Watching comedy films increases blood flow to the heart - TRUE

This one was published in the journal Heart. Researchers found that people who watched comedies had increased blood flow. When they watched sad films blood flow actually decreased. Only 9% of you thought this was the fake.

Online daters lie more often about their weight than their age. - TRUE

This one fooled a few of you. 25% of the Beauty Brains community couldn’t believe this online beauty science headline but it is true. A study out of Cornell University found that 64% of women lied about their weight versus only 13% of those who lied about their age. I guess we’d rather be skinny than young.

People are pre-programmed to love chocolate - TRUE

32% of you found this to be unbelievable but at least one study shows that it’s science. Scientists looked at the blood of professed chocolate lovers and compared it to chocolate indifferent panelists. The chocolate lovers showed a distinct chemical difference from the indifferent group. Of course, there were only 22 people in the study and it was sponsored by Nestle so I’d like to see a little more follow up research before buying this one.

Blue roses created by using conventional hybridization techniques - FAKE

They weren’t out this year but next year you will be able to get a blue rose. However, this story is fake because scientists weren’t able to create them using conventional hybridization techniques. No, this genetic juggling required advanced genetic engineering to make it happen. Hybridization was only able to make purple roses. It was tricky but 34% of you figured out that this blue rose was the red herring. Congratulations!

Did you get the answer right? Leave a comment and let everyone know why you chose the one you did.

It’s that time of the week again…the Beauty Brains beauty science or BS poll. In honor of Valentine’s Day we’ve picked science stories that reflect the holiday. Can you figure out which of these is the fake story?

• Watching comedy films increases blood flow to the heart
• Online daters lie more often about their weight than their age
• Some people are genetically pre-programmed to love chocolate
• Blue roses were created by scientists using conventional hybridization techniques

If you can spot the fake, go to the right column of the Beauty Brains and enter your vote right now. We’ll give the answers next week

It’s time to put your beauty thinking cap on again with another Beauty Brains beauty science or BS poll. Can you figure out which of the beauty science headlines is the FAKE? Just check out the poll on the right side of the blog and put your vote in now.

If you are using Internet Explorer, you may have to scroll down pretty far to see the poll. (We’re working on fixing that bug).

Good luck

We didn’t seem to fool too many of you this time. Of the 260+ people that responded to the poll, a whopping 58% figured out that the $70,000 nail polish was made up. You really know your expensive cosmetics. For the hundred or so who missed, here are the real beauty science stories.

$60,000 lipstick

TRUE. Guerlain launched the KissKiss Gold and Diamonds lipstick for last year’s holiday season. It featured a package that had 110g of 18-carat gold and 199 diamonds. On the plus side, the container is re-fillable so you are actually encourage to recycle this lipstick. 27% of you thought this was fake but you might have been tripped up by the fact that it was really a $62,000 lipstick and not $60,000. Sorry.

$70,000 nail polish

FAKE. 58% figured out this was a figment of the Left Brain’s imagination. The real story is a sheer nail polish with platinum dust in it that goes for $250 per bottle. Actually, the first of these bottles produced by Essie Cosmetics had a bottle that was valued at $55,000. Still way short of the fictitious yarn spun by LB.

$215,000 perfume

TRUE. According to Forbes magazine, Imperial Majesty sells perfume for this crazy price. What makes it uber expensive is the bottle made of Baccarat crystal with a 5 carat diamond on its 18-carat gold collar. Amazingly, 3 of the original 5 bottles were actually sold. Some people just have too much money.

$2000 moisturizer

TRUE. Only 8% of you missed this one. That’s probably because you saw this Jeweled Skin Caviar Luxe Cream at Neiman Marcus too. Yes, for a mere $2000 you can get a skin moisturizer that works no better than the Olay you can buy at Target. Of course, the sparkling bottle is super cute.

So, how did you do? Did you get it right or were you fooled? Leave a comment and let everyone know why you picked the one you picked!

After a short hiatus, the popular Beauty Brains Beauty Science quiz is back. How much do you know about expensive cosmetics? Well, click on over to the Beauty Brains and give your answer to the quiz. The poll is located on the right column so scroll down and enter your vote.

The real answer will be posted February 4, 2008 so don’t delay. Left Brain thinks that this one will stump even the brightest beauty brainiacs.

At long last, the answer to the latest Beauty Brains poll.

We said that recent research suggests that most college students want to be thinner. Then we asked, which of the following statements are NOT REAL findings of the study? Over 300 people responded and here were the results. Were you one of the people who figured out the BS headline?

1. Women are more dissatisfied with their weight than men.

FALSE.  18% of you thought this was the fake headline, and you are correct! In the study about college students and their thoughts about their weight, men and women were similarly dissatisfied with their weight. However, women were much more dissatisfied with their bodies. Men wanted to either gain or lose weight.

