There are a wealth of beauty brands and products in the beautysphere today. Engaging packaging, ground-breaking ingredients, and amazing “clinical” claims make nearly every product seem like a legitimate option. What influences a woman’s beauty shopping behaviors? According to a 2014 Q2 POPSUGAR Insights beauty study, recommendations are highly influential to women especially from beauty experts, bloggers and peers.

As estheticians we do have a lot of influence, but sometimes even the best of us get caught up in confusing scientific jargon and complicated explanations. So what does jargon-free, straight-talking beauty advice look like? Enter….Lab Muffin a good example of a blog that is connecting the consumer to solid beauty explanations and advice minus the jargon and over your head technical talk.

Lab Muffin was created by a twenty something PhD grad and science educator in Sydney, Australia named Michelle and was created because she got sick of the blatant BS that was out there and wanted to present science in an easy-to-understand way, so that everyone could get something out of it. Lab Muffin’s creator Michelle Wong chatted with BYM a few weeks ago and shared:  “There’s a lot of marketing waffle in the beauty industry – lots of “could help improve” and “includes XXX technology! It’s easy to be hoodwinked if you don’t have some idea of what’s going on inside the product and you’re only relying on the blurb on the outside!” and what’s behind the jargon companies use to sell their products ; according to Lab Muffin: “Often – not a lot. There are some good, solid ingredients in skincare, but often those aren’t the ones being promoted like mad. Usually it’s the really fancy schmancy stuff that gets marketed, but they rarely have good, solid science behind them.”

When asked about “hype” products Lab Muffin shared: I’m seeing peptides around a lot – I’m a bit skeptical! I’m also seeing a lot of UVA-absorbing sunscreen ingredients, which I’m very excited about. Oils in general are getting more popular which is fantastic! Some of  Lab Muffins favorite products are the reformulated Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence SPF50 PA++++ sunscreen – it’s so light and non-greasy and rosehip oil. 

If you can’t tell Lab Muffin gives it to you straight, its no wonder consumers flock to her blog to get straightforward answers on beauty products and skincare concerns. Take a lesson from Lab Muffins book when talking to your clients about products and treatments be authentic, honest and jargon-free. In the end your client will trust you more and value your insights as an industry expert.

Note: Lab Muffin has a few exciting projects in the pipeline. For more beauty science and updates visit her site at labmuffin.com

XOXO

BeautifullyYours Team