Had to reupload, audio issues 😅 Sorry this took so long - it was meant to be a quick video about a single paper while I was wrapping up a big Top Secret project (not that secret, will be announced soon) as well as getting married, but then it turned into a Big Thing. Back to our regular schedule!
Abstract: "Our findings indicate that Lab Muffin Beauty Science has very little muffin content. We found 0 mention of muffins throughout a large sample (n=420). The differences with the non-muffin control group were insignificant (p
From my point of view I’ve been hair oiling for a pretty long time, but also doing scalp massages and overall taking better care of my hair and showing it some more care which is why I think I’ve had hair growth lol
No surprise that this channel has done well... rather sophisticated ideas expressed with great clarity and even creativity in the examples. A tonne of effort in each video too!
I started using homemade rosemary water on my scalp just two weeks ago and now I see this video 😅 But I have to say, it really helped me with sebum control. I wont be able to say if it helps me with hairloss, since I didn't measure the amount of dead hair falling out or how fast does my hair grow naturally.
I did the same and boiled ginger with it for 2 months, it actually helped my hair a lot. I've noticed more growth and it reduced my dandruff to almost non-existing
The only thing I've heard about rosemary oil is that it's anti-microbial, so if your hair loss was due to fungal folliculitis or something? Or maybe the mild tingling of it stimulates blood flow? Either way I'd be worried about contact dermatitis as you mentioned.
I'm a cosmetologist, I had my sister try this out, for FASTER hairgrowth, she was in a weird period where her hair was growing an inch a month before to 1/2 inch instead. This seemed to help somewhat, but of course it's hard to tell too because I'm now thinking her birthcontrol was effecting it. But again, it just seemed to help her go back to her normal growth pattern. BUT she could have easily been in the final stage of hair growth at the time as well.
mixodal with hair booster ( Best one) , finasteride and microneedling (PRP) are the only non surgical methods for hair growth that works 100% especially if you are young
I cannot express how bummed out I am about this....😭😭😭 Many a retreating hairline gentleman like myself and been grasping at this tiny bit of Hope, so as to not have to risk taking medication that makes you choose between your hairline and your dingdong
I will suggest take your time to read the comment section. The PHD and higher education are calling her out in comments a lot of people also sharing anecdotes that it works for them. She seems to me a bit stubborn just want be like it doesn't work! like a kid rather than I can't say for sure that it will work which is quite snobbish.
I'm thinking of starting a DIY science project, checking on semi-macro and microscopic scales the efficiency - or lack of thereof - of various treatments on skin quality but, having little experience with dermatology lab work I must ask - what size of sample would be necessary for preparation and at least few stains? Would smaller punch biopsy size be enough to induce anything of value from observation? Don't think I can sacrifice more of my tissue than that, and I'm dying to see true morphological, compositional changes in real time,in realistic conditions - be it from red light treatment, chemical peel, retinol or lasers.
You mean those GenZ numpties who "discover" everything we've already discovered sometimes hundreds of years ago? They will be fuming and not feeling LabMuffins "vibe" =)
And thats why 'just do your research' falls flat. Most people, myself included, just dont know how to read scientific papers even if we can get past the paywall. Its a shame.
You literally are taught how to do it in high school! I get that it can be tough, but it is a learnable skill that you were already walked through so it’s possible
I'm sorry, but school learning won't allow you to interpret or contextualise complex subjects. Or read complex statistics. It is usually better in my experience to find trusted science communicators in a given field. And maybe not follow the newest fad. @lauren_faulkner
I have been using rosemary water and oil. I have suffered from thick painful dandruff all of my life and the rosemary from what have found out is really really good for anti-inflammatory and killing bad bacteria. My dandruff is almost 100% gone and takes a long time come back. I used to wash my hair every day because it was so bad but now I can wait a few days before I do. And now that the dandruff is not blocking my hair follicles my hair can now grow and has gotten really really long. So rosemary didn’t grow my hair having a healthy scalp did.
@@byunTAEuP I boil my own fresh rosemary I usually use about 3 cups of water to one sprig of rosemary and I boil it for about 10-15 minutes or until the water turns a dark green (but not brown) color. I then dilate it with one part rosemary water to one part normal water. This should leave you with an almost clear but not quite water. Keep it in fridge until you are ready to use it (after about 3 days toss it because it spoils). For application: In the shower after you have washed your hair apply directly to scalp (I wash my hair in sections) rub it in and wait least 15 minutes before you rinse. Now if you’re okay with the herby smell you don’t have to rinse. Now if you use the oil that comes in a bottle you can do the shower steps the same way. Depending on your hair type you can keep the oil on the scalp. I don’t recommend leaving it in for 1-3A type hair because it will make your hair look greasy. If you’re like me and have 4A-4C hair then you can leave the it in the oil.
@@mimo__.- I boil my own fresh rosemary I usually use about 3 cups of water to one sprig of rosemary and I boil it for about 10-15 minutes or until the water turns a dark green (but not brown) color. I then dilate it with one part rosemary water to one part normal water. This should leave you with an almost clear but not quite water. Keep it in fridge until you are ready to use it (after about 3 days toss it because it spoils). For application: In the shower after you have washed your hair apply directly to scalp (I wash my hair in sections) rub it in and wait least 15 minutes before you rinse. Now if you’re okay with the herby smell you don’t have to rinse. Then use your normal after care hair moisturizer Now if you use the oil that comes in a bottle you can do the shower steps the same way. Depending on your hair type you can keep the oil on the scalp. I don’t recommend for 1-3A type hair because it will make your hair look greasy. If you’re like me and have 4A-4C hair then you can leave the oil in. Note: you CAN use dried rosemary for rosemary water but I find it’s not as effective.
Honestly, when people only have ONE study, that already raises red flags. For something to be concrete, its results should be able to be replicated in other studies. If there's just the one, and it's from almost a decade ago, I'm gonna take it with a grain of salt.
I have to credit my professors for making me suspicious of research that does not have evidence of repetition by unrelated researchers/unrelated research sites getting similar results. The paywall issue is real, because abstracts may be the best writing the research team did.
