Why is it so hard to find unbiased beauty advice online?

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Cosmetic chemist Dr Michelle Wong is using science to tackle beauty misinformation on social media, one claim at a time.

In an internet landscape populated by spin doctors and conspiracy theorists, the beauty industry is notoriously opaque about the truth. From anti-sunscreen advocates to “miracle” hair growth serums, it can be hard to know who and what to believe.

“People look down on it,” suggests Wong. “I think it’s partly just standard misogyny, the idea that because so many women are into it, it must be really frivolous and vain. I mean, there are a lot of ‘men’s’ topics that get taken so much more seriously that are equally as frivolous.”There’s also very little funding for cosmetic research, most of which comes from large companies that Wong says have little incentive to release their findings publicly.

Having had a strict upbringing where she wasn’t allowed to wear make-up, Wong’s interest in beauty only started to take shape when she got to university. As a science student, she applied her nose for hard facts and research to her beauty shopping. “I think it’s partly just standard misogyny, the idea that because so many women are into it, it must be really frivolous and vain.”

“It’s always a bit tricky because, obviously, it does introduce lots of questions of conflict of interest,” says Wong. “Oh, definitely,” says Wong. “There are deals I have turned down that were really lucrative,” she says.“I think the knowledge of the average consumer has gone up a lot. And there is more of a sort of appetite for technical information as well.”

 

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