I’ve been more obsessed than usual lately with beauty science gadgets. So of course I have to blog about this new iPhone application that warns you about ‘dangerous’ cosmetic ingredients.
iPhone ingredient info
CosmeticsDesign reports that the app, from the firm Cosmetifique, has a searchable database of over 5,000 ingredients in the International Nomenclature for Cosmetic Ingredients format, the official naming convention for cosmetic ingredients. You simply type in the ingredient of choice and the search results show up as red, orange or green to indicate whether the ingredient is great, good, or bad.
Sounds good, huh? I thought so too until I read the following quote from the application designer Alfredo Delli Bovi:
“We talked to make-up gurus and 90 percent of them preferred natural ingredients, so we don’t suggest chemical ones like dimethicone.”
So it looks like this app is based on the the same crappy “natural is good, synthetic is bad” premise that we’ve blogged about before. Suddenly I’m not so excited anymore.
What do YOU think? Would you buy a beauty science app for your smart phone (assuming it was based on real science and not propaganda? Leave a comment for the rest of the Beauty Brains community.
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Um…somebody needs to tell these people EVERYTHING is made from chemicals. I always get a laugh out of “Natural=Good, Chemical=Bad.” Did you people do highschool science?
I would purchase an app if it gave me instant reviews straight to my smart phone. I would love to see an app that make a site like Beautypedia easily accessible.
Arsenic = natural = good. Right? I would buy an app if it really contained helpful information. But as you review, this does not sound like it.
everyone check out my new website, i’m selling all natural poison oak cream! not one single synthetic ingredient, i harvest ingredients fresh from my backyard and make my products to order!
this fallacy on all natural ingredients is so frustrating!
‘Make-up gurus’? Why not scientists, researchers, chemists, you know, people who know what products really are, not just the users. They might as well poll the Walmart beauty aisles. (Uh, nothing against Walmart!)
Yes! I would definitely buy a Beauty Brains app!
I keep a few bookmarks on my phone to help me look up ingredients and such while shopping but would pay gobs of money for an app that was 1) comprehensive, 2) based on fact rather than opinion, 3) well designed (easy to use).
Hint, hint, hint…
I don’t have, nor do I plan to get an iPhone. I would, however, love a purse sized book with a list of all the makeup falicies (sp?), things like “If your skin is oily it’s because you don’t use moisturizer”, and of course “Pantene is EVIL!” stuff in there with the scientific data to back up that these are lies/myths. That way if someone tries to sell me something I can take the book out of my purse and look it up in front of them and say, “Yeah, you know what? This book says you’re full of crap and it has the data to back it up.”
jami,
depending on the size of your purchase a good book might be “don’t go to the cosmetics counter without me” by paula begoun.
by the way…how come i get that ugly avatar? i want one that looks a little less angry, frustrated and, dare i say it, constipated!
Too big, Joseph. Besides, would rather it come from the BBs. Could you imagine anything more intimidating then a book with the BB logo on it?
“That’s right, Cosmetics Lady, I read The Beauty Brains!”
*Cosmetics Lady melts ala Wicked Witch + Water*