Reminds of the study homophobes love to use to convince people that queer people are not suitable parents, which apparently ‘showed’ that ‘Lesbian couples are more abusive towards each other compared to heterosexual couples’ and they always use this ONE study to *back it up*. Funny thing was, you can tell these people are not academics, I have read the academic source and it has never claimed that DV is more common in lesbian relationships, what it DID say was that lesbian women (and bisexual women) are more likely to have experienced DV THROUGHOUT their lives, that includes abuse from previous male partners and abuse from family. It also showed statistics that these women have experienced abuse mainly from the men in their lives. People really just go with what’s popular on the internet
Exactly. For such a referenced study, it doesn't seem to be reliable at all. Especially since this data is most likely quantitative so other studies could easily be done to check if the initial research conclusion was indeed correct or not. This is always the first thing I find suspicious, especially on the internet (Besides just saying a study and not even specifying it which I take as absolute BS), when only ONE study is referenced time and time again. It's just unfortunate it came from "trusted" individuals so if I'm being honest, if not for this video, I would've let the rosemary oil study go and believe it is true (Even if my initial reaction is disagreement on it actually working) so I'm glad I stumbled on this video, especially since most of the people shown pop up on my shorts
I had my 12 year old son watch this video, not for the hair loss part but for a beginning understanding the world of science. Thank you for this well put together, unbiased, easy to understand presentation of the process of studies.
Another really great channel for learning to understand how science communications work is Angela Collier. She's really funny and gives a lot of info on how to spot bad science. This video reminded me a lot of her video called "a scary science data story"
Research fraud is rampant because there's this whole mentality of "publish or perish".I can point to the situation with Haruko Obokata. The issue with Obokata's findings were so blatantly obvious and yet the editors didn't pick up on it until other researchers brought it up.
@@rumblefish9 we just had the squirrel with four b*alls and an Infinite... reproductive organ this month (midjourney generated images) that made it through peer Review Which is mind boggling. Mistakes are human and made in every process, but research and publishing would need to go down the "quality over quantity" Route way more if we want to mitigate scams and not pump out even more mediocre results to get citation up...
My wife is a researcher (and I’m not), and I’ve been struggling to understand author drama. She’s also an editor for a few journals. I think this video did a lot to help me understand what she’s going through when publishing/peer review and tearing her hair out (pun intended).
The study was done in reaction to reports that hair oiling works, it didnt start the craze. Indian and pretty much all Middle Eastern cultures practice hair and scalp oiling. We oil our hair because of culture, not because of some study that happened in modern times.
Essentially those seeing results are only seeing them because they have been duped into taking care of their properly by using an oil in this case the "miracle cure" rosemary oil. But it could have worked with a different oil being used just as frequently.
Yes that's true, but the point of the video is to show, that there is little to no evidence for ROSEMARY OIL working specificaly. I'm sure there are a lot of oils that work, maybe just not rosemary
Yep, I think its probably because Indian and Middle Eastern cultures have a culture of taking care of their scalp and hair by using oils, massages, etc. So when you only take the oil from the practice but dont have a healthy scalp or anything else it will not work.
Western world can afford to not oiling hair and shower because they live in cold weather, we can't. We have to oil our hair to keep it moisturized otherwise it becomes dry and rough because of hot weather here.
@@justrandomthinker what kind of western are you talking about? Like, England? Because I was born and live half of my life in a western country that, in it's majority, is warm,as we don't have seasons but we don't use oils. I don't think the weather has anything to do with using oils or nor
If I handed in a paper like that to a science teacher in like 10th grade I would have almost certainly been failed 💀 the fact that actual scientists made it and “reviewed” it as good is kinda mind blowing to me 😭😭
@@LabMuffinBeautyScience have you tried to get in contact with the publisher? honestly needs correction or retraction. in my years of biology study I have never come across such a messed up paper!
You’d be surprised. One of my colleagues in undergrad research had to present a paper at a major conference (entire northeast) which stated that they could not replicate results of a peer reviewed paper, following methodology in the paper (not suspicious in and of itself because it might come down to a minor procedural difference or specific chemical supplier) and could not, over the period of a year, contact the original researchers to troubleshoot or verify their procedure (big red flag). Reviewing just means that someone looked at the methodology and data and it “seemed” to be in keeping. Reproducibility is the real proof.
This shows that even "experts" are not infallible. Dermatologists are absolutely the best source when it comes to getting information for overall skin health and improving skin function, but that doesn't necessarily mean they know how every active used on skin and hair work, or how they behave in specific formulas. Cosmetic chemists don't have the same extent of knowledge on skin itself, but they're a necessary check and balance for dermatologists, and can give more insight when it comes to actual products and ingredients. I'm not remotely shocked that "skinfluencers" with no credentials didn't look into the Rosemary study, but I'm a bit disappointed at how many social media derms ran with the myth 🥴
I asked a few derms about why they think this happened - it seems like the training on interpreting new evidence is very variable for doctors. So while some doctors participated in journal clubs or are used to reviewing the literature, others assume that if it's in PubMed it's automatically legit. It's a really difficult situation for consumers - it's hard to work out exactly what different expertises are (before talking to the derms I thought medical doctors all got trained in assessing the literature!). I don't know what the best solution is.
@@LabMuffinBeautyScience I actually learned more about properly reading and analyzing research in a required undergrad course than I ever did in medical school. Doctors that are more into lifelong research and academia probably don't have a ton of time to be influencers though.
@@omgitschristina0 I concur! Not a doctor but a policy analyst by trade and I find it shameful our standard practices aren’t taught outside of electives in undergrad.
@@LabMuffinBeautyScienceI like the videos of The Budget Dermatologist and often recommend them to people, but she seems to be moving toward the “natural” products advocacy and Im disappointed.
I want to take a round trip train ride and airdrop this to everyone along the way. Science literacy is much harder than just "do your research" online!!thank you for your careful and clear explanation
Exactly.... so many people think that listening to a 30 minute infomercial from a single person with Dr in front of their name counts as "research." The first thing you should do, after seeing 5 minutes of that video, is look for "is Dr. so and so selling snake oil" because odds are good that 90% of the answers will immediately be YES.
