Amy asks…I was wondering about photofacials. Are they either effective, worth it, or a good idea?

The Right Brain responds:
Effective?
Yes, at least to some extent.

Worth it?
Maybe, if you can afford several thousand dollars and can wait a few months for results.

Good idea?
Read on and decide for yourself.

Lasers have been used for decades to “burn” away upper layers of the skin to reduce the appearance of wrinkles. They also have had some application in the treatment of acne and spider veins. Click here for a detailed description of the benefits and risks of laser skin resurfacing.

In recent years, the FDA has approved “N-Lite” laser therapy for treatment of crow’s feat. This type of laser uses a specific frequency of light that stimlates collagen production in the deeper layers of skin. Therefore, this method causes much less surface damage than traditional laser therapy. The downside is that this technique is still fairly new and dermatologists and surgeons are still learning how to optimize its application. Smartskincare.com has a great article on this topic if you want more details.

The Beauty Brains bottom line:

Laser therapy appears to be a scientifically valid antiaging treatment. It’s expensive ($1,000 to 2,000 per treatment), and it may take several months for the benefits to become apparent. But if you’re interested you should consult your doctor to find out if it’s a good option for you. Thanks for the question, Amy, we hope this helps.

The Right Brain returns:

In our post on “Too Many Shampoo Choices” we quoted Rob Fisher’s blog. Rob came back with some excellent comments clarifying his earlier rant. Rather than keep his points buried in the comments section, we thought we’d followup with another post. Take it away Rob:

Are there too many choices?

It was fun to find my article mentioned here and read your comments, so I thought I would respond.
In answer to each of your comments:

1) There are too many choices if you just want to buy some shampoo quickly, but don’t want to end up with your hair accidentally volumised or something. Of course, if you really care about getting the best possible product there can *never* be too much choice. To turn it around, I think there can never be too many electronic gadgets, but a technophobe would not necessarily agree.

2) Because it was written as a fun rant, I think I came across as more cynical than I really am in that article. I agree that companies are responding to the market and that is exactly what they should do. I certainly don’t think that they are deliberately misleading people, or that there is anything wrong with creative language. It’s just that that type of marketing doesn’t work for me. Perhaps the marketing guys are missing a niche, or perhaps there’s just no money to be made from marketing a Ronseal-style “does exactly what it says on the tin” shampoo.

3) I was thinking of readers of a certain style of beauty magazine raving over the latest product and showering it with awards when I used the words “stupid” and “gullible”. I would certainly encourage skepticism when it comes to evaluating products, and I’m sure most people do. This website does just that, for instance “Paraben Perils” article is exactly the type of thing people should be reading to help them evaluate products. I certainly agree with your final point.

So, I’m still looking for the ideal shampoo that will make my fine hair look as good as possible, without smelling funny or coming in a pink bottle or having any new-age sounding ingredients like ginseng. Got any recommendations?

The Beauty Brains bottom line

Thanks for the kind words and for taking the time to follow up with us Rob. We appreciate it. As far as recommending a shampoo for you that doesn’t “smell funny” or ” come in a pink bottle, ” well, our expertise is reviewing the science of the product and not making aesthetic judgments. But maybe our readers could help you out with some ideas. Anyone have any suggestions for Rob?

Cynical Girl sez…I have over-highlighted my hair and it’s fried. The salon recommended a Redken All Softconditioning treatment and another Redken protein treatment. Will any of these products really make a difference, or do I just need to cut off the damaged ends of my hair? Is it possible to add too much moisture or protein to my hair? Any risks?

The Right Brain replies:

Cynical Girl – it looks like you’ve committed the cardinal sin of chemically caring for your hair: you over-processed. But, rather than publicly berating you here on the Beauty Brains blog, we’ll give you some information that will help save your hair.

Is protein powerful?

Your stylist recommended a couple of Redkin products. There’s certainly nothing wrong with using those – the All Soft conditioner is a fine product that could mitigate some of the damage you’ve done to your hair. I’m not really sure you would necessarily need to use the protein treatment since protein aren’t typically a significant active ingredient in conditioner formulas. Although your hair is made of protein (keratin protein to be precise), protein delivered from a conditioner doesn’t really help that much. There are other conditioning and moisturizing agents that are more beneficial to your hair than proteins. Still, if you don’t mind spending the money on those Redkin products they’re certainly worth a shot.

