The next time you’re walking along the beach and come across a grayish, unidentifiable blob, you might not want to ignore it. According to this report, one family in Australia was doing just that when they stumbled across a sample of ambergris worth over $1 million!

So why does this story make the Beauty Brains? Well, it turns out ambergris (or whale vomit) is one of the many natural materials used by perfume companies for creating fragrances. Apparently, one gram of the stuff is worth $20 (US). That’s over $9000 per pound!

The natural material is not used very often anymore because it is extremely rare and it comes from whales (a protected species). Fortunately, crafty chemists have devised suitable synthetic replacements. See, just because something is natural doesn’t mean it’s good. Think about that the next time you see advertising telling you differently.

Incidentally, if you are a US citizen and were planning on heading to the beach to seek your blobish fortune, think twice. In the US, possession of ambergris is a violation of the Endangered Species Act of 1978 and could result in significant fines and even some jail time.

I thought this was cute and a good reminder that Natural doesn’t always equal Safer. It’s a promotional video for Amy Stewart’s upcoming book ‘Wicked Plants‘.

Amy I know this book is going on my Amazon Wish List!

Paulaboub is perplexed…I recently came across a new ( to me) product line called Yes To Carrots. It lists mostly natural ingredients. I bought the moisturizing day cream and shower gel/body wash. Smells nice, the cream doesn’t bother my eyes as alot of creams do these days. Just wondering what you thought.

The Left Brain doesn’t care for carrots:

If you like Yes To Carrots because it smells nice and it doesn’t irritate your eyes, then then by all means you should buy it. But if you’re asking my professional opinion, I have to tell you that I’m not very impressed by this faux natural brand.

Yes To Carrots?

According to their website: 

All of our Yes To products combine the fresh, unadulterated goodness of organic fruits and vegetables with the purifying and moisturizing properties of 26 minerals harvested from the ancient world’s most renowned spa- the Dead Sea.

Come on! While it’s true that their formulas contain lots of natural goodies, they don’t bother to mention that the functional ingredients in their products are the same tried and true chemicals used in other mass market beauty products. For example, their shower gel is based on sodium coceth sulfate (a cleanser) and cocamide DEA (a foam booster/thickener).  While I have no problem with brands that like to convey a certain look, feel, and scent by using natural ingredients, I don’t like being mislead to by companies that claim to use the “unadulterated goodness of organic fruits and vegetables” but don’t tell you they include chemicals like propanediol and benzyl alcohol in their formulations. 

Perilous Parabens?

Another issue I have with this brand is their stance on parabens. Their website also gives an explanation for why their products are paraben-free. 

Parabens are a group of chemicals that have been widely used as preservatives in many cosmetics to ensure the products remain free of bacteria, fungus and other microbes. They also help extend the shelf life of cosmetic products. In 1998, the United States Environmental Protection Agency released a report stating that parabens – butyl, ethyl, methyl and propyl varieties – demonstrated “estrogenic activity.”

Sounds like a mouthful, but it means that these chemicals could possibly imitate hormones found in the human body and have an adverse effect on our endocrine system when absorbed by the skin or flushed into our drinking supply. Studies conducted in Europe found similar results and we’ve found better alternatives to ensure your products stay clean while ensuring your safety when using Yes To Carrots^TM products.

The problem is, this is only half truth because subsequent studies have shown that the methyl and propyl parabens have no cause for concern. (You can read the details about parabens here.)  

The Beauty Brains bottom line

In my opinion, Yes To Carrots is just another brand trying to capitalize on the naturals/organics trend by hiding standard cosmetics ingredients behind an over-hyped soup of fruit and vegetable extracts. The products may work perfectly fine but, personally, that kind of hypocrisy turns me off.

Melia muses….There is alot of hype going on about snail creams where I live. I have friends who have used them for scar reduction/healing for acne and thought that they really did work (they got the tip from their dermatologist). I’ve just watched the millionth infomercial about one of these creams and am wondering if they really live up to the claims.

The Left Brain leaves a slimy trail: 

When I initially heard about snail extract being used in cosmetics my BS detector kicked into over drive. After doing a little bit of research I’m still skeptical but at least I was able to find SOME scientific basis for using this ingredient in cosmetics.  

What is snail extract? 

The technical name for snail slime is “Helix Aspersa Müller Glycoconjugates.” It’s described as a thick  fluid gathered by stimulating live snails. (Sounds like a job Sarah Bellum would enjoy.) Chemically speaking, snail slime is a complex mixture of proteoglycans, glycosaminoglycans, glycoprotein enzymes, hyaluronic acid, copper peptides, antimicrobial peptides and trace elements including copper, zinc, and iron. 

