The Beauty Brains

Mid Brain muses:

First we told you about a better way to get your gray hair dyed. Then we explained how stress causes gray hair. And most recently we we told you how to to get rid of gray hair forever.  Now  we’re blogging about why you should be HAPPY that you have gray hair. (Why all the posts about gray hair? Trust me, if you had to look at the Left Brain’s roots everyday you wouldn’t have to ask that question!) Anyway, the latest news is that gray hair may actually protect you from cancer!

Gray hair is good

Hair color is produced by cells called melanocytes which are in part controlled by stem cells. When the number of stem cells in hair follicles goes down, hair turns gray. Now researchers at Tokyo Medical and Dental University in Japan have discovered that radiation and chemicals that damage DNA can cause stem cells to permanently transform into melanocytes. Without the stem cells to produce more melanocytes, hair turns grey (Cell, vol 137, p 1088). Another researcher, David Fisher at Harvard Medical School, suggests this processes may help protect us from cancer, by preventing damaged stem cells from passing on mutated DNA.  “One likely beneficial effect is the removal of potentially dangerous cells that may contain pre-cancerous capabilities,” he says. So there you have it gals, it’s Gray Pride Day!

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While we here at the Beauty Brains answer your questions, we also hope to help you become smarter consumers. If you’re seriously interested in learning about beauty care products, here’s a great source of solid scientific information: the Personal Care Products Council (PCPC) website.

The PCPC (formerly known as the CTFA) is one of the oldest, and most respected, sources of information on cosmetic science. Much of this site is designed for those in the industry who are members and who can access ingredient dictionaries, Cosmetic Ingredient Reviews that show the regulatory status of ingredients, and other legal functions. But there are other sections open to the general public that our readers should find interesting. You might want to check out the following:

Cosmetic Ingredient Safety: here’s your inside scoop on the TRUTH behind cosmetic ingredients. Don’t believe the crap you get in emails and press releases, click here for the real science behind ingredient’s safety and efficacy.

Look Good Feel Better – a site that deals with using make up to counter act some of the effects of cancer treatments.

Work Your Image: a site that deals with how to use your beauty skills to get and hang on to , the job you want. Includes links to 25 Free Business Clothing Programs!

Site for Teens with Cancer:
We hope you never find yourself in need of this kind of information. But if you do, here’s where to go.

There’s much more, but you get the picture. PCPC online is one of our favorite resources. Check it out if you’re interested in learning about the products that you put on your body every day.

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Ivy inquires… You know, I’ve been wondering about Pantene Restoratives and its effectiveness. I even went so far as to write to the Pantene P&G company and ask them on what grounds do they issue a guarantee promising 90 % less breakage in one month? I didn’t get an answer.

The Right Brain responds:
Don’t worry, WE’LL give you an answer! Here’s the exact claim that Pantene makes for this product:

90% less breakage in one month.*

* Shampoo and conditioner vs. non-conditioning shampoo.

It’s easy to skip over reading the asterisk and the fine print, but actually they’re quite important. That’s how the advertiser defines how the claim is supported. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves….

Hair Breakage Claims

First, let’s make it clear that U.S. law only states that companies can not falsely advertise and that they must have substantiation for any clams that they make. However, the law does NOT specify HOW the claims must be supported. Therefore, every company is free to make up its own proprietary methods of testing.

For a hair breakage claim, like in the case of Pantene Restoratives, the support is usually based on measuring hair breakage caused by physical abrasion testing. The test could look something like this:

Take two bundles of hair fibers. Treat one bundle with the products you want to test, in this case the Pantene Restoratives shampoo and the conditioner. The other bundle is the “control” tress. It doesn’t get treated with anything – it’s just washed with a regular shampoo. Then, both tresses are exposed to some sort of physical abrasion, for example, the hair is combed repeatedly.

After this physical assault, the researches count the number of broken hairs on each tress. By comparing the numbers of hairs broken from each tress, the scientists can calculate the difference in breakage. The claim’s reference to “one month” simply means that they conducted the test over a period of 4 weeks (or an equivalent number of treatments in a shorter period of time) and added up how much breakage occurred after that many treatments.

So, is it possible to get a reduction in breakage as high as 90%? Yep, we’ve seen that happen.

How is that possible? Because what this test really measures is how well the conditioner lubricates the hair and reduces the friction of combing. Any hair tress treated with conditioner (any good conditioner) will have MUCH less breakage than a tress just washed with a non-conditioning shampoo.

So is this claim supportable? Yes, it is.

But does the test REALLY reflect the difference in breakage you’ll see in your normal hair routine? Probably not.

But that doesn’t mean it’s a bad test. The kind of test we just described will support this claim even if you don’t necessarily see that much difference in your own personal usage of the product.

The Beauty Brain’s bottom line

Any time you see a numerical cosmetic claim, you should take it with the proverbial grain of salt. If it’s a reputable company, you can bet that they have SOME kind of test that will support the number you see. But that doesn’t mean that’s a measure of how much benefit you will experience from the product.

