The Beauty Brains

For our U.S. readers who are celebrating the 4th of July, here’s a patriotic-themed post. Take a look at these 1970’s perfume ads.

The first is for “Moon Drops: Not imported From Anywhere. It’s simply out of this world.”

The second is for “Norell: The First Great Perfume Born in America.”

Do you notice anything that they have in common? (Besides their sheer 1970’s-ishness, that is.)

Apparently the advertising for both these products was designed to combat the “Only foreign nations like France can make great perfume” misconception that ruled the fragrance industry until the late 1970s.

• Discount Perfume
• Jennifer Lopez Perfume
• DKNY Perfume
• Versace Perfume
• Men`s Cologne
• Fendi Cologne

Certainly this notion seems out of date today when one considers how many American “born” fragrances dominate the sales charts.

But isn’t a little bit odd how these anti-foreign fragrance ads from 30 years ago predict the anti-immigration debate in the U.S. that’s raging through today’s headlines?

Are these ads a fragrant foreshadowing of things to come almost 40 years later??

Could they prove to be perfumed prognostications of future world events???

Nawww, not really. The Right Beauty Brain just thought they’d make a cool post.

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Either you are getting too smart or I’m not making these beauty science polls hard enough! A whopping 55% of you figured out that the headline about eating fruit was the fake. Read on for the explanations.

Divorce makes you look older – TRUE

Only 6% of you were fooled by this headline. The truth is that the stress of divorce does make you look older. According to a recent twins study published by Case Western Reserve University, people who had gone through a divorce looked 2 years older than their twin who hadn’t.

Researchers concluded that avoiding anxiety is a way to slow down your biological clock.

Losing weight makes you look older – TRUE

Only 5% of you believed this headline was fake but it’s real. According to more work done by Case Western Reserve University researchers, women who lose a lot of weight are perceived as older than their peers who haven’t. Of course, this only applies to women over the age of 40. Younger women will not look older if they lose weight.

Eating fruit makes you look older – FALSE

A full 55% of you figured out that we made this one up. While there is no evidence fruit makes you look younger, it is an important part of your diet and you should probably be eating more. The fake headline was inspired by this true story about how older people are not eating enough fruit.

Smoking makes you look older – TRUE

17% of you thought we were trying to fool you with this one but we weren’t. Smoking does make you look older! In fact, the term “smoker’s face” was added to medical dictionaries after a study demonstrated you could identify smokers from pictures of their faces.

Just another of the many reasons to stop smoking

Space travel makes you look older – TRUE

16% of responders thought this was fake but it’s true. I particularly liked the explanations in the comments about this story. According to astrophysicists, space travelers will be bombarded with radiation that will damage their DNA. This damage has been linked to accelerated aging.

So, did you get it right? Are we making these Beauty Science or BS polls just a little too easy? Leave a comment and let the rest of the Beauty Brains community know.

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Time to put on your thinking caps and see if you can figure out which of the following statements about things that make you look older are FALSE.

When you think you know the answer, go to the right column and enter your vote in the 41st Beauty Science or BS Poll.

Which statement is FALSE?

1.  Divorce makes you look older

2.  Losing weight makes you look older

3.  Eating fruit makes you look older

4.  Smoking makes you look older

5.  Space travel makes you look older

If you aren’t sure or think you know, leave a comment and get hints from the Beauty Brains community.

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It looks like most of you were able to pick out the fake Beauty Science from the stories in this week’s poll.  Over 50% of you figured out the story about the piercings was fake.  Here is a complete run down of the answers.

Woman holds the record for the most piercings with 60,050 – FALSE

Elaine Davidson from Brazil was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records for having the most piercings of anyone in the world.  But we added 10 times as many.  She actually has 6005 piercings.

Robot was a runway supermodel at the most recent Tokyo Fashion Week – TRUE

Only 10% of you thought this was fake so most of you got it right.  According to this news story, a robot made its catwalk debut at the latest fashion show.  Japan is one of the world leaders in robot technology.  Despite the success, it will be many years before we have robots who walk as elegantly as humans.

Bra saves woman’s life by stopping bullet – TRUE

14% of you were fooled by this story but it is real.  A woman was shot at when she saw some people robbing a store.  The bullet was deflected when it hit her bra’s underwire.  She was treated for minor injuries.  Sadly, the burglars got away.

Woman being sued to stop her from sending postcards with bits of her hair on them – TRUE

27% of you couldn’t believe this one but it is true.  A Croatian man has taken his ex to court to get her to stop sending him bizarre notes.  He adds “I have no idea why my ex is doing this but at the rate she is going she’s going to have no hair left soon.”

Did you get it right or were you fooled by the fake story?  Leave a comment below.  We’ll have another beauty science poll next week.

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There are so many misleading, crappy beauty websites out there it’s hard to cut through the bull. That’s why The Beauty Brains spend a lot of time scouring the web looking for interesting websites so you don’t have to. In addition to science-oriented sites  sometimes we find things that are just plain fun to try out.

Face shape

Hairstyler.com has an interesting way to classify the shape of your face. I don’t know if it really helps you pick your hairstyle, but it is interesting to find out if you’re a heart face, diamond face or Triangular face type. You simply fill out a questionnaire and they email you pictures of recommended hairstyles based on your personal preference. Check it out, it’s kind of cool.
Face it here!

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The Beauty Brains have just passed the 1000 follower mark on Twitter and we are going to celebrate by running a contest for a FREE Clarisonic Skin Care system. We have ONE Clarisonic Skin System to give away ($195 value) and you can get it simply by being one of our Twitter Followers.