The science of snail slime

There are a number of brands that claim to harness the power of snail trails. For example, there’s Bioskincare, who says their product “protects, deeply moisturizes, renews and triggers the regeneration of skin damaged by acne, injuries, overstretching, photo-aging or dermatological/medical treatments.” Is there any real science that supports the benefits of  snail extract? Sort of. There are certainly plenty of references in the scientific literature. First of all, there a number of patents related to how to gather the secretion and process it for use in cosmetics. One Chilean doctor, for example, patented a procedure for gathering the secretions by agitating snails in warm water and then filtering the mucin. (I wonder how you can tell when the snails are sufficiently agitated?)  Another patent, credited to a Spanish Oncologist, involves stressing the snails mechanically to induce the production of their mucin. I wish I could be sure that no snails were harmed in the production of this skin cream, but based on these patents, it doesn’t look good!  But just because there are patents on snail slime, that doesn’t mean it actually DOES anything. If you’ll notice the patents are related to how to collect the slime, which has nothing to do with proving it really works on your skin.

Will snail slime make wrinkles Es-car-go-away?

So does it really work? A quick Pubmed search reveals a variety of papers describing the effect of snail slime on cell cultures. In these studies a variety of effects where seen including the proliferation of fibroblasts, stimulation of new collagen and elastin fibers, and increased production of fibronectin proteins just to name a few.  But since these effects were demonstrated on cell cultures I have a hard time understanding how they relate to a topical cosmetic product. I did find a few other studies, though, that indicate snail extract improves skin condition by increasing the dermis’ natural ability to take up and hold water. And perhaps most interesting were the studies suggesting that the slime might have topical wound healing properties. There’s enough legitimate science here to make me think that snail extract may be a beneficial ingredient.

However, I didn’t see any data that indicates that any specific cosmetic snail cream has any special efficacy. Until I see some controlled studies of these products, I remain skeptical. 

The Beauty Brains bottom line

As ridiculous as this sounds at first, snail slime may be a powerful bioactive material. But translating that efficacy to a cosmetic product is another story entirely. In any given product it’s impossible to predict efficacy because it depends on the quality of the snail extract that was used, the amount in the product, and how it’s formulated and processed. Until a marketer of these products can demonstrate they have data on their specific product, I would avoid spending a lot of money on snail creams. 

What do YOU think? Would you use snail snot to keep your skin looking younger? Or is it just too gross? Leave a comment and share your snail-ish story with the rest of the Beauty Brains community. 

Mo wants to know… I came across an excellent brand called Biotique and all their facial cleansers are soap and surfactant free. The primary ingredient in all their products is “Sapindus / Soapberry/ Soapnut.” Is Soapnut a good cleanser?

The Right Brain is nuts about soapnut:

Actually, Mo, soapnut is one of those natural ingredients that may really be worth the hype. So before we talk about Biotique we’ll give you some background on non-soapy soapnut.

Soap to nuts

Soapnut, also known as soapberry, is a plant belonging to the genus Sapindus. You can extract a chemical called saponin from the plant’s berries which is a natural, low-foaming detergent. Saponin belongs to a class of chemical compounds known as amphipathic glycosides, for those of you keeping score at home. They can be found in may parts of plants including leaves, stems, roots, bulbs, blossoms, and even fruit.  

Are saponins good for skin?

Although they don’t foam much, saponins are good, gentle cleansers. So while they may not be powerful enough to remove waterproof mascara, they are very good at gently cleansing skin to remove excess oils. And, the benefits of this natural extract may extend far beyond mild cleansing. There are numerous studies on the medicinal properties of saponins; for example, according to this article on saponins from Pubmed, certain types of saponins from red ginseng can counteract the effects of ultraviolet B-induced skin aging in hairless mice and have a positive effect on skin thickness, elasticity, and wrinkle formation. Interesting! 

Baffled by Biotique

Unfortunately, we couldn’t find any specific list of ingredients for any Biotique products. Without that crucial information we can only speculate about how they use soapnut. One possibility is that they really do use soapnut as their primary cleansing agent leaving out any soaps or synthetic detergents. In that case, it may be a very mild cleanser (although probably low foaming). Another possibility is that Biotique uses soapnut as more of a marketing ploy to differentiate their products in which case they may be adding small amounts of soapnut to formulas that contain typical cleansing agents. A quick review of a Biotique ingredient list, if we can find one, will make the answer obvious.

The Beauty Brains bottom line

Soapnut (also known as soapberry) is a valid, gentle, natural cleanser but we don’t know how Biotique is using it. We’ll keep our eyes open and if we find an ingredient list we’ll update this post.

Has anyone bought Biotique or any other soapnut based products? Leave a comment and share your experiences with the rest of the Beauty Brains community.