Lips
Lip skin has no oil glands, and every lip problem starts there
The structure of the lip is genuinely different from the rest of the face. Once you know how, most of the standard lip advice…
Kabir Anand
Contributing writer, Kiss Me Miss
Kabir writes about hair and what washing frequency really changes.
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23 articles
Lips
Lip balm does not add moisture, it slows moisture leaving
Almost every balm on the market is an occlusive. Knowing that changes when you apply it and why applying it to bone-dry lips…
Lips
Matte, satin and gloss are three different engineering problems
Finish is not a style choice made at the end of formulation. It determines the wax, oil and pigment structure of the entire product.
Lips
Liquid lipstick transfers less and feels worse, for one reason
The polymer film that resists a coffee cup also resists your mouth moving. That is the whole trade, and no formula escapes it…
Lips
Scrubbing your lips is usually the cause of the peeling
Peeling lips look like they need exfoliation, which is the trap. Removing a layer that had not finished shedding starts the cycle…
Lips
An old lipstick changes in ways you can see and smell
Anhydrous products do not spoil the way creams do, but oils go rancid, waxes bloom and the surface collects whatever your lips…
Hair
Silicones are not villains, but they do need removing eventually
They coat the hair shaft, reduce friction and improve shine immediately. The complication is that some of them accumulate and need…
Hair
Protein and moisture are a balance, not a competition
Hair that feels stiff and snaps may have too much protein; hair that feels mushy and stretches may have too little. The signs are…
Hair
Heat damage happens at a temperature, not at a setting
The dial number is a manufacturer's label; what matters is how hot the plate is and how wet the hair was. Both are within your…
Hair
Washing less often does not retrain your scalp
Sebum production is governed by hormones and genetics, not by a schedule. What does change is how you perceive the oil and how it…
Hair
Hard water leaves a deposit, and hair feels it before you see it
Dissolved calcium and magnesium react with cleansing products and bind to the hair surface. The result is a coating that changes…
Hair
Curl pattern is a growth shape, and no product changes it
The curve of the follicle determines the curve of the fibre. Products can define, weigh down or dry out a curl, but the shape…
Hair
Bleach opens the cuticle, and that part does not close again
Lifting colour means forcing the fibre open and destroying pigment inside it. Everything difficult about bleached hair follows from…
Hair
Shedding, breakage and thinning are three different things
One is normal turnover, one is mechanical failure and one is a change at the follicle. Telling them apart decides whether you need…
Lips
Lip oils are an old category wearing a new name
The format arrived quickly and the chemistry did not change much. What separates a lip oil from a gloss, from a balm, and from a…
Lips
Cold dry air chaps lips, and licking them finishes the job
The mechanism is straightforward and so is the loop that keeps it going. What is happening at the surface, and why the obvious…
Hair
The scalp is skin, and most scalp problems are skin problems
It has more oil glands than the face, sits under a layer of hair and gets treated with detergents nobody would put near their…
Hair
Hair grows about a centimetre a month, and nothing changes that much
Length is a function of time, growth rate and how much breaks off the end. Only one of those three is genuinely under your control.
Hair
Dry shampoo absorbs oil and does not clean anything
It is a powder that soaks up sebum and adds texture. Useful on the right day, misunderstood most of the time, and genuinely…
Hair
Friction does damage you never notice happening
No single brush stroke, pillow turn or hair tie harms a strand. The count is what matters, and the count is far higher than anyone…
Hair
Semi, demi and permanent colour differ by what they open
Three categories with genuinely different chemistry. What each one does to the cuticle, how each one leaves, and why that decides…
Hair
Oil either gets into the strand or sits on it, and that changes the job
Coconut behaves differently from argan for a structural reason. Which oils penetrate, which ones coat, and when each of those is…
Hair
Fine, thin and thick describe three different measurements
One refers to the width of a single strand, another to how many strands you have, and the third gets used for both. The confusion…