iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 08/08/2026

Here’s why AI chatbots (Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini etc) are unreliable for science content, and terrible as “just a starting point” for science communicators. Unfortunately, this probably isn’t something AI chatbots get much better at… although sloppers will get better at hiding it!

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 09/07/2026

Perceived institutional endorsement is IME very important for the spread and impact of sunscreen misinfo - authority bias is powerful! I've seen many people cite intros of peer-reviewed papers as "gold-standard science". "Minerals reflect" is the origin of many sticky myths repeated by derms.

Misinformation family tree, labelled "misinformation multiplies". Starts with "Chemical sunscreens absorb UV and convert it to heat, physical sunscreens reflect UV", which turns into "Chemical sunscreens need to absorb into skin to activate and work", which turns into "Chemical sunscreens protect less skin because they get absorbed while physical sunscreens sit on top" and "Physical sunscreens protect immediately but chemical sunscreens have a wait time". First myth also births "Chemical sunscreens absorb UV via a chemical reaction so they aren't photostable" which turns into "You only need to reapply chemical sunscreens, not physical". The first myth also turns into "Physical sunscreens reflect all wavelengths so they're broad spectrum but chemical sunscreens aren't" which births "Chemical sunscreens don't give as high UV protection as zinc oxide" and "Physical sunscreens are effective against blue light". First myth also turns into "Chemical sunscreens produce heat that triggers melasma and rosacea".

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 09/07/2026

SUNSCREEN MISINFO IN PAPER INTRO * Benzene contamination was not a real health concern, even for recalled products * Mineral sunscreens don't work differently to chemical sunscreens * Diligent sunscreen use can reduce vitamin D As the paper states, a myth seen repeatedly feels true.

Screenshot from paper with misinformation highlighted: "certain products were recalled for having detectable levels of benzene" "this concern pertained only to a few specific products"

Screenshot from paper with misinformation highlighted: "a mineral or "natural" sunscreen that blocks UV rays versus a "chemical" sunscreen that absorbs and deactivates rays" and "in no circumstance is not using sunscreen a safer option than using a "chemical" product during sun exposure." For the latter, there is a note: "Questionable risk/benefit ratio in some cases e.g. very low UV index, indoors, photoallergic reactions, dark skin tone…"

Screenshot from paper with misinformation highlighted: the paper says "limiting absorption of Vitamin D" is an example of sunscreen misinformation

Screenshot from paper with highlighted statement: "Repeated exposures to this sort of misinformation not only enhances the potential for online viral spreads but increases perceptions of accuracy among all audiences"

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 09/07/2026

Again, my own data shows how much less engaging boosted content is - by up to 160 times. You can also see the difference in engagement in the top 10 viewed videos in the study's dataset.

Table of some @labmuffinbeautyscience TikTok video stats, 2023-2025 - this is available in a Google Doc linked at the end of the thread. Sponsored and boosted videos have high views but required more views to get a like, and a comment. Unboosted sponsored videos from a similar time have low views and few comments. Unsponsored videos generally have more comments. The unsponsored videos promoting products are from 2023, since they were the closest videos in date that were highly viewed videos promoting a product - I don't promote products enough it seems!

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 09/07/2026

I also did a quick pass over the rest to mark the ones I thought were likely boosted. Boosted views were likely 38.5-49.5% of the total views used in the analysis - a decent confounder?

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 09/07/2026

CLAIM 2 "Health misinformation about sunscreen attracts disproportionately high audience engagement" I categorised the top 44 videos in the dataset (representing 40% of views in the analysis). Of these, only 7-15 were likely unboosted. You can see the huge difference in engagement!

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 09/07/2026

TikTok doesn't seem to think so either - they count boosted views as less when you sort by "popular"... (Note that this means TikTok has the data! They could share it with researchers!)

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 09/07/2026

e.g. Here's some of my own data Average watch time: Boosted sponsored post = 1.4 & 3.6 sec Unboosted sponsored post = 8.2 & 11.3 sec Unboosted organic content = 14.9 to 30.2 sec Views per like/comment indicate views needed to "earn" an interaction - a measure of engagement.