When I was a child my neighbour was balding. She read that tomatoes were good for female alopecia and she used to place tomato slices on her head almost every day. She died of old age. She was buried wearing a lovely wig.
Oh my goodness - the errors you point out are spectacularly bad. I didn't realize depression scales were based on degree of male pattern baldness. Most women must be over the moon with joy!
From a quick google search, it seems like there is an actual male alopecia scale called the Norwood-Hamilton scale, so it seems they got that mixed up with the Hamilton rating system for depression. Pretty funny that supposed experts made that mistake!
I read this paper a couple years ago and missed so many of the points you’ve brought up. This is a great video that I will begin showing my college science students. It’s is a really great explanation of publishing and about forming opinions about papers.
Thank you! I didn't spot a lot of the issues in my first few readthroughs too - it actually felt like it was going against my research reviewing practices to put any more mental effort into closely reading a paper that I already knew was seriously flawed, my brain switched off right after I saw the duplicated hair counts.
@@LabMuffinBeautyScience one thing to consider further is the journal itself and if it's even equipped with the knowledge they are publishing. Skindmed says on their Website they are for dermatologists and a "didactic resource of clinical content for nondermatologists" which for me in publishing would open up the question if they even have the knowledge in their peer reviewers to assess papers like this. This is always an unknown and should be mitigated in the process through the EiC and other Editors. Also why open peer Review as a concept was introduced (which has pros and cons, but would be way more transparent in such instances)
This is such a small nitpick but any statistical results reported using 3d and gradient-coloured bar charts seems immediately suspect. It's like they're using the fancy shapes to hide their bad methodology.
Hahaha the 3D graphs were a big red flag to me too, but I thought it would be too petty to bring it up! It's like, what a 6th grader who's never seen a scientific study would think looks impressive.
It's not even a small nitpick though! Using angled 3d cylinders to visualise column charts is another trick to obfuscate results. Quite deceptive and the paper would be rejected by many journals on this alone.
I immediately thought that gradient was sus. They were trying to use "flashy" graphics to obfuscate bad science. It's sad so many influencer docs fell for SQUIRREL!!!
idk I can see it being used as a colorblind-friendly alternative to colored bar charts. Just grayscale would be waaay more typical and professional though.
There's plenty of other standard ways of showing graphs that work in B&W without confusing gradients, they were used in older papers before colour printing was cheap! Usually different block patterns - solids, stripes in different directions, dots...
My PERSONAL experience, is that rosemary oil DID make my hair grow and stop falling out. HOWEVER- I think this has to do with my use of a scalp massager daily, improving blood flow , much more than the oil itself. I would apply the oil and massage it in with a scalp massager every single day and I still do. And my hair IS growing faster and fuller and thicker. But I think it’s from using the massager. To confirm it’s not personal bias, people who didn’t know I was doing this remarked on how much fuller my hair has been lately and asked what I was doing to make my hair so thick.
If you are rubbing something in your scalp every day, maybe they need a control group that just rubs water or something inert on their hair to see if its what your putting on your scalp or the action your taking.
I'd guess someone confused the Hamilton Scale for Depression with the Hamilton-Norwood Scale for male pattern balding... but how?? It was 2015 so it couldn't have been ChatGPT...
Ikr? Like if they just said “The Hamilton scale” I might let it slide, but they specifically said it was the scale for depression! Did they not read their own paper???
I feel like i need a degree just to know who or what to believe. Granted, if schools taught a critical-thinking based curriculum, it probably wouldn't be so hard.
I’m a librarian so in university we learn a lot about different sources, how scientific journals and scientific publishing in general works and how to critically evaluate sources in their trustworthiness. It makes sense considering it is part of our job to provide trustworthy information but I thought everyone in university learns the basics of that. You have to write your own papers after all. I was completely mindblown to learn how many people don’t even know their own university library catalogue. By now a lot of libraries have workshops, seminars and more to teach people information literacy and librarians in university libraries should also be able to tell you if a source is trustworthy or help you figure that out together (just like what this video is doing). Anyway what I mean to say is that there are people who actually kind of have a degree in this and they are there to help you :) (In many countries at least. I don’t really know a lot about the standards of librarianship all around the world)
@R_S747 true. Tbh though I was thinking of just an education in how to research or something 😅. This doesn't just happen in one specific field, or even with people with degrees. Some laymen are more informed than professionals, it's just hard to tell. 🤷♀️
I work for a scientific journal (in biomaterials), and this paper has me 🤦♀️... Did anyone even *eyeball* those numbers?? Not to accuse anyone of anything, but this sounds like the product of one of those pay-to-publish journals that doesn't really have peer review. (No shade on Open Access itself!) We're a quantitative journal in the first place, so this would *never* fly, but every paper has to go by at least three, usually four scientists (and me) before it's even sent back for revision. I'm surprised no one has asked the authors for a retraction - and that so many other researchers just dittoed this without reading.
Finally, a scientist being critical of the science presented elsewhere and informative. Many doctors and "experts" repeat lies over and over. It is sad to see that people with an MD degree cannot even give good advice about their own field! It seems like they either never read the scientific literature or do not understand what they read.
Because scientific literature is more on the academic side. I wish research was a bigger component of medical education, but there is only so much time and the clinical side tends to dominate. It’s hard to understand from the outside, but there is a lot of siloing that goes on in medicine and it’s not because practitioners are lazy. It’s because they’re essentially two separate educational tracks (PhD vs MD).
@@d3pr0fundis my general experience (as someone with a PhD and certainly not an MD) is that doctors generally have very little awareness of scientific literature, with the potential exception of being in their specific treatment sub-field. If you want to be horrified, take a look at surveys of pain management treatment doctors/APRN's against the state of the art research. Many practicing pain management doctors have very little understanding of the actual functioning of these medications, to the point of some clinics expelling patients when smaller quantity metabolites of the very drugs they prescribe show up in patient urine once the patient dose is increased. Edit: With that said, I'd be absolutely up a creek without a paddle when it comes to clinically treating people. Main point, MD and PhD are different pursuits with different strengths.
