn I’m using makes this a pretty awful project for multi-tasking, but learning to fix brioche is an exciting mental challenge…
Emily Graslie of The Brain Scoop was my Secret Santa last year, and gifted me some gorgeous sock yarns! Watch out for sock knitting in my future videos…
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