Top all-time · #9442
Lab Muffin Beauty Science
Personal blog · labmuffin.comsciencehealth
Lab Muffin Beauty Science is a personal blog at labmuffin.com about science and health. Since 2021, 8 different Hacker News readers have linked it 11 times. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-10-16, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (7) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN readers link Lab Muffin for evidence-based beauty science, especially sunscreen. Posts cover SPF testing accuracy, benzene and chemical-filter scares, and skincare product recommendations.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 7 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
The science behind beauty and cosmetic products, explained in an easy-to-understand way by a PhD scientist and science educator.
Most-linked posts?
- /purito-sunscreen-and-all-about-spf-testing-with-video/2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2025-09-06
What Hacker News says?
A reality check on the sunscreen benzene panic: https://labmuffin.com/will-benzene-in-sunscreens-give-you-ca...
Comment linking /will-benzene-in-sunscreens-give-you-cancer-with-video/
on “The health benefits of sunlight may outweigh the risk of skin cancer”Submitted The only skin care that works? science video response (2020) as a story · 220 points
HN discussionOn an aside, most people def dont even use the right amount for labelled SPF values even when the sunscreens do work as intended. Insanely so for the relatively light dusting spray sunscreens do even in the best of circumstances https://labmuffin.com/do-sunscreen-sprays-actually-work-the-...
Comment linking /do-sunscreen-sprays-actually-work-the-science/
on “Over 80% of sunscreen performed below their labelled efficacy (2020)”Submitted How to spot AI science slop as a story · 12 points
HN discussionThere's no reason to avoid chemical sunscreens unless you have an individual allergy to some of the components. The concerns about them being "carcinogenic" or "disrupting hormones" or "killing the environment" is fearmongering and marketing bullshit pushed by "clean beauty" companies. This is a good summary of the topic: https://labmuffin.com/sunscreen-myth-directory/ https://labmuffin.com/factcheck-low-tox-sunscre…
Comment linking /factcheck-low-tox-sunscreen-swaps/
on “Over 80% of sunscreen performed below their labelled efficacy (2020)”Avoid (from other 3 articles/studies): Neutrogena, Banana Boat, Bondi Sands, Cancer Council, Aldi, Nivea, Estée Lauder, iPSA, Anessa, Shiseido, Curél, Sofina, Laneige, Dermacept, Bio-Essence, Fancl (Japan), Purito (Korea) [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45145624 [2] https://labmuffin.com/purito-sunscreen-and-all-about-spf-tes... [3] https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-04/questions-over-lab-th...
Comment linking /purito-sunscreen-and-all-about-spf-testing-with-video/
on “Over 80% of sunscreen performed below their labelled efficacy (2020)”The author does have a simple recommendation list https://labmuffin.com/basic-skincare-guide-product-recommend...
Comment linking /basic-skincare-guide-product-recommendations/
on “The only skin care that works? science video response (2020)”It is bonkers that sunscreen (edit: SPF) testing still requires testing on a human subject, which makes testing both expensive and unreliable. Michelle Wong, who is quoted in the article as Lab Muffin Beauty Science, discusses it in more detail for a previous scandal, this one for a Korean sunscreen brand: https://labmuffin.com/purito-sunscreen-and-all-about-spf-tes...
Comment linking /purito-sunscreen-and-all-about-spf-testing-with-video/
on “A sunscreen scandal shocking Australia”Sunscreens that use zinc/titanium dioxide as active ingredients are often so unpleasant to use that people don't apply enough of them or refuse to use them. The "nicer" sunscreens that use these ingredients often sneak in SPF boosters which are actually derivatives of other chemical sunscreens but are treated differently on the ingredients label, pretty much cheating the system. SPF boosters: https://labmuffin.com/1…
Comment linking /is-your-sunscreen-killing-coral-the-science-with-video/
on “European sunscreens are safer than American”