Something to also consider is that based on other studies on 2% minoxidil, this study showed WAY less hair growth on 2% minoxidil over 6 months than we normally would expect 2% minoxidil over 6 months to give. This makes the constant comparisons in efficacy of rosemary oil to minoxidil 2% that people make based on this study even more dubious due to minoxidil 2%’s strange underperformance in this study compared to how it normally performs.
Yes! Although there is also some talk about how some of the other components in minoxidil formulas might be causing growth too - I came across some discussion about propylene glycol, but I didn't go deeper down that rabbit hole (it was a sub-rabbit-hole already)
@@LabMuffinBeautyScience Tbh my suspicion was that they weren’t even applying the 2% minoxidil correctly in this study. Usually we would expect to see about a 20-28% increase in hair counts in 2% minoxidil over 6 months and a 26-32% increase in hair counts of 5% minoxidil over 6 months. This study only showed a 2% increase in hair counts on minoxidil over 6 months. Rosemary oil showed a 6% increase in hair counts over 6 months. That’s why it’s misleading to say that rosemary oil showed similar hair growth to 2% topical minxoidil. On top of this being both an extremely poor quality study with a lack of replication, unlike the studies on minoxidil which have been both high quality and replicated, even in this study rosemary oil showed just a 6% increase over 6 months compared to 20-26% with 2% topical minoxidil over 6 months. That’s why even if this study’s rosemary oil results were accurate, the 6% increase would STILL be way less impressive than the 20-26% increase we see in high quality studies on 2% minoxidil. Also minoxidil foam doesn’t contain propylene glycol and people still seem to get good results from it. So I don’t think this is due to a lack of propylene glycol as that wouldn’t explain an only 2% increase in hair counts on topical minoxidil. I’ve also never heard of propylene glycol causing hair growth before and I’m fairly familiar with hair loss research. They may have simply just been putting it on their hair rather than applying it to the scalp, and they may also have not been massaging it into their scalp like you’re meant to do with topical minoxidil. Considering how low quality this study was this wouldn’t surprise me if this was the case. They may have not told the participants to apply it the right way or even told them to apply it in an incorrect way, whether intentionally or unintentionally. They also don’t specify where they applied the minoxidil so they could have been applying the minoxidil to a place not even affected by androgenetic alopecia.
@@meltedsnowman9637Hi I was wondering if you could perhaps help me. I have an issue with hairloss, I have been suffering from male pattern baldness which starts around the temple and have been taking minoxidil 5% with okay to good results, I was wondering if this will be a lifelong commitment, like if and when I stop it, will I get back to my bald self? Also, can I up my dosage of Minoxidil to around 20%? I am desperate for my hair to grow back because I am only in my early 20s and people think I'm already 50. Thank you.
The problem with minoxidil is once you start using it you have to keep using it forever because if you stop all the new hair falls out. When I lost my hair the specialist recommended rosemary oil first before looking into chemicals. So I bought some and actually over 2yrs it's helped so much I have almost regrown my hair, but like anything it works for some not for others. I lost my hair due to stress but I definitely don't think rosemary oil would work for alopecia and mpb etc and I think it's wrong to give people with those conditions hope.
@princessmimithepug6719 You would have lost that hair anyway tho, because you were already balding. So of course you have to keep using the medication in order for it to keep working. That's... how treatments work. If rosemary oil worked, it would work exactly the same way. If you stop treating hair loss, then yeah, you lose your hair again.
As a med student I find it extremely concerning to see that some of my future colleagues either don't feel responsible for verifying the medical claims they make to a largely non-expert audience, or maybe genuinely don't know how to do that. I mean in this case it's "only about a beauty issue" (not to downplay the significance, I suffered from hair loss myself and it's disheartening) and thankfully rosemary oil probably isn't a very dangerous substance to recommend...but I think we can all imagine how this could take a pretty serious turn with more severe conditions D: So thank you for enabling people to verify that kind of information themselves - it's a crucial skill in all areas of life. Really sad that these are usually hidden behind college/university walls, when we should really be teaching everyone
I'm not a scientist, but I learned in 6th grade that there at least should have at been some sort of control group. What about people doing scalp massages with no oils or topical treatments? Also, I would imagine that age, diet, underlying conditions and other types of factors would make the evidence vary greatly.
O M G. I can't tell you how relieved I am is to see this video. for years now I've been trying to tell everyone how bad this study is, and it's so frustrating to these medical professionals make tiktoks about it. To me it's just so disappointing to see because it just shows that they never even tried to the read the study, and go on to tell their viewers about making it seem more legit. Sometimes I wonder if some of the bigger creators (like doctor youn) actually bother to create their own content, or just read a script from their social media team without fact checking it. Very alarming. On the topic of anecdotal evidence, the only time I've seen rosemary working was for people that had telogen effluvium either from something like stress or childbirth, which eventually resolves on it's own.
@@BlueElieASMRtrue, although with the relative specificity of both medical and research professions, it can be harder to discern bad design in one direction versus the other. For example, a med doc would be more cued to inappropriate sampling for clinical studies whereas a molecular doc would see inaccuracy in cellular assessment more easily. Either way, you are correct that anyone trained to read articles of this sort should be able to see glaring red flags like these.
I mean it been working for me so far. My hair all of a sudden started falling out rapidly and there was noticeably less hair, lucky for me my hair is curly so it covered up the areas with less. After maybe 2 months of 2 times a week i started to see some improvement, Less hair loss, and a few months after that my hair waa definitely coming back. I always gave myself hair oil scalp massages before using rosemary oil, that I make at home, before my hair fell out lol and that's literally the only thing in my life that changed
Thank you for this! As a hairdresser, I've been recommending this as a treatment to my male clients in the early stages of male pattern baldness. After seeing so many medical professionals endorse it, i assumed it was a very good option. Will be changing my tune.
