1. Skepticism in Cosmetics Identifying & Detecting Beauty BS

2. Perry Romanowski Cosmetic ChemistWriter / Entrepreneur

5. http://chemistscorner.com

6. http://thebeautybrains.com

7. My mission Educate Inspire Entertain

8. Critical Thinking & Skepticism Image of skepticism

9. Problem There isn’t enough skeptical thinking

10. What do people believe?

11. Image of Aliens UFOs, Bigfoot, Astrology, Ghosts

12. Image of Brain We use less than 10% of our Brain

13. Some Beauty Myth Shaving makes hair grow back

14. How? How do we know what we know? Three approaches –Accept what people tell you –Deny what people tell you –Practice doubt & inquiry Doubt & Inquiry is skeptical thinking and best

15. Acceptance

16. Denial

17. Doubt & Inquiry

18. Why be skeptical Find what really works Find out what is true It’s scientific Harder to be fooled Learn new things Save money

19. What is skeptical thinking? Method for figuring out what is true Step 1 – Initially doubt all claims

20. What is skeptical thinking? Step 2 – Inquire as to what is true

21. What is skeptical thinking? Step 3 – Form a conclusion

22. No beliefs are sacred All beliefs are tentative & subject to change if further data warrants it Advantage = false beliefs can be filtered out “All is to be doubted.” Rene Descartes

23. Myths People Believe Natural myths Cosmetic acupuncture Toxic chemicals Kinoki foot pads More expensive = better Hair myths –Pantene putting wax on hair –Natural oils are good for hair Skin myths Diversion Stem Cells for cosmetics

24. Myths People Believe Natural myths

25. Myths People Believe Natural myths

26. Natural There is no evidence that “natural” is inherently better

27. Myths People Believe More expensive = better

28. Money There is no evidence quality of cosmetics is related to cost Wine experiment

29. Myths People Believe Natural myths Cosmetic acupuncture Toxic chemicals Kinoki foot pads More expensive = better Hair myths –Pantene putting wax on hair –Natural oils are good for hair Skin myths Diversion Stem Cells for cosmetics

30. Myths People Believe Natural myths Cosmetic acupuncture Toxic chemicals Kinoki foot pads More expensive = better Hair myths –Pantene putting wax on hair –Natural oils are good for hair Skin myths Diversion Stem Cells for cosmetics

31. Myths People Believe Natural myths Cosmetic acupuncture Toxic chemicals Kinoki foot pads More expensive = better Hair myths –Pantene putting wax on hair –Natural oils are good for hair Skin myths Diversion Stem Cells for cosmetics

32. Skeptical Tools

33. Detecting BS Independent verification of facts Reject arguments from authority –No statement should be believed because it is made by an authority. Hans Reichenbach Can a hypothesis be falsified Don’t fall in love with your ideas Occam’s Razor Quantify whenever possible

34. Detecting BS Independent verification of facts

35. Detecting BS Reject arguments from authority –No statement should be believed because it is made by an authority. Hans Reichenbach

36. Detecting BS Reject arguments from authority

37. Detecting BS Can a hypothesis be falsified

38. Detecting BS Don’t fall in love with your ideas

39. Detecting BS Occam’s Razor

40. Detecting BS Quantify whenever possible

41. What is evidence Tangible Verifiable Preferably, independent Anecdotal evidence is not evidence –Not reliable –Memory errors –Perception errors

42. Experiment Always use controlled experiments Think about what you are controlling

43. Example of bad experiment No control If you have a treatment 3 things can happen –Gets better –Gets worse –Stays the same If you use no treatment, 3 things happen

44. Weak experiment Test against a blank control –Conditioner versus no conditioner Not answering the real question

45. Good experiment Find what is the best solution Compare new treatment to best Compare both to no treatment

46. Watch out for Logical Fallacies Ad hominem Argument from authority Appeal to ignorance Biased selection of data Statistical BS Mistaken cause & effect –Coincidence is the science of the true believer. Chet Raymo Straw man Suppressed evidence

47. Watch out for Logical Fallacies Statistical BS

48. Watch out for Logical Fallacies Ad hominem

49. Watch out for Logical Fallacies Argument from authority

50. Watch out for Logical Fallacies Appeal to ignorance

51. Watch out for Logical Fallacies Biased selection of data

52. Watch out for Logical Fallacies Mistaken cause & effect –Coincidence is the science of the true believer. Chet Raymo

53. Watch out for Logical Fallacies Straw man

54. Watch out for Logical Fallacies Suppressed evidence

55. Avoid the Cult of the Amateur Internet makes learning easy Anyone can write anything

56. Josh Billings The trouble with people is not what they don’t know, but that they know so much that ain’t so.

57. Reliable Sources Peer reviewed journals –JSCC –PubMed –Cochran Reviews

58. End There are two types of knowledge –The kind that has been proven wrong –The kind that hasn’t yet been proven wrong Karl Popper