2. 50% of underweight women want to maintain or lose weight

TRUE.  20% of you thought this was the fake story but it’s true. Half of women who are deemed underweight by doctors want to maintain or even lose weight. And as we see from this study about the mortality of people in the US, being underweight is not the healthiest way to be.

3. 10% of normal weight women want to lose enough weight to make them underweight

TRUE.  28% of you thought this one was fake but it wasn’t. It’s true that 10% of normal weight women want to lose so much weight that they would be considered underweight.

4. Underweight people have higher mortality rates than overweight (but not obese) people

TRUE.  This one fooled more voters than all the rest. 34% of you thought being underweight was not worse than being overweight. But the truth is, according to this study by the CDC, underweight people have a higher mortality rate than overweight people. In fact, being slightly overweight actually decreased your chances of dying from non-cancer, non-Cardio Vascular Disease causes of death. But don’t go filling up on donuts just yet. People who are overweight had a higher chance of dying from diabetes or kidney disease. Your best bet is to have a BMI in the normal range. Curious about your own BMI? Check it with this BMI calculator.

So, did you get this one right?  Why did you answer the way you did?  Leave a comment and let the rest of the Beauty Brain community know.

In a previous post we told you about the real Max Factor, the chemist behind the famous cosmetic brand. Here’s a picture of him with one of his less successful cosmetic creations, the “Beauty Micrometer.”

Somehow I don’t think this will make our list of beauty gadgets that really work.

Is it just me, or does woman look like that creepy Hellraiser character?

Thanks to the gals at Ask The Blondes for tipping us off to this one.

What’s the most painful or uncomfortable thing you’ve done in the name of beauty? Leave a comment and share your story with the Beauty Brains community.

You know when you get your hair cut and there’s just a pile of it left on the floor. Did you ever wonder what happens to it? In most cases, it’s just thrown in the trash but sometimes it’s used for other purposes. Here are some.

10 Uses For Human Hair

1. Wig making. This one is pretty obvious but it helps thousands of people each year to cope with losing their hair. A human hair wig looks natural and is incredibly durable. Most donated hair goes into wig making.

2. Test tress making. When cosmetic chemists design hair products they need to test them on the real thing. Companies like the De Meo Brothers or International Hair Importers provide tresses, weaves and mannequin heads all made of human hair. And if you were wondering how much hair is worth, 1 oz cost $40.

That’s over $600 a pound!

3. Help people grow food. A company called SmartGrow uses imported human hair from China and India to make a gardening product. The hair is weaved into mats that help protect the plant’s roots from weather and insects.

So, maybe it’s not the cook’s hair in your salad.

4. Clean-up Oil Spills. Some years ago NASA was testing a technique to use human hair to clean up ocean oil spills. No word on whether this made it out of the prototype stage.

They should use my hair for this experiment because it is always oily!

5. Make clothes. Some people have weaved hair into a fabric and made clothes. Style dash recently reported on a dress made this way. And this barber has even made a hair bikini.

While the dress looks good, I’m not sure I want to wear it or the hair bikini.

6. Create furniture. When you spend all day cutting people’s hair you have the strangest ideas. Here is an ex-assistant hairdresser who managed to create a chair out of human hair. The fiber is spun into a material like fiberglass and forged into the shape of a chair.

Great idea but I wonder how long it would last.

7. Craft a work of art. It took 42,000 hair cuts, but artist Wenda Gu was able to create a giant banner using human hair. It was first displayed at Dartmouth College’s Baker-Berry Library.

It’s no Mona Lisa but it is interesting.

8. Making soy sauce. As if you needed another reason to avoid things made in China. Here is a company that used human hair to make soy sauce. Since human hair is rich in protein, they were able to treat it, remove the amino acids, and pass it off as soybean oil.

Wow, I didn’t really want to know that.

9. Nesting material. Birds will use almost anything to make nests and human hair is no exception. This bird watching site even suggests putting out bags of hair clippings to help birds make nests. Here’s someone who uses hair clippings to provide a nest for their pet rat.

It’s nice when people help animals. I just hope they shampooed before cutting.

10. Crafting a rope. Native Americans were known to twist hair fibers together to make strong ropes. Eventually, they used horsehair but there are still people who practice the art.

Not surprising. There are people who collect toenails too.

If you are interested in seeing your hair go somewhere other than a landfill, consider donating it to one of these worthy causes.

Hello Beauty Brains faithful.  The main brains are out but they left me in charge to provide holiday wishes.

While all of the lobes don’t celebrate Christmas we embrace it as the national holiday it is.  So, Merry Christmas to all.  May you get all the best Sephora has to offer.

–Mid Brain

Here’s an interesting cosmetic quiz put together by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It has 6 questions and regular readers of the Beauty Brains should be able to get all of them right.

Take the quiz and post your score in the comments below.

And after you’ve taken the quiz, be sure to see the FDA’s collection of cosmetic information. Left Brain tells me it’s a much more “scientific” and less biased source of information than something like the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep database.