FWIW, rosemary oil isn't a BAD option for someone who cant/won't use minoxidil. Massage with rosemary oil stimulates circulation, dislodges trapped debris & moisturizes, so it's not entirely without benefit. The paper these people are citing doesn't prove its claim that rosemary is comparably effective-- but that doesn't mean that Rogaine is the only way to go. I would recommend clients start massage & scalp skincare before referring them a drug
Hairdressers aren't supposed to be treating anything. If someone has a medical issue, they need a specialist. Why give advice based on hearsay and harm people's chances of actually improving? :/
@@margodphd- It’s worth trying before going the medication route. Not everyone’s body can handle medications - such as myself. And it isn’t always easy, for everyone, to find a doc who’s gonna be knowledgeable in this area of expertise - or, perhaps, they do not have the financial means.. There are so many reasons as to why going to a doctor isn’t a person’s first thought, when dealing with hair loss. For example, as a former hairstylist who specialized in men’s cuts, men aren’t as apt to go to the doctor, in general - and especially for something such as hair loss. Perhaps more men are becoming open to it, nowadays, though, in my experience - they tend to not be. Yet, men tend to REALLY trust their hairstylists. Many will tell their hairstylists things, more than they will their wives. Hell, some men are more committed to one hairstylist than they are their own romantic partner (obviously, I am not referencing in an inappropriate way). It isn’t our job to diagnose anything, correct. Though, it is our job to recommend things we think might be worth trying to solve whatever issue One may have around their hair, within reason - while, of course, the client knows to follow whatever recommendation under their own discretion.
I made a rosemary tincture by combining rosemary oil and boiled down rosemary water (tea, if you will) and I noticed nothing eithe. EXCEPT that the health of my scalp improved a lot. I am prone to developing a lot of dandruff, especially during colder months and the rosemary tincture has kept my scalp clean and happy, which also helps with hair growth due to the reduced oil and dandruff production. So in case of that, this MIGHT help you with those issues specifically. Other than that? Humbug... Edit: YOUR ANALOGIES ARE THE BEST! Your metaphors whenever you explain something to us hit SO GOOD, EVERY 👏SINGLE 👏TIME 👏
Yeah, I suspect that for some people, the act of massaging oil into their scalps could be helpful - whether it's the massage aspect, or dislodging debris (like oil cleansing), or just acting as a moisturiser. And thank you! I try very hard with my analogies 😊
This is so interesting to note! How the root of it may be from helping to cleanse thus allow better growth. It may also explain why it's drying for some people who don't have scalp issues per se, possibly? Thank you for sharing!🙏🏼
@@a49-n2oif I’m correct, rosemary water is an astringent, which can cause dryness. That’s why I also stopped using it lol, but might want to get back into it for the other benefits lol, we’ll see 😂
I suspect any change is due to the act of massaging oil onto the scalp rather than the oil itself. I massage oil on my scalp regularly just because it gets dry in the winter. Thank you for the fantastic video, it's very informative! :)
I massage my hair I used always homemade oils then I switched to rosemary and there was very clear difference lots of new hair so it does help but massaging on it own does help too
I use rosemary oil. Worked in two months. So i will stick to it. Worked amazing for me. Before that i had so much hairfall back then. Atleast 300 per day. And on hairwash days god i cant even get started
I just ordered rosemary oil on Amazon called African Pride. Great that there is a scientific view for some people, but the proof is in the pudding. Your post gave me hope. ❤
@@Ucfhm At first, no. I have still to see progress. However, I think that maybe the follicles are clogged (?), so I began doing a hair mask of Aztec Healing Clay (bentonite clay). I mix3d in a bit of apple cider vinegar, and water (apple cider vinegar needs to be diluted because it is too strong). I can honestly say that it so clarified my hair and scalp, that may hair was visibly thicker, and felt healthy. The clay lifts impurities from the hair and scalp, which shampoo cannot do alone. I massage the oil in after it. Will let you know if this mixture is beneficial.
This is CRAZY. I feel like I'm witnessing a turning point in history 🤧 Almost every single rosemary haircare post/video I've seen mentioned this study, and of course I believed it to. Now I'm sure the comments will start to flood with references to this video! Insane 😭 Thank you SO MUCH for your service for us lay(wo)men, WE APPRECIATE YOU AND ALL THE EFFORT THAT GOES INTO EDUCATING US ALL 😭😭👏🏼❤
@@jemimarauf1486there could also be a myriad of other reasons WHY it works though. massaging your scalp can help, less stress, using other products alongside the rosemary and even placebo.
@@jemimarauf1486The act of applying rosemary oil to the scalp (massaging the scalp) plus the anti inflammatory properties can benefit the health of your scalp, but if you have some kind of condition that is making your hair fall out - like PCOS, rosemary can’t fix that. If your hair grows back with rosemary chances are it was going to grow back regardless :/
@@mkryu Argh I think "essential oils are common irritants" is a standard part of the dermatology syllabus? But while making this video I found a derm who recommended using rosemary oil undiluted on your scalp, and then say that if it wasn't working for you, it was because you weren't using it twice a day...
I tried to replicate the experiment, but I couldn’t figure out the concentration used in the study, which made me start to lose a lot of faith. Glad you’re debunking it now. Bummer that it doesn’t work. I can’t use minoxidil, so I was falsely hopeful. Oh well.
I’ll repeat my comment: I love how you went through the whole research paper to show how even a layperson like me could identify dodgy science. It was super informative
meh worked for me, has worked for others who have documented their progress on youtube. granted its people making their own rosemary oil, or using rosemary tea. not everything will work for everybody, all of our bodies are different.
When I was at university (linguistics), we were taught to read the abstract first to see if the study is applicable to what you're researching, then the results, then the conclusion/methodology (it's been a few years, I can't remember which came first), and then the introduction. You were taught to basically never read it in order and to never draw conclusions from the abstract if you didn't see the results. I had assumed that that was being taught across all disciplines, especially the ones focussed on science and research...but I guess not! Either I had good lecturers and a better uni than I thought or some people weren't there for when their lecturers told them to not do this. Regardless, I think it should be more common knowledge and taught more widely, because that not only helped a lot to work out what I was looking for when I was doing research, but it also made it so much quicker because I wasn't reading the whole study like I was before! Although now I'm not in uni I have to just guess with the abstract because I can't access the journals for free through the university library anymore 😭 Edit: I just can't get over using a rating system for depression as a measurement of hair loss. Like I keep trying to work out if it was a mistake or if they actually quantified hair loss by asking if someone had been feeling down for more than half the last week. I've had to take those kinds of screening/rating systems a lot as I have mental health issues and no one has ever said if my hair is good or not after it! I want to go back to university at some point in the near future, so I'll make sure to include a rating system for OCD when discussing phonology and see how much my lecturers agree with my methodology. I'm expecting full marks.