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 09/07/2026

Brands often boost videos they paid creators to make (ads), plus their own posts. I didn't realise this was an issue until I saw the SI… Of the top 10 videos in their dataset: 6 = clearly disclosed ads 2 = posts from brands 1 = likely undisclosed ad Only 1 was likely organic (regular) content.

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 09/07/2026

I don't think 1.5% passes a sniff test for what's seen on TikTok. Quick example: CBC News showed this TikTok screenshot when they covered this study… 3 out of the 4 top videos that came up when searching "sunscreen" suggest chemical sunscreens are toxic - pretty far from 1.5%.

Screenshot from CBC News Edmonton showing a screenshot of a TikTok search for sunscreen - 3 out of 4 videos send the message "avoid chemical sunscreens", the 4th video is still misinfo, but at least nothing about big health risks

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 17/01/2026

A lot of chemical #sunscreen fear is from animal/in vitro studies taken out of context, without comparing exposure in those studies to the actual amounts we're exposed to from sunscreens. Safety limits have massive buffers (100-fold margin of safety, from eg. no observed adverse effect level).

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 19/08/2025

It's ironic that this article perpetuates fear about chemical sunscreens being unsafe. Plus the misconception that dermatologists are experts on product safety (that's toxicologists and safety assessors). Also the US blanket recommendation on sunscreen use that's not actually based on evidence...

The American Academy ofDermatology recommends broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of30 or higher daily, even on cloudy days. Mineral sunscreens containing zinc oxide or titanium dioxide are considered safe by dermatologists.

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 06/08/2025

The avocado toast to luxury fragrance houseless millennial pipeline

Bottle of Diptyque Philosykos perfume, it was very fancy 10 years ago but feels reasonably priced now, possibly because Sydney houses are appreciating by an average of $1000/day

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 02/08/2025

Dear science communicators and scientists, Can we please be mindful of how we frame our videos? The vast majority of companies that employ hundreds/thousands of scientists are NOT lying about things you can easily test with household items. Views shouldn’t be the only metric we care about.

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 18/07/2025

Is your scalp itchy and nothing seems to really work? I got you

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 15/07/2025

Seeing a lot of people recommending sunscreen mists... unfortunately they're really not that effective for applying to your face, sorry! See the cloud lingering in the air? That's sunscreen NOT going on your skin - my experiments estimated that 80-95% of the sunscreen doesn't land.

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 12/07/2025

New safeguards for Australian sunscreens, because specific ingredients "aren't safe"? Here's what that actually means!

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 06/07/2025

No, the data always showed peer pressure was the issue, and that's highly influenced by role modelling from political leaders. Not to mention perceived risk and information gaps. From @luckytran.com Feb 2023 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

We could do much more. Polls consistently show that the majority of the public, especially low-income communities and communities of color, support mask mandates. But because many places have dropped mask mandates, fewer people are wearing masks. CDC research shows that people are more willing to wear a mask when there’s high Covid transmission, but most also think Covid-19 transmission levels are much lower than they actually are. Another barrier is that a number of people can’t afford N95 and KN95 masks, but the government is not providing them for free. Widespread disinformation about the science of masks undermines policy and education efforts that can bridge these gaps.

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 13/06/2025

Did you see the Choice sunscreen testing results? Here's an SPF deep dive! Key points: Sunscreens are very effective, these results do not indicate you should lose faith in them SPF testing is imprecise - this is an inherent limitation of the test, lots of variation even if nothing's gone "wrong"

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 01/06/2025

Baking matcha cookies right after everyone called matcha "propaganda" (It's ok, these are for my Asian friends who didn't need propaganda to like matcha... they're not too sweet)

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 30/05/2025

Did this study show that removing parabens and phthalates from your products reverses breast cancer, like Dr Yvonne Burkart claimed on Diary of a CEO? No.

