Chemist Confessions – Details, episodes & analysis

When it comes to fighting acne, benzoyl peroxide has been around for so long it almost seems like it’s old-fashioned. However, because of its long history, BPO has a lot of great data and of the ingredients out there we actually have a very good understanding how it works to reduce breakouts. But are we actually using the right concentration? We dive into the research and discuss what concentrations we should all be trying to target and why.

Salicylic acid is probably the most common active ingredient you’ll run into when putting together your acne routine. But is it actually a must have? What kind of acne can it actually treat? In this episode, we dive into a few key clinical studies that look at just what 2% salicylic acid really bring to your routine.

The chemists are gearing up for their 30 for 30 sunscreen challenge test! So naturally this is a great time to check up on some of the latest studies on sunscreens. We cover a large survey study on people’s sunscreen application habits (spoiler alert: it’s not great), an oil based vs water based cleanser study on sunscreen removal, a new J&J SPF50 vs SPF100 study, and an update on the ongoing studies on sunscreen’s impact on coral reef.

We’ve reached the 100th Episode! This week we’re going down memory lane ranking our top 5 podcast moments and our favorite skincare science. We also decide to reveal some true chemist “confessions”. We share what popular ingredients we might not be fully on board with and even what skincare steps we forget. Time for some fun!

We’re back in the realm of plant extracts in skincare! This is a realm where real clinical data is quite sparse. So even simple questions like “does this extract work?” can be difficult to answer. In this episode, we discuss 3 plant ingredients with just enough interesting testing data for us to say “this is worth trying”.

Journeying into the more controversial ingredients, we first have to talk about petrolatum. One common question that we haven’t answered yet is, “Will petrolatum clog my pores?” There’s a surprising amount of data to discuss on this subject and after, we share best practices on using petrolatum in your skincare routine.

Taking a break from plant stuff and antioxidants, let’s talk about the newer exfoliator on the block, gluconolactone. Uniquely, gluconolactone has been tied to many skin benefits, being called hydrating, brightening, exfoliating, to maybe even…acne fighting? Ultimately we dissect the data to discuss what exactly gluconolactone does for skin and how it compares to the classic AHAs. Tune in to learn if gluconolactone deserves a place in your routine and how to best shop for this category!

In this episode, we’re continuing our Vitamin C series and are focusing on actives layering. Most of the questions we get are on whether or not you can layer certain actives with the very fussy ascorbic acid. We first review guidelines on the concept of layering, go through any evidence on ascorbic acid layering combinations, and finally discuss which pairings you should and shouldn’t worry about.

We’ve dedicated many episodes to Vitamin C, but there’s still more to cover! Recently, there have been a lot of Vitamin C launches and they are specifically for tackling hyperpigmentation. What makes this arena slightly confusing is that many of these products use Vitamin C derivatives. But, how helpful is Vitamin C in helping to tackle this very stubborn skin concern? And which Vitamin C molecule is best? We discuss all this and more. It’s time to go down the rabbit hole again!

We’ve encountered many skincare users who have discovered that the Vitamin C realm is just not their cup of tea and neither is it for their skin. Enter resveratrol! We discuss what resveratrol is, its antioxidant capabilities, and why despite the amount of data, we consider this a solid option as a non-Vitamin C antioxidant replacement. You’ve been warned, we get nerdy here, but lets go down the rabbit hole shall we?