I've been taught that order too! I think it's a bit harder to apply that if you aren't already somewhat familiar with the area, so my strategy as someone who reads a wide range of papers is to read it in order, but don't trust a single word from the abstract, intro, discussion or conclusion until I've cross-checked against papers/reviews/textbook chapters from the leading researchers in the field. They actually used the balding scale in the paper, but wrote "Depression" in the methods... which is absolutely bizarre? I can't think of how that ended up in there - it's like an autocomplete mistake, but the paper was published in 2015. Maybe they paid a history undergrad to write it up?
I was taught the same reading order when I was in college for chemistry - as part of the same seminar we talked about journalists misrepresenting studies and some of the common signs of academic fraud, and just generally building the skills to tell good science from bad. I wish that sort of course was mandatory to get a degree regardless of field, but I doubt that will happen any time soon. (That description makes it sound super boring, but it wasn't at all! We even got to spend a whole class session trashing Michael Crichton's incredibly inaccurate depiction of nanotechnology.)
Wow, I must not have had the kind of tutors who would know or teach their students this. I was a linguistics and literature student, even did critical thinking but never was taught to do this for research papers. Thanks for educating me 20 years on. I was told by my linguistics professor to question every news article and report and to be fully aware that there's an agenda and lies being told. That was massive for me at age 19. Then I forgot and only when I went down the rabbit hole did I see how much deceit there is in the world.
Lol!😂What about observation and analysis through many, many of the same people with the same results? Science comes from evaluating factors, facts, and data that state what is acceptable based on the evidence presented.
@@Camilla-t9c there r different body types,hair types and skin types,one medicine doesn't fit for every one,in modern medicine, this part is left out conveniently, rosemary works for some, reason it suits their body, than others, science does prove a thing,it doesn't mean it doesn't work,its failure of science to explain it.
I grew my facial hair using rosemary essential oil and it works for me. I'm Asian and used to have just a tiny moustache which now an almost full beard.
It worked for me too. But it was because we had unhealthy scalps to begin with. Putting oils on your skin is good for it. Healthy scalp means healthy hair. It would have worked with most other oils that are safe for hair.
People need to learn to ready a study. You know there's a study done on FIVE horses on a disorder called shivers. Also done in 2015 BTW. They decided it started in the cerebellum and therefore untreatable despite it not following trends of every other aspect of cerebellum issues like impact just one leg instead of all four. Or the fact that it's not progressive. Because of that ONE STUDY, pretty much every vet has decided it can't be treated. Just 5 horses decided the fate of many others. And this is something they put horses down for often. It is painful. It can be treated. Another vet who read that article was really confused because she was treating it for years. She's since been putting a bunch of work into shivers research to disprove that article.... But the person who did the original study is pretty well known in academia and therefore more people have seen her article. The most important thing I've learned in college - when reading a scientific paper, call bullshit until proven otherwise
I was in a research lab where my professor would walk through relevant papers every other week and criticize issues about their interpretation or results. It was really eye opening because these were papers that didnt have such obvious errors, yet the jumps in conclusion really weren’t supported
I tried using olive oil, argan, jojoba, coconut, and almond oil for years to make my hairline denser to treat my thinning hairline due to really tight (and often uncomfortable and painful) hairstyles, and made little difference but i noticed my hair was a lot healthier. I started using rosemary water and rosemary oil diluted in jojoba/argan oil for 4-5 months and the rosemary water did nothing, but I noticed that the rosemary oil made my hairline thicker (even my hairdresser complimented my hair). I also noticed that there is significantly less hair falling out when i brush it which is impressive.
So, you stopped wearing really tight hairstyles (which pulled out your hair) and when you stopped, your hair grew back. Where does the rosemary come in to play here again?
@@automatic5 Actually, you are correct that that might be an interpretation. I reread the post, and it could be read that way. I think her use of the past tense makes my interpretation more likely without hearing from the OP herself.
Hey, love the content! Could you make another video about hyperpigmentation, acne spots, scars, etc? :) The one you made before seems to be unlisted or deleted😅
A note on research paper access: most research librarians I know are equally frustrated by paywalls, so they may be able to get you a copy of a paper or find you a workaround if you really need a paper. Also contacting the authors directly might get you a copy. That said, your breakdown of the problems with the paper is fascinating, and it's nice having an explanation for why the whole rosemary for hair growth wasn't vibing right to me.
HEAVY on the research journals overcharging both researchers and people who just want to read the damn study. Like how can we write more accurate research papers if we can't even read each others' works??? (I've requested studies from the researchers themselves and they usually come through but not all 😭)
I'm a med student from Europe (29, F). Michelle, I can't even describe how thankful I am for the knowledge you put out there. You're a powerhouse, no joke. These things are extremely important to know cause in the end, in science (and in general) there should be no misinformation. Facts are facts, period. Anything that's not a fact is a lie. And I'm surprised how many scientist are willing to believe lies and spread lies. It's appaling. And no, sadly doctors are not experts when it comes to assessing studies. But whether you're a doctor or not, critical thinking and learning HOW to do critical thinking are crucial for not only science, but literally every part of our lives. Again, a huge thank you Michelle, keep going strong sister ❤
Edit: just forgot to say THANK YOU for this video and all your efforts! Many people, including myself, appreciate you deeply. Just finished the video. Honestly, I'm not surprised at the study's flaws. There has been plenty of scientific dishonesty in academia. Just this year, that Harvard neuroscientist got exposed and even I know of people with allegedly (but apparent) cooked up data.
@@LabMuffinBeautyScience I LOVE her. Academic dishonesty is the worst but ever since BobbyBroccoli's 3 part "How to Lose a PhD in 127 pages" on Jan Hendrik Schön, this is the only "drama" I eat up.
@@LoveratLoves sometimes yes but also many times, they just want something that is statistically significant. The problem with academia is imposition of requirements to publish and the problem with publishers is they only want novel data from big names.