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 07/05/2025

This dermatologist has 1.8 million followers on TikTok. I suspect most dermatologists know the evidence doesn't support taking 2.5 mg biotin a day, or hypochlorous acid for acne... but this kind of thing is now the public face of dermatology 🙃 #dermsky

Screenshot of a TikTok video from Dr Aamna Adel - dermatologist secrets everyone needs to know. Laser hair removal will do nothing if you have blonde body hair

Greasy hair? Blow dry >> air dry you're welcome

Hypochlorous acid (for) stinky pits, back acne, butt acne, boils

2.5 mg of biotin a day will fix your weak, crumbly nails

Urea cream and cotton socks is godsend for crusty feet

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 01/05/2025

I can't believe I made this?? With some string and two sticks??? 😍

Closeup of a surprisingly neat hand knitted shoulder seam

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 30/04/2025

American Academy of Dermatology - they also keep featuring dermfluencers who promote random hair oils...

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 29/04/2025

This is very funny framing because Lenin was famously into lifting

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 25/04/2025

Dear fellow scientists, Please stop doing these smug unhelpful dunks. Don't pretend you don't know what they mean. It's a lazy strawman argument, and this kind of thing confirms all the worst stereotypes of scientists. Keep it in the group chat! Sincerely, PhD chemist and science communicator

Original tweet: Nancy Mace: Get the chemicals out of our food.

Quote tweet: Simon Maechling: Hi, PhD chemist here - literally everything is made of chemicals.

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 21/04/2025

Article version is here labmuffin.com/factcheck-lo...

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 21/04/2025

More of my reply to a post about "low tox swaps" that managed to cover most of the myths around sunscreens!

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 21/04/2025

There's a new video going around on sunscreens being toxic, from a toxicologist who's no longer board certified... Reminder: sunscreens are very safe products, but the research on any "unnatural" substance can look very scary when taken out of context.

Article version https://labmuffin.com/factcheck-low-tox-sunscreen-swaps/

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 17/04/2025

Did you hear that there's enough microplastics in your brain to make a plastic spoon? Turns out... there isn't.

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 13/04/2025

Almost none of this is true - the only phthalates found in cosmetics (outside of DEP which has a very different risk profile from other phthalates) are trace amounts leached from plastic packaging, which would be minimal exposure compared to every other plastic in your life

Phthalates are often used in fragrances, says Barrett,
who studies environmental chemicals and their impact
on pregnancy and child development. "They're very
good at carrying scent and color in products." But they
have been linked to preterm birth in pregnant women
with high levels of the chemical in their bodies.

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 13/04/2025

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 06/04/2025

He also ignored the other article I linked that was written by a political scientist. Not to mention that if you ask the people behind actual successful movements, they talk about the importance of violence, such as MLK...

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 14/03/2025

So, this benzene-related acne product recall... The full story behind it has made me go full red string conspiracy board meme, send help or join me?

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 11/03/2025

Imagine having the confidence to give 20 hours of advice for ADHD, without knowing the most basic-ass information about it. Does Huberman have a protocol for developing this level of Dunning-Kruger?

Huberman Lab post: It is interesting to learn that many psychiatrists who
treat children with ADHD report that the kids'
parents are often late to appointments as well and
show direct signs of ADHD. This raises the question
of whether some of it is genetic. There are too many
variables to separate, but it is interesting
nonetheless.

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 03/03/2025

Replied to a post about people faking credentials on Threads, and half the replies are men getting upset about the term "woman of colour" JFC

Threads post: koreydior_
you can just put PhD next to yourname. no one checks

Reply from labmuffinbeautyscience: I'm a woman of colour, so someone actually
emailed my PhD supervisor on a weekend to check, and decided I was a fraud because they didn't get a reply immediately

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 02/03/2025

Rich people need to stop making their anxiety everyone else's problem instead of going to therapy. You can't buy your way out of dying like the rest of us, and that's an essential part of being human! Stop wasting your time on "research" that doesn't help and touch grass, hang out with your friends

Threads post from carlingnicole

Huberman, Kim K, and Bryan Johnson in a
collab talking about "healthy aging" is
wild when what they are *really* talking
about is being rich

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 22/02/2025

It's no accident that MAHA's "incompetent regulators are allowing toxins in our products" message was used as a smokescreen to usher in massive deregulation and dismantling of public health. And now the Environmental Working Group is all Shocked Pikachu about their followers cheering it on.

