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Articles by Javon Ford
Are Multi-Step Cleansing Routines Necessary?
Washing your face shouldn’t be complicated, yet it’s somehow become a multi-step, multi-product, time-consuming ordeal. There are wipes to remove makeup (incompletely), oils and balms to melt waterproof mascara and long-wearing foundation, and micellar waters, foams, or gel cleansers to clear off the film left by the oils. As everyone who’s ever had a mother knows, you want to remove your makeup before you go to bed because makeup can trap oils, pollution, and skin cells on the face.
Are Gel Manicures Safe?
Gel manicures seem ideal for anyone who’s a little clumsy, busy, or uninterested in visiting the nail salon every week. The gels work by forming a hard, shiny, budge-proof seal over the nails when they’re cured under a UV or LED lamp. The resulting polish can last two to three weeks without a chip. But, wouldn’t you know, there’s a hitch. The EU recently banned a chemical, trimethylbenzoyl diphenylphosphine oxide (TPO), used in many gel polishes.
Do Vitamin C Serums Actually Work?
If you know anything about skincare products, you know the benefits of a vitamin C serum. It’s a potent antioxidant that protects against the cellular damage caused by pollution and sun exposure. It also brightens skin and helps fade dark spots over time. And it builds collagen, which is a lovely attribute if you like your face to be plump and bouncy. But there’s a hitch—isn’t there always? Vitamin C is unstable and loses potency when it’s exposed to light or oxygen.
Are At-Home Chemical Face Peels Safe?
The at-home peel business is booming, with Dr. Dennis Gross’s Alpha Beta Peel leading the pack, Dr. Shani Darden’s kit offering strength, and Summer Fridays pads leaning into convenience. Chemical peels clear away dead skin cells and product build-up that interfere with the absorption of other active skincare ingredients. But the question is: How strong and how deep can you go before irritating the skin and compromising the barrier function?
Is the Yuka App Really Reliable?
Some shoppers won’t make a move without checking the Yuka app. With it, you can scan the barcodes on personal care and food packaging to discover their health and safety ratings on a scale of excellent (75 to 100 points) to bad (0 to 25 points). Created by French designers, the app is fully independent, meaning it operates without input or influence from the brands it analyzes. It considers all the ingredients in each product, with a strong focus on additives.
Can Beauty Product Statistics Be Trusted?
If you happen to wander onto a skincare website or browse through Sephora, you may wish you’d paid a little more attention in your high-school statistics class. One product after another is accompanied by a list of numbers, usually percentages, intended to convey their efficacy. Interpreting them may require an advanced degree.
Are Petroleum-Based Products like Vaseline and Aquaphor Bad?
Dermatologists used to consider Vaseline and Aquaphor the greatest skin-care products going—and many still do. These workhorses protect and strengthen the skin barrier. After a chemical peel, laser treatment, or surgery, a coating of the stuff helps the healing process. Petrolatum, the key ingredient, has been around forever, but many people still give it the side-eye. That’s because it’s a by-product of the sludgy, messy, environmentally damaging process of refining crude oil.
Do Peptides Deserve All The Hype?
There are enough peptides in Sephora’s skin- and hair-care aisles to fill a small ocean. Or at least an Olympic-size pool. The products boast of their ability to stimulate collagen and elastin and reduce inflammation, fine lines, split ends, and the general damage that’s a side effect of living in an imperfect world. Are peptides all they’re cracked up to be? Our cosmetic chemist puts them under the microscope.
Are Ice Rollers All They’re Cracked Up to Be?
TikTok loves ice rollers, those devices that massage the face with a chilled surface in hopes of reducing inflammation and puffiness, soothing rosacea, and tightening pores. Even Coors Light fashioned a roller that holds a cold can of beer, which they promoted as a post–Super Bowl treatment. Maybe for the Chiefs. Are ice rollers all they’re cracked up to be? Javon Ford is here to throw some cold water on the trend. Ice rollers feel good, no question. And they aren’t necessarily harmful.
Is Tinting Your Own Brows Over the Line?
People are paying more and more attention to their brows, with some of the best brow groomers booked months in advance. Look at Anastasia Soare. She started her career tweezing and tinting brows in Beverly Hills, then created a brand of products that, at its peak, in 2018, was valued at $3 billion. Azi Sacks, one of the most sought-after brow experts in New York, charges $300 for shaping and tinting, has a 200-person waiting list, and is booked until June.
Does Bar Soap Deserve Its Reputation?
If you noticed the frenzy over the Loewe tomato soap-on-a-rope or thrilled to the Glossier gritty exfoliating cake in pink, you might think there’s a resurgence in bar soap. Some of this is explained by a blend of style and nostalgia. Many fans also sing bar soap’s praises for its minimal packaging and low carbon footprint. We asked Javon Ford, our on-call cosmetic chemist, why people are suddenly bellying up to the bar—and whether that’s actually a good idea.
Is There a Right and Wrong Way to Brush Your Hair?