Congratulations on getting married! ❤ I really appreciate your content, it's just so sad how a lot of "experts" don't even take their time to consciously read the studies they're sourcing for their content
Thank you! Yeah it's very disappointing - the point of trusting expert recommendations is because we assume they would interpret the evidence with more nuance, rather than just taking the abstract literally.
I started oiling my scalp (not with rosemary oil) and all my problems with scalp disappeared. Do I say it's a miracle treatment? No. I say it works for me. What I think worked for me was that my dry skin got moisturized and calming ingredients calmed it. What I think works wonders is using hair mask and then conditioner, my hair after 1 use got much more moisturized without changing products.
@@fairygrl999 ask and you shall be given First a disclaimer, I thought I had oily scalp with dandruff, but now I know I have dehydrated scalp, and it's not a dandruff just a dehydration. I bleach my hair and wash them once a week. I'm a little lazy, so I make it as easy for me as possible. On my washing day, after dinner (5 p.m.) I put oil on my head and massage the scalp for 1-2 songs (I use songs for time measuring) with this funky brush for hair massaging and washing and just clip my hair with hair clip. I try to keep oil on my head for at least 2 hours (the more, the better). I try to use peeling on my scalp, but it's something that I forget a lot to do (but I try). Then I take a shower, I wash my hair 2 times, put hair mask and shower cap, clean my body and then at the end I put conditioner on hair. I dry my hair with towel and with cold air setting in my hairdryer (never go to sleep with wet hair). For oiling, I use Orientana Ayurvedic hair therapy Goku Kola, on packaging they say there is centella oil, sesame oil and cardamon oil but there are much more oils in the ingredient list. Also, I try to put oils on mids and ends every day on the evenings (I also forget about it a lot, but I try) If you have any questions, don't be shy and ask
I tried minoxidil for about 6 months. Not only did it not help regrow any hair it completely fried my scalp. I had sores and it gave me horrible dandruff for quite a while from all the dead skin that was fried off my scalp.
This is all black and white. I was suffering from severe hair loss and I started using rosemary oil 3 months ago. My hair stopped falling out completely since I started using rosemary oil. Like, the hair loss is nonexistent now and I couldn’t find a way to stop my hair from falling out until I started using rosemary oil. Unfortunately, as I can see, it doesn’t work for everyone, but as for me, it did wonders regarding hair loss.
It may help in controlling hair loss(breakage from roots) because rosemary oil is antimicrobial anti-inflammatory which helps reducing scalp infections and dandruff maintaining a healthy scalp but it doesn’t promote “new hair growth” nor does it increase the pace at which the hair grows.
@@theBakinNoob I used the rosemary mint scalp and hair strengthening oil by MIELLE. I also mixed it with pure essential rosemary oil (dilute the pure rosemary oil with a little bit of water), and that’s it. : ]
I love your mission not just to share information about the efficacy of beauty trends/treatments, but you also use that as an opportunity to improve scientific literacy. People are a lot harder to fool when we know how to fact check ourselves. Thank you!
I wanted to add my personal experience with a rosemary castor oil mix i have been using for the past year or so, because for me it did actually work in some backwards way. I had hairloss when i got off hormonal birthcontrol (prior to corona) and it was very noticable in my hairline. So for about 2 years my hair wasnt really growing back, even tho it was clear it should. After a while i was fed up with my hair not growing back really (it did reeeeeaaaaallly slowly, i noticed some hair but at a far slower pace than the rest of my head) and tried it out. currently there is a huge improvement in density and length. i basically have a fluffy hairline now xD. So i was always aware that rosemary oil isnt a "cure", but moreso it enabled me to take care of my hair again. Maybe the constant massages and sitting down to actually chill for a bit and take care of something is what actually helped here. Maybe my desire for taking care of my head came along with other changes to "fix" my life, which reduced stress (my skin is also improving again). I lost my hair prior to corona, but corona was the time when it didnt grow back. Maybe the hairloss disturbed the growing cycles of the parts that lost hair (idk why the rest of my hair continues as normal while other parts are struggling) My guess is all of the above lol. It might be worth a try as a lifestyle change that results in better hair, rather than a direct cure
hi, just want to jump in to share my experience with an infused hair tonic containing rose hydrosol and rosemary that i have used time to time every week, for the last year. My hair has changed, to be shinier, less hair loss and fuller. And personally i’m not sure either the tonic or the massaging it on the scalp helps, or maybe it’s the better diet, less stress and more exercise that altogether work out. Anyway, I’m taking with a less crazy holistic approach, and more like a nice everyday self-care ritual that smells so good.
How dare you say it actually worked for you???!! You should agree on whatever this “woman of science” says because clearly she has the last word on everything 😌
I think this channel or Abbey Yung? (I can’t remember which one) made a video about hair care science and just because something isn’t proven/researched doesn’t mean, that it doesn’t work. Maybe it works on 15% of people but nobody researched that correctly, this paper surely didn’t, so we just don’t have proof of that yet. And of course other factors could also play an important role. I’d guess that a lot of people who start rosemary oil treatments try to become healthier or educate themselves more about hair care and therefore make a few changes more or less at once.
Hi, I put rosemary inside my shampoo bottle for hair growth and to help my scalp and it looks way better now, I had bald spots last year before I started doing this.
Oh no! I definitely fell for this one. I felt comfortable enough knowing there was a peer-reviewed study, so I never looked into it any further. Very informative and helpful video, thank you.
Since using rosemary oil for a few weeks I’ve noticed my scalp is less itchy (it gets dry in winter…) and now, regardless of whether it’ll help me grow hair or not after this video, I’ll continue using it. It gives me a healthier scalp I feel.
Same here! I have sebhhoreic dermatitis and rosemary oil has been making it manageable for me (way much better than all those medicated shampoos I used). So I'm also using it for scalp health.
Please don't. Rosemary is antibacterial, and using it long enough can damage the good bacteria on your scalp, which will cause new problems. I was told this by a cosmetologist.
Wow, you aced!🤩 I am struggelling with reading and interpreting papers and your video was very informative. 🙏 I came for rosemary and stayed for the science 😍
crazy breakdown of all the issues. i fell right into that trap just looking at the abstract, other factors listed on the first page. hope this video reaches a lot of people. glad to have u!