Instagram post from Dr Jessica Knurick: Now after years of undermining trust in food regulation, the EWG are currently alarmed that the FDA's food safety leadership is collapsing. And their own audience isn't having it.

Look at these comments. People who likely care about food safety have been conditioned to think dismantling the FDA is a good thing. When in reality, it's a massive threat.

(Comments underneath about how the EWG wouldn't need to exist if the FDA worked, wasn't this their goal etc.)

They received so much pushback that they
had to issue this comment, which is
absolutely true, but has been missing from
their messaging for years.

Environmental working group: The drug side of the FDA gets most of the
resources, while food safety has been left
underfunded and understaffed for decades.
Instead of slashing jobs, we need more
inspectors, more scientists and more
expertise to protect consumers. Cutting food
safety staff only makes things worse,
Reform requires people who understand the
science and how to implement policy.
Without food safety scientists, inspectors
and regulatory/Congressional experts, there's
no one to enforce the changes consumers
demand.

This is the logical conclusion of their
messaging.

By making the FDA the villain instead of
addressing underfunding and resource
constraints, they helped fuel public
distrust to the point where food safety
protections are now being actively
dismantled with public support

And the unfortunate irony: this doesn't
lead to better food safety. It leads to less
oversight and higher risks for all of us.

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 11/02/2025

Today I found out that this is in the @amermedicalassn.bsky.social Code of Ethics: "Physicians should not offer products whose claims to benefit lack scientific validity." How does this align with all the MDs on TikTok spruiking rosemary oil, and selling it through their affiliate pages??

Collage of 12 medfluencers with huge followings, recommending rosemary oil for hair loss. There's also one trichologist and one chemist, but the vast majority are medical doctors.

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 09/02/2025

I feel like people might be more convinced if you show them an actual red string board, people love these diagrams

Diagram showing how 10 umbrella companies own a huge chunk of supermarket brands

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 04/02/2025

This seems like a bizarre finding? Different colours are sourced from different states. Paper says it can't be contamination due to "consistent nature of handling and processing across all organ samples within objectively clean clinical and forensic settings", but this doesn't make sense to me?

Decedent specimen collections over the past 30 years were not focused on minimizing external plastic contamination. However, given the consistent nature of handling and processing across all organ samples within objectively clean clinical and forensic settings, the significant accumulation of MNPs in the brain cannot be dismissed as an artifact of contamination. Furthermore, the 2016 samples were stored for 84–96 months compared to only 2–4 months for the 2024 samples, which exhibited greater concentrations of polymer. Thus, contamination from plastic storage vessels should not influence the conclusions.

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 27/01/2025

Whatever it is, wet it and roll it in citric acid, or just shake it straight into your mouth

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 27/01/2025

Good point! I think it assumes 1-in-1-out per person, apparently the average US person buys 50+ items of clothing per year. So just with pre-consumer clothing store waste + post-consumer clothing waste the numbers don't seem that far off... then you add the rest of the life cycle impacts 😬

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 24/01/2025

Have you considered taking your guide down? It was cited in the @nationalacademies.org sunscreen study as an example of inaccurate info that confuses consumers. nap.nationalacademies.org/read/26381/c...

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Dr Michelle Wong - Lab Muffin Beauty Science @labmuffin.com · 24/01/2025

I chose to do scicomm about beauty in 2011 because I could already see "non-toxic" beauty marketing pushing young women down the antivax pipeline. Anyway, here's a comment on a recent post by a Harvard dermatologist, about toxic ingredients in dry shampoo (the dermatologist liked the comment).

Instagram post comment: Isn't that what the FDA is supposed to regulate? What lobby bought them off to disregard health risk factors? Let's go RFK Jr!

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