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!

Midbrain Meanders…

While the rest of the Beauty Brains take the day off to run errands and even marathons, it’s up to me to put up today’s post.  To shake things up, I thought I’d skip the usual sciency stuff and give you some light-hearted stories about hair that I’ve collected over the year.  I call it the

10 Weird Hair Stories

1. Judge throws out hair dye lawsuit. This girl claimed her life was ruined when her blonde L’Oreal hair dye mistakenly left her hair brown. Apparently, she really believes blondes have more fun. The judge however, did not.

2.  Teen’s bad hair dye job causes trouble.  School officials at this Texas school may suspend the girl just because her hair color doesn’t look natural enough.  That’s harsh.  She just like wanted like red hair like, ya know.

3.  Men with body hair more attractive to older women.  According to this story, the older women get the better men with hairy chests and backs start to look.  Guess the 40-year-old virgin should’ve skipped the wax job.

4.  Study of Napoleon’s hair proves arsenic didn’t kill him.  By injecting Napoleon’s hair into a nuclear reactor they were able to determine he didn’t die of arsenic poisoning.  No word on whether the hair turns into a ravaging green monster when agitated.

5.  Hair gel saves taxi driver’s life.  A passenger grabbed his hair and started cutting him in the neck.  But he was wearing so much hair gel, the attacker lost her grip and the cabbie got away.  The name of the hair gel brand was not released.

6.  Man breaks world record for longest ear hair.  Yuck!!  The hairs are nearly 10 inches long and could be put into pony tails.   My favorite part is that he uses a special shampoo.  I wonder what’s in it.

7.  Donald Trump clings to the claim his hair is real.  Let me get this straight, real hair and no gel?  He needs a better stylist.

8.  Actress upset about criminal grandfather she stops washing her hair.  Wow, this happened back in August.  I hope she’s started washing her hair again.  Or at least is using some of these dry shampoo alternatives.

9.  Blonde dye job helps wins mayoral race.  They may not like his politics but his hair color was enough to get him the votes he needed.  This does not bode well for the balding McCain.

10.  Hair ties made of condoms.  They seem to hold your hair style pretty well but I hope they are only factory rejects.  You never know about stuff produced in China.

There you have it.  Have you heard any weird stories about cosmetics in the news?  Leave a link and a comment below.

Here’s a clever beauty gadget from Japan: a combination MP3 player and negative ion generator that treats your face while you’re listening to the latest Fergie tune.

Do negative ions do anything for your skin? Well, they certainly won’t affect any structural aspects of skin, like wrinkles. But ions can have anti-bacterial properties, so in theory this device could be used to treat acne. And electronic devices, like Thermaclear, that fire a pulse of heat have been shown to be effective against zits. (You might also want to read our post on the causes of acne.) Howe ever, that’s just the theory – we can’t find any proof that negatives ions really work on pimples.

Ion therapy has been clinically investigated for medicinal effects, but there’s no consistent data that it’s effective there either. Some of the issues cited are inconsistent output of the device and the presence of counter ions.

The Brains Bottom Line:

It doesn’t look like this device really does anything for your skin, but we’ve got to admit it’s an appealing idea! If you’re intrigued you can find it at Netyokocho.

A big thanks to Shiny-Shiny for the tip on this one! If you like girly gadgets, you’ll LOVE Shiny-Shiny.