You just need to be careful that you don’t over condition your hair or else you might end up with limp lifeless locks. Which leads us to the second part of your question. Can you add too much moisture or protein to your hair? The answer is: “Not exactly.” Let us explain.

Moisture is magic

One of the components of your hair is moisture – in fact your hair naturally contains between 8 and 14 percent water. But, and here is the tricky part, your hair naturally equilibrates to the humidity in your environment. In other words if it’s very dry outside you will have less moisture than 8 to 14 percent in your hair and if it’s very humid you’ll have more. Think about your hair after you wash it or after you’ve gone swimming. It doesn’t stay wet – it eventually does dry out.

On the other hand, you do need to watch out for adding too much moisturizer. A moisturizer is an ingredient that helps your hair hold onto moisture. Strictly speaking, moisture is water but moisturizers can be oils or silicones. And if you put too much of these materials on your hair you can get on build up or weigh down effect, which is not good, especially if you want your hair to look thick and full.

The Beauty Brains bottom line

We don’t discourage you from trying the Redken products, but you may find you don’t like them. If this happens, you’ll have to experiment with a few other conditioners to find one that gives you the right balance of moisture without weighdown. But at least now, hopefully we’ve given you have a better understanding of HOW your conditioner works. And by the way, don’t you dare wash your hair without conditioning – at least for the next few weeks. You’ve got to protect your fragile, over-processed strands.

What do YOU think? What are you favorite products for dealing with over-stressed tresses? Leave a comment and share your secrets with the rest of the Beauty Brains community.

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.

Mid Brain muses:

According to this article, the Fake Bake sunless tanning market is hot. Over the last few years major skin care manufacturers have discovered how to combine a skin moisturizer with a sunless tanner to make an effective light sunless tanner that gives a steady color change. These new tech products prevent the streaking effect that has been a major drawback of traditional sunless tanners. They also provide daily moisturization so there’s a reason to use them everyday. You get healthy skin and a natural looking color.

How do sunless tanners work?

To understand sunless tanning it is helpful to have a simple understanding of skin structure. Skin is made up of two primary layers, the dermis and the epidermis. The dermis is the inside layers of the skin where all the blood vessels and living skin cells reside. Cosmetics are not supposed to have any effect on the dermis.

The epidermis is the outer layer of skin composed of numerous layers of keratinized cells. These are dead cells composed primarily of protein. Every day millions of new cells get created beneath the surface of the skin and the ones on the outer most layer are worn away. The top layer of the epidermis is called the stratum corneum and this is where skin moisturizers and sunless tanning products do there work.

DHA  to tan sunless

There are several types of sunless tanning products including lotions, sprays, and even pills. The most effective products are topical treatments that contain an ingredient called dihydroxyacetone (DHA). When cosmetic chemists create formulas with it, DHA is a clear, colorless ingredient. But this sugar molecule (derived from glycerin) has a special property in which it chemically reacts with the skin cells in the stratum corneum. After this reaction occurs, the cells change to a brownish color and you get your tan.

Incidentally, DHA is the active ingredient used in commercial spray tanning booths. According to the FDA, DHA has no known health issues and has been used in cosmetics for over 30 years.

Since the cells get naturally removed after about 7 days, the color will also be removed. That means these products have to be applied frequently to maintain the tan. That`s why these new sunless tanners have proven so popular. Since people are already moisturizing their skin everyday, now they can get a little color as an added bonus.

Of all the sunless tanning products available, only DHA-containing ones are said to be effective by the American Academy of Dermatology. Other products such as tanning accelerators that contain tyrosine or pills containing canthaxanthin have never been proven to be effective. Bronzers are effective but they are more like make-up that can be easily washed off with soap and water.

The Beauty Brains bottom line:

If you want a Fake Bake, stick to the ones that contain DHA. These products are safe and effective and produce a fairly good simulation of a tan. But if you do use these products make sure you continue to protect your skin with a sunblock. Just like a real tan, a fake tan will not protect you from the negative effects of UV exposure.

What do YOU think? Do you use sunless tanners? Leave a comment and share your fave fake bake with the rest of the Beauty Brains community.