How to Play

If you are already following us on Twitter, you don’t have to do anything right now. You automatically qualify. On May 29th, we’ll be picking the winner from our Twitter followers.

If you are not following us on Twitter, get started today by doing the following.

Step 1 – Go to the Twitter website here.

Step 2 - Click on the big green button that says ‘Join Today’ (or login if you already use Twitter).

Step 3 - Fill in the application – Don’t worry, it’s FREE & FUN

Step 4 - If it doesn’t automatically start following the Beauty Brains, go to the Beauty Brains Twitter Page and click on the ‘Follow’ button.

Step 5 - That’s It! We will pick a winner at random from our *Twitter followers on MAY 29, 2009. We will contact you through Twitter to get your information to send you the prize.

*NOTE: This is a US & Canada contest only. The winner must live in one of these countries.

Go to this page to see our Clarisonic review.

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We’re going to take a slightly different spin on the Beauty Science poll this time. These stories aren’t exactly science. Instead, they are quirky news stories that are roughly related to beauty or beauty products. Three of them are actual stories. See if you can figure out which is the FAKE.

Beauty Science or BS Headlines

1. Woman holds the record for the most piercings with 60,050.

2. Robot was a runway supermodel at the most recent Tokyo Fashion Week.

3. Bra saves woman’s life by stopping bullet.

4. Woman being sued to stop her from sending postcards with bits of her hair on them.

If you’ve got an answer, leave a comment below to help your fellow Beauty Brains community members.

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It’s time once again to put your thinking caps on and to figure out which of the beauty science headlines is totally BS. We’ve scoured the net searching for those stories which at first glance seem like they couldn’t possibly be true. Three of them are but one is completely made up. Can you find the FAKE?

Read through these 4 headlines and then go to the right side of the blog and vote on which you think is not real. Good luck!

Beauty Science or BS Headlines

1. You can buy perfume that makes you look younger
2. Prior to the 1970’s people normally washed their hair once a month
3. Clean people are less judgmental
4. Facial scars make men more attractive

If you’ve got an answer, leave a comment below to help your fellow Beauty Brains community members.

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Answer time for the latest Beauty Science or BS poll. Hundreds of you future Beauty Brains answered and here are the results. Apparently, this was one of the easier ones because over 52% of you got it right. Read on for the answers.

The Choices

1. Some people may be blind to hair styles.
2. People with numerous skin moles are less susceptible to skin cancer.
3. First face transplant surgery was performed in Cleveland.
4. Protein linked to cancer may replace Botox for wrinkle removal.

Some people may be blind to hair styles – TRUE

13% of you thought this was fake but it’s real. According to this story on New Scientist, there is a part of the brain the recognizes hair styles which is different from the part that recognizes faces. Just as some people can have trouble recognizing faces, others have trouble recognizing hair styles.

As if men needed another excuse for not noticing

People with numerous skin moles are less susceptible to skin cancer – FALSE

Over 52% of you were able to pick out this one as the fake. Actually, the opposite is true according to this story on Science Daily.

More proof you should avoid UV exposure like indoor tanning

First face transplant surgery was performed in Cleveland – TRUE

About 26% of you thought this story was fake but it’s a real miracle of medicine. While a group of doctors in France did the first partial face transplant in 2005, it wasn’t until 2008 that the first full face transplant was successfully performed in Cleveland.

But not quite the kind of results found in the movie Faceoff

Protein linked to cancer may replace Botox for wrinkle removal. – TRUE

Only 9% thought this one was fake but it’s real. According to Science Daily, a compound responsible for the spread of a variety of cancers may soon be used to remove wrinkles.

If injecting toxins into the face is fine, it’s no surprise people would accept this

How did you do? Were you able to figure out the Beauty Science from the BS? Leave your comments below. Look for a new poll next week.

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Mid Brain muses

Here’s an interesting product – Frederic Fekkai’s Wash & Wear spray shampoo. You can simply spray this in your hair to keep it clean in between shampoos.

Powder shampoo

“What a novel, breakthough idea!” you must be saying to yourself.

“Why has no one else in the history of hair care EVER thought of a spray on shampoo that doesn’t have to be rinsed off?” you’re probably pondering as you read this.

“Only the advanced science of the new millennium could have possibly created a spray on product to keep your hair clean between shampoos,” you’re thinking.

Is that what you’re thinking?

If it is, you’re WRONG!

It’s time you learned that, with the possible exception of the Internet, everything that’s worth inventing was created in the 70’s.

Case in point, check out this ad from the Beauty Brains ad vault for Psssst! Shampoo. Possibly the only cosmetic product ever to include a punction mark in it’s name.

Psssst! is also famous for being the first spray on, no rinse dry shampoo. It was essentially a powder that you sprayed in your hair to absorb oil, then you brushed it out. It didn’t work very well and it was kind of messy, but it did prevent hundreds of thousands of women from wearing a bag over their head between shampoos.

So in your FACE , Frederic Fekkai!

More dry shampoos

Intrigued? In addition to Fekkai and Psssst! here are a few other dry powder shampoos you might want to check out:

Algemarin Shampoo “Dry-Powder Spray”

Batiste Dry Shampoo

TIGI – Rockaholic – Dirty Secret Dry Shampoo

Klorane Shampoo Dry

Samy Shampoo Dry Spray

Rene Furterer Naturia Dry Shampoo

Oscar Blandi Pronto Dry Shampoo Spray

Finley Hair Powder Brown

Have YOU tried a dry shampoo? Leave a comment and share your experiences with the rest of the Beauty Brains community.

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