So IF seeing those numbers gets you to buy the product and IF you like the product, then everybody wins.

But IF you try the product because it offers “90% less breakage” and you don’t notice less breakage yourself and so you don’t like the product – then you probably won’t buy the product again. And if you don’t buy the product again, no matter what their test data says, then the company hasn’t done a very good job of supporting their claims. Have they?

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We’ve all heard the notion that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” This is generally taken to mean that everyone has their own internal standards of beauty and what you consider beautiful might be considered ugly by someone else. And vice versa.

But did you know that there’s scientific evidence that suggests that people’s perceptions of beauty may in fact have a universal standard based on the geometric features of the human face?

Beauty research

The International Journal of Cosmetic Science published an article entitled “The Biology of Facial Beauty” (2005, 27. 317-325 – sorry there’s no online reference for this one!) in which the authors describe “culture-independent psychological adaptations reflecting mate choice characteristics.” In other words, they showed that across different ethnic and cultural groups, people strongly agree about who is and is not attractive. The study employed facial images like the ones above which were digitally generated to demonstrate the universality of beauty without ethnic boundaries (image courtesy: Karl Grammer, LBI for Urban Ethology.)

The article goes on to cite evidence that at least some aspects of our ability to recognize beauty has a genetic basis – it’s hard-wired into us!

So although “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” has a certain romantic appeal, it appears that “beauty is in the eye of the biology” might be more scientifically accurate!

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You can find some great things through Twitter. One of our followers is Joanne Manaster,a lecturer about various biological sciences at the University of Illinois in Urbana. She has a wonderful website, (Joanne Loves Science) part of which looks at the science of beauty products.

Here is a great video that explores the chemistry of mascara.

You can see a more complete explanation at her website here.

And if you are on Twitter, be sure to follow the Beauty Brains.

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Mid Brain muses…

Scientists think they’ve figured out the cause of gray hair. In the June 12 issue of Cell, researchers describe ‘genotoxic stress’ that damages DNA and reduces the amount of melanin-producing cells (melanocytes) in hair follicles.

What kind of stress?

While emotional stress may be one factor, the kind of stress that these researchers are talking about are more molecular in nature. These include exposure to UV light, ionizing radiation and mutagenic chemicals. It’s estimated that cells get exposed to over 100,000 stressors each day.

Can you stop gray hair?

According to researchers, the cell damage is unavoidable which suggests there is little that can be done to stop the gradual onset of gray hair. Sun protection and anti-oxidants may help slow things down but eventually exposure to environmental stress will catch up to everyone. Fortunately, cosmetic chemists have come up with hair color.  So everyone can look like they’ve got the hair of a 20-year-old.

When did you start to go gray?  And do you cover it up with hair color?  Leave a comment below because inquiring Beauty Brains need to know.

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The Right Brain reports:

In our modern world, life expectancies have dramatically increased. Now we’re not satisfied with just living longer, we want to live better – we expect to maintain a high quality of life as we grow old gracefully. And a new study shows that makeup can keep us happy as we age by actually improving the function of our brains!

Makeup secret

This amazing makeup secret is revealed in a research paper by Pola Chemical Industries and the Brain Functions Lab in Yokohama Japan which was published in the February 2009 issue of Cosmetics & Toiletries. According to the researchers, they have scientific measurements that confirm what some people have long suspected – that wearing the right kind of makeup can lead to better activation of your brain.

They studied the effects of a new makeup on a population of elderly women with a mild cognitive impairment that could signal the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. (Women in this condition are sensitive to improvements in brain function.) They hooked the women up to an electroencephalograph (EEG) and measured brain activity  before, during, and after makeup application. The women were treated with eyebrow pencil, lip rouge, and a new kind of foundation that contained a powder made from the same kind of light reflecting PET polymers used to make privacy curtains. The result is a highly transparent, light dispersing powder that is ideal for aged skin.

After the makeup application it wasn’t surprisingly that the women subjectively reported that they felt more beautiful and happy. But it was surprising that the brain scan showed that their electrical scalp potential was stabilized. Essentially their brains were “activated” in a way that improved local neuronal impairments.  I’m certainly not a neurologist but it sounds like this is the first time anyone’s measured the impact of cosmetics on brain waves. How exciting!

The Beauty Brains bottom line

This single study doesn’t really prove much but hopefully it will lead to further work that could help us understand the neurological benefits of using beauty products. That could make us all happier in old age. And nothing makes me happier than a new sale on makeup. Time to go shopping!

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This is a sponsored post for American Discount Beauty Supply.

Hey Gals, Sarah B. here with a quicky review of an interesting beauty supply website.

Unique products

There are tons of places on the Internet where you can get beauty products so why would you care about this one?

Well, what I found most compelling was the collection of unique beauty products that you don’t normally find on other beauty supply websites.