You’ve probably been told at least a hundred times not to brush your hair when it’s wet. But the minute you emerge from a shower, there you go, dragging a brush through your hair and undoubtedly breaking and fraying strands in the process. Javon Ford, a cosmetic chemist, tells us how to tend to our hair without losing our minds. The science says that your hair is most vulnerable—no matter what your hair type—when it’s wet because the hydrogen bonds are temporarily broken.
Can Brown Spots and Melasma Be Removed?
Dark spots can appear out of nowhere on your face and hands. And as swiftly as they pop up, they’re agonizingly slow to fade. A number of serums claim to reduce the spots and brighten skin. But do they work? And are they safe? We ask our favorite cosmetic chemist, Javon Ford, to shed some light on the situation. Hyper-pigmentation happens when your skin makes too much melanin, and tyrosinase is the enzyme responsible for melanin production.
What is "Pilling" and How to Prevent it
Anyone who’s ever worn makeup has experienced the moment when you smooth foundation over your skin-care-prepped face and, just when you’re about to walk out the door, you notice a little crumb on your cheek, and then another, and another. Suddenly your whole face is peeling, and you feel like Miss Havisham.
Can Shower Filters Really Prevent Hair Damage?
In a dream world, our hair is shiny and lush, frizz-free and unencumbered by frayed ends. But the cruel truth is that making hair look healthy often involves just the things that damage it, starting with the water coming out of your shower. Add combs, brushes, blow-dryers, and hot irons and you may be headed toward a tangled mess. We consulted our handy cosmetic chemist, Javon Ford, to guide us through the misinformation and toward shiny, shampoo-ad hair.
Is Mixing Active Ingredients On Your Face Risky?
Everyone loves an active ingredient that’s proven to work on the skin. And some people love actives so much, they pile on as many as they can fit on their face. But is mixing them risky? Do they ever cancel each other out? Javon Ford, our favorite cosmetic chemist, distills fact from fiction, guiding us in how to use active ingredients without peril. For more of his beauty wisdom, check out his Instagram reels and TikToks @javonford16.
Do You Need to Listen to Beauty Expiration Dates?
If you’ve ever wondered whether your vitamin-C serum or the tube of sunscreen you found in your beach bag is still potent, you’ve come to the right place. An expiration date is sometimes stamped on the bottom of a jar, but it isn’t a common practice. And even if the date is visible, what does it mean? Javon Ford has the answers. He’s a cosmetic chemist whose research-rich TikTok videos @javonford16 are a healthy mix of entertainment and accuracy.
Is Collagen a Scam? Javon Ford Reveals the Truth
Collagen has been the subject of promises and falsehoods for decades, starting with collagen creams and, lately, moving into drink form. Long ago, studies debunked claims that the creams plumped up the face, given that the collagen molecule is too big to be absorbed by the skin. The next logical step was to ingest them in drinks, a concept that started in China and Japan and spread westward.
Do Spray Sunscreens Work? Javon Ford Reveals the Truth
Despite their popularity, spray sunscreens are not beloved by dermatologists. But are they really so bad? We asked our favorite cosmetic chemist, Javon Ford, to examine them under a microscope and give AIR MAIL LOOK his verdict. For more of his highly informed opinions, check out his TikTok and Instagram accounts @javonford16. His new line, Javon Ford Beauty, launched last month with a gel blush called Sun-Kissed Cheek Stain in Georgia Peach, which sold out pretty much immediately.
Do "Essences" in Skincare Actually Do Anything?
If beauty reviews have taken over your social-media feed, then you may be in need of a reality check. Meet Javon Ford, a cosmetic chemist who cuts through the drama, the bluster, and the completely wacky with a good dose of legitimate science. His research-rich TikTok videos on makeup, skin care, and hair care are a happy marriage of entertainment and accuracy. This month, for Air Mail Look, he analyzes the mysterious watery liquids called “essences.” An essence is a Korean concept.
Bakuchoil Review: Javon Ford on if Bakuchoil Really Works
On social media, skin-care ingredients are often imbued with magical powers. But Javon Ford doesn’t believe most of the hype. The cosmetic chemist debunks a multitude of myths in makeup, skin care, and hair care on his fact-filled, research-heavy yet addictively watchable TikToks. This month, forAir Mail Look, he analyzes a much-discussed ingredient: bakuchiol.
Javon Ford Breaks Down Myths About Face Oils
“Science-backed skin care” is a trendy term in beauty, but it has little meaning to a real scientist. Javon Ford is a cosmetic chemist who doesn’t believe every marketing term and claim that wanders into his Instagram feed. He separates fact from fiction in his highly addictive TikTok. This month, for Air Mail Look, he puts face oils under the microscope. I don’t hate face oils, but I don’t use them, because I don’t feel like they’re doing anything. Our face needs oil. Duh.
Javon Ford Breaks Down Myths About Peptides
On social media, falsehoods about cosmetics flourish like bacteria in a loofah. That may be why Javon Ford has so many ardent followers of his fact-filled, research-heavy yet addictively watchable TikTok. He’s a cosmetic chemist who approaches makeup, hair care, and skin care from a science nerd’s perspective. Ford started his career as a nuclear engineer because jobs in the field required less experience (“So random,” he says) but quickly shifted to the work he loves.
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