This week Perry and I cover the latest beauty news science stories. (But first we geek out about comic books…)
Show notes
Cosmetic chemists and comic book super villains
Perry wrote an article on fictional cosmetics chemists which lead us to a discussion of the unlikely pairing of cosmetic chemists and comic book super villains.
Beauty Science News
Remedy or rip off?
Perry was quoted in an article on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s website. He explained advertising phrases that you should watch out for. For example, “clinically proven” sounds like it means a product has a scientific stamp of approval, but there’s no industry standard for the term. Therefore, it can mean a wide range of things. There’s a wide range of what that actually means and any testing that was done may not cover all of the product’s claims. “Natural” is another buzzword to watch out for because it means so little ! Almost anything can be considered to have a natural origin and even ingredients that start from a natural source can still be synthetically altered. Click to the link to learn more about these weasely marketing terms.
Do you wash your hands after you pee?
More Americans (81% compared to 74% the previous year) say they frequently or occasionally see others leave a public restroom without washing their hands at all. What’s the proportion of people who admit they don’t wash hands after bathroom vs those who said they see others not doing it. Have you ever used a public washroom without washing your hands??
Pubic hair transplants
“Bush grafting” (which sounds like some kind of congressional investigation into Republican ethics) is popular in Korea where women are getting hair transplanted from their heads onto their lady parts. It’s cultural – for them pubic hair is a sign of sexual health and fertility. It’s interesting what’s driving this -not from pressure from husbands or boy friends. According to the article, ” 74% said they had gotten it done because of a sense of inferiority to the same sex.” There’s another reason: a condition that causes you to lose your pubic hair called “pubic atrichosis.” it’s estimated that 10% of Korean women have it and that it causes psychological stress
If you want to check it out, the procedure starts at about $2,000, and the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery reports that demand has increased sharply, to the tune of 160% from 2010 to 2012.
Hang out in groups to make yourself more attractive
Have you heard of the “cheerleader effect?” When you have a group of people with varying physical features their appearance tends to average out. In effect, this makes people more attractive groups. This does explain the low ratings I received when I posted my picture to “Hot or Not.”
Fake eyelashes can be dangerous
We spend a lot of time debunking scare stories dangerous beauty products but it’s important to remember that some cosmetics really CAN be dangerous. Case in point An article I found from a New Orleans TV station talked about the dangers of fake eyelashes – or more specifically fake eye lash adhesive. Quite a few women have reactions to fake eyelashes that make their eyes, especially the lids, swollen and red and the reporter said the problem lies in the “process used by lash specialists at many malls and salons across the country.” One woman in particular went back to mall after this happened to her and asked to look at the adhesive they used on her eyelashes and found that it was hair glue – like for bonding weaves or extension. Now the ingredients in those products include latex which can cause serious allergic reactions and ammonium hydroxide which if present at high enough levels can be very irritating. In fact, the bottle clearly reads “Avoid contact with eyes.” This is a legitimate concern – if you’re having this done at a salon make sure you know what they’re putting on your eyes. Go someplace you trust.
12 scientifically proven ways to attract the opposite sex
It’s hard to believe this article actually invokes the name of “science.” It’s more a collection of behavioral quirks that may be attractive to the opposite sex. For example:
- Men should wear a shirt with the letter T on it.
- Women should speak in a high-pitched voice.
- Men should be clean-shaven.
- Women should “played dumb.”
Click the link to read the entire list for yourself and decide which one you want to try out the next time you’re on the prowl.
Hair weaves are even MORE dangerous
In Raleigh, NC a 32 year old woman was arrested and she managed to sneak a gun into the SHerrif’s office because it was hidden in an unusual place. Do you want to take guess? She had a small Derringer pistol hidden in her hair weave. This story made me thing of other weaponized beauty and grooming practices
- Men could hide razor blades in their beards…
- A pop up knife in a lipstick tube…
- Mace in hairspray…
The future of beauty products
Drone controlling fake eyelashes and air piano playing electronic nails. The future of beauty science is here and it ain’t necessarily pretty. Follow the link to read them all (and if someone can explain to me how to “DJ a tub of water” I would really appreciate it.)
Buy your copy of It’s OK to Have Lead in Your Lipstick to learn more about:
- Clever lies that the beauty companies tell you.
- The straight scoop of which beauty myths are true and which are just urban legends.
- Which ingredients are really scary and which ones are just scaremongering by the media to incite an irrational fear of chemicals.
- How to tell the difference between the products that are really green and the ones that are just trying to get more of your hard earned money by labeling them “natural” or “organic.
Click here for all the The Beauty Brains podcasts.