What kind of beauty science blog would we be if we didn’t report on this story: The man with the world’s longest hair just died.

Tran Van Hay, who lived in Vietnam and passed away last week at the age of 79 is on record as having the longest hair in the world, according to the Guinness World Records.  At the time of his death it was estimated to be  6.8 meters (more than 23 feet! The last time his hair was officially measured, in 2004, it was 5.6 meters or 18 feet.)

Ladies of the Long Hair Community, eat your hearts out!

What’s the longest hair you’ve ever known anyone to have? Leave a comment and share your thoughts with the rest of the Beauty Brains community.

As Shakespeare once said: “A rose by any other name would smell like root beer.” Actually that’s what the great Bard would have said if had he read this Discovery.com story about customized flower fragrances.

Root beer roses

Scientists at the University of Florida have figured out how to change the scent of a flower by genetically altering the plant – they have literally made roses that smell like root beer and petunias smell like wintergreen. In addition to custom-scented bouquets, this discovery could also lead to new perfume notes.

The research is not as frivolous as you might think, though. They’re actually trying to find ways to increase pollination of fruit producing plants to increase crop yield.

What do YOU think? Would you want “designer flowers” or would you stick with the old standards? Leave a comment and share your flowery prose with the rest of the Beauty Brains community.

Professor Auntie asks…Do you think we’ll be spraying liquid glass on our hair soon?

The Left Brain says:

Auntie is referring to a story I Tweeted about a few days ago about “SiO2 ultra-thin layering” technology.

According to Physorg.com this sprayable glass coating, consisting of nano-sized silicon dioxide particles in water or ethanol, could revolutionize “almost everything” because it can protect any surface from environmental factors like moisture,  UV radiation, dirt, heat, and even bacteria. Follow the link to read more about this fascinating new discovery.

Glass for hair?

Considering the protective properties of this technology and given that the coating is flexible and invisible, there is certainly potential application to hair care. If this product is proven safe, I certainly think you will be seeing salon hair treatments with it first. Then eventually it will be brought to the mass market. But that could be 5 to 10 years or more. (The Right Brain disagrees with me and thinks that instead that it will come from a major beauty company that has the resources to do the research and development. I guess time will tell which one of us is right.)

What do YOU think? Can you think of any other uses for this kind of breakthrough coating? Leave a comment and brainstorm with the rest of the Beauty Brains community.

It’s a Friday focus on our favorite fashion and beauty friends. Click away!

Stylebakery Beauty is excited about new scents for 2010. Check out her list of fragrant faves.

Talking Makeup is talking about Vera Farmiga’s golden globes.

Temptalia asks “What’s your philosophy on makeup?”

The Beauty Stop has a big M.A.C. attack.

The Beauty Brains can’t stop blabbering about bath bombs.

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.