I used minoxidil and finasteride for 6 year straight. No results. I started rosemary oil treatment + dermarolling. My hairloss stoppen almost complete within 2-3 weeks. In 6 months I have regrown all my hair. So tell me what am I trying to sell you now?
Well could you describe the hairloss? Do you find hair in the shower or on your pillow? Cause 2-3 weeks is very little time for ANY product. I remember when i grew out my hair i used to oil it and did so with a comb to reach all hair strands. If you use rosemary oil and dermarollers it could just mean that you remove the hair before you see it where you usually find it (bath, pillow). Also since you tried something new maybe you changed other habits too? Like more dietary iron or biotin? Maybe the root of your hairloss got removed without your knowledge.
I was shedding a lot of hairs before using diluted rosemary oil. I currently shed like 5-7 hair, every time I comb. I don't care about your reasearch, if it works for me, it works.
Dammit. I'm not one to fall for bs. I tought this was bs right when I first heard of it, but there were SO MANY DOCTORS and supposed experts in trichology talking about how there was research on it, I almost bought it. Thank god it was too expensive where I'm from and I decided it wasn't worth the risk (I still had a bad feeling) This study is ridiculous. How can something like this pass?
All I know is, I make a rice water and rosemary tea of sorts, add several drops of rosemary and frankincense oil, let it cool, and add niacinamide; then, when I am ready to apply it to my hair, I slightly warm it and add ground flaxseed and fenugreek seeds.. And let it sit, for an hour or so. And after washing it out, my hair feels AMAZING. Sure, I use some of the top of the line hair products, being a former hairstylist, myself - though, sometimes, my hair gets weighed down, from the silicone. This gave my hair body and volume, even when using both shampoo and conditioner with silicone (I switch between Pureology’s Nanoworks and Hydrate Sheer line). I don’t know if my hair is growing faster, as result, though - my hair condition is the best it’s ever been.
I've been using rosemary oil for a year. Observed a little regrowth but it stopped my hair fall. It definitely has some effect but isn't too strong. I'd recommend it for using it along with other
6:19 I paused and read the abstract, and that last line killed me: “The findings … provided evidence with respect to the efficacy…”. This trial resulted in… results.
Glad you're covering this, I basically just glanced through the study and conclusion after I first heard about it and went "uhh this is really baby stage stuff". Worries me when I see doctors cite this sort of thing as a basis to say it's comparative to minoxidil, but thankfully a lot of hair specialist doctors weren't as enthusiastic about this
currently working on my thesis and journal, and my one hope is not having labmuffin to debunk my research in the future 😭😭😭 I gotta make it real good tho it has nothing to do with beauty products lol
I suppose, in a way, this study simply showed us that minoxidil 2% is just as bad as rosemary oil? xD but the writers interpreted it the other way around? xD haha
It's not the first time that this happened and I believe it might be a selling tactics. They knew it would attract a lot of attention as a lot of people are struggling with hair loss and want to bank on it. The best way is to pay your way through publishing a scientific paper that prove anything not harmful to be magically helping, and then get ready to sell it. Pay influencer to promote it and boom. Whoever submitted and published this needs to be investigated.
Great video as always! Ive been using a combination of rosemary oil and peppermint oil for over a year now (add it directly in to my shampoo). It reduced my general hairloss visibly within the first weeks of use. My hair grows faster too. My family members and friends have similar experinces. Those who had dandruff issues, dont that issue anymore. Might not work for everyone. Dont know about hair *regrowth* after major hair loss tho
I discuss the reasons why anecdotal evidence isn't reliable for hair loss specifically at 17:00, and generally in this video ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-9L0zHnxBBTQ.html
@@LabMuffinBeautyScience I know. Youre right. I know that with "natural remedies" it might work for one person but not the other. I just wanted to share my personal experince since everyone here seems to have no positive experince with rosemary oil. Maybe i shouldve fomulated my first post different to make it clear that im not speaking against what you said. (it's not my native language)
I had too much hair loss because of stress from untreated depression and nutrition imbalance. I tried every hair care oils you could think of, none of them worked even when I was using them for years. I went to a Doctor, got my nutrition level checked and after that I found out I was anemic even though I was overweight. I took my prescribed medicines and added more nutrition densed food for 6-8 months. Guess what, all of my hair was back. They are still growing.
Same here. I use Rosemary or Peppermint, or both. My scalp has never been healthier. There are other studies on Rosemary (+ Peppermint) plus anecdotal evidence of which she seems unaware. No need to quit Rosemary if it helps you.
It can, I use it since december, got it as gift, jjst almond oil plus rosemary/not extract, it was real herb in oil for 6 weeks/ and I have stronger hair and new ones are popping around my previously very bald areas above ears and temple, so yes, study can be shit, but it doesnt mean it doesn work, all these hating comments, how many really tried it? I wasnt ecen expecting results and got them, after that I looked it up if this is some unknown miracle and came to videos like this.
Thank you for creating this content. i’m chem undergrad and I hated having to read science journals and I got used to em only after LOOOTTTS of hard grinding. Watching this video just made it easier for me to read em and I think you’re so cool and admirable for making content that makes science journal & media literacy A LOT more accessible. I love it.
Oh noo please not a minoxidil! I started it because of alopecia areata and as soon as I stopped using it I lost all the hair that regrew with minoxidil. As for oil like pepper oil rosemary and castor oil my hair started to grow inbold patches slowly but naturally and I noticed these changes in 3 month. Everything takes time and needs to be done systematically and in a right way
As someone who’s plan is to get into a masters program in STEM, granted not chemical science but rather ecology, your videos make it so much clearer how to read papers more easily. I also work at Ulta so your info is helping me to make better informed recommendations to guests.
I do not know about it working as well as Minoxidil, but I do know it works, at least for some. I am not certain it is a fail safe for all hair regrowth. I have been using it since September 2023, I have my own I make its just rosemary essential oil and almond oil, and I have had a lot of regrowth throughout my scalp. I have seen hair come back in areas where it has been missing for about 10 yrs. So yes, it does work. Will it work for everyone, I have no idea.