While other sites offer things you can easily find at your local Target, American Discount Beauty Supply has many things that you can’t.

Consider some of the following….

1. Sunless Tanning Mitt – If you’re tired of getting orange/blotchy hands by putting on sunless tanners, try the tanning mitt. Guaranteed not to stain hands.

2. Rinse No More Shampoo – You work it in and towel it off. It gets you clean hair without wasting water.

3. Demeter Fragrances – We’ve written about these before. American Beauty Supply can get you some of my favorites like Gin & Tonic spray and Waffle Cone. You’ll smell good enough to eat.

4. The Star of David Kosher Soap – officially blessed by Rabbis

5. Fake Mustaches - Who isn’t a little curious about how it feels to kiss a man in a mustache? You can get these fun accessories here too!

I could go on and on about the extensive personal massager selection but Lefty would probably edit it out.

Reasonable Prices

I looked through the price list of most things and while they weren’t the least expensive of any beauty supply website, they were lower than most. With the unique selection of products and the 100% satisfaction guarantee (you can get your money back if you’re disappointed), American Discount Beauty Supply is a great option when you’re considering your next beauty product purchase.

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Barb Wants To Know…I have arthritis in my right wrist and I was thinking of buying one of those magnetic bracelets that are supposed to cure pain. Do they really work?

The Right Brain Replies:
Amazingly enough, the definitive answer is: Maybe!

While most scientists have considered that using magnetic therapy to reduce pain is quackery, a study done a few years ago shows that there MIGHT be some basis to these claims. The Skeptical Inquirer, the Brain’s favorite site for debunking myths has this to say:

Magnetic attraction

“These examples and the centuries-old connection between magnets and quackery, have led many to consider modern magnetic therapy as total hokum, with the many testimonials for the success of magnetic treatments explainable by placebo effects. But the Baylor study, seemingly a careful double-blind study, has surprised many.The study was conducted by Dr. Carlos Vallbona on fifty post-polio patients at Baylor’s Institute for Rehabilitation Research in Houston. Bioflex, Inc., of Corpus Christi provided both the magnets (multipolar, circular pattern) and a set of visually identical sham magnets to serve as controls. To keep the study “double-blind” neither the patients nor the staff were informed as to which devices were active magnets, and which were shams. Before and after the forty-five-minute period of magnet therapy, the patients were asked to grade their pain on a scale from 0 to 10. The twenty nine patients with active magnets reported, on average, a significant reduction of pain (from 9.6 to 4.4), while the twenty-one patients with shams reported a much smaller average reduction (from 9.5 to 8.4). This is a substantial difference, and if the double-blind study was successfully conducted, cannot be explained by a placebo effect.

For a hardened skeptic, some doubts remain. Both Dr. Vallbona and his colleague, Dr. Carlton Hazlewood, had reported the successful personal use of magnets to relieve their own knee pains prior to the study, raising doubts as to their objectivity. Conscious or unconscious biases of researchers can have very subtle and unrecognized effects on the results of their studies, and a serious difficulty of conducting any double-blind studies with magnets is the ease of distinguishing active magnets from sham magnets (although the patients were reportedly observed during the therapy period to assure that they were not surreptitiously testing their magnets). Another difficulty of any studies of pain relief is the highly subjective nature of the data.

Despite these various reasons for caution, the results of this study have altered the views of many physicians. Dr. William Jarvis, president of the National Council Against Health Fraud, had formerly dismissed magnet therapy as “essentially quackery.” He now tentatively admits that it may have value for post-polio pain.

More studies will be needed before magnetic therapy will be accepted by a majority of the medical community, and some studies are already underway. Last year the NIH Office of Alternative Medicine gave a million-dollar grant to Dr. Ann Gill Taylor of the School of Nursing of the University of Virginia to study the use of magnets to relieve pain. Among other things, she will be testing the effectiveness of magnetic sleep pads in relieving pain in patients suffering from fibromyalgia, a common disease involving joint and muscle pain. While we wait for the results of these and other studies, does what we know about magnetic fields and the human body make it plausible that magnetic therapy for pain might have a physical basis beyond mind/body effects?”

The Beauty Brains bottom line

Looks like the jury is out on this one. While we’re still skeptical, it does look interesting!

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1) The step-by-step picture diagram showing you how to comb your hair (in case you don’t have a mirror, I guess).

2) The fact that the product is in a GLASS bottle. (Wet shower + slippery foam + breakable glass bottle = trip to emergency room.)

3) The way they make such a big deal about the shampoo NOW! being available in a liquid, lotion form. What were they using before? Powdered shampoo?? Bar soap?? (Yeah, maybe they were, this ad is pretty old!)

On second thought, it’s funny how times change. Now we have Lush Cosmetics Solid shampoo bars!

What do YOU think? Do you experiment with different forms of shampoo? Do you like other weird ways to wash your hair? Leave a comment and come clean with the rest of the Beauty Brains community.

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