Forum member tsunamino says…Short of scrubbing, how can you remove deodorant from your underarms at the end of the day? I’ve heard of this one product, Clarsskin that claims to penetrate the residue left behind to clean it off. Here’s what their website says:

Clarsskin Underarm Cleanser contains a unique patent pending combination of an effective chelating agent with special agents. This complex mixture is specifically designed to remove antiperspirant deodorant residue, efficiently and mildly. So what’s so special about chelating agents? Chelating agents have the capability of penetrating the residue left behind by antiperspirant deodorants — including the metallic salts they are made of! They do one thing and do it well! Clarsskin Underarm Cleanser is particularly effective with ingredients that are unusually mild but contain no sulfates, paraben and DEA.

Of course since it’s “patent pending” they don’t list the ingredients. Is there anything out there that could help to get rid of deodorant?

Right Brain clears things up:
It’s so rare I get to do any product reviews. Sarah and Mid Brain always seem to get product samples before me. However, this question was for me so too was the sample.

What is Clarsskin?

At its most basic level, Clarsskin is a body wash. It uses mild surfactants like Decyl Glucoside (derived from sugar) and Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate so it will not be as harsh as sulfate based body washes.  The mild surfactants also mean it will not foam as well.  The rest of the ingredients are standard.  Here’s a complete list of the formula right from the bottle.

WATER, DECYL GLUCOSIDE, SODIUM LAUROYL SARCOSINATE, COCAMIDE MEA, HYDROXYETHYLCELLULOSE, ETHYLENE GLYCOL MONOSTEARATE, ALOE BARBADENSIS LEAF JUICE POWDER, ANTHEMIS NOBILIS FLOWER EXTRACT, COCAMIDOPROPYL BETAINE, DISODIUM EDTA, DMDM HYDANTOIN, PROPYLENE GLYCOL, FRAGRANCE

How is Clarsskin different?

The key Clarsskin claim is that it helps remove residue from your antiperspirant or deodorant. They say that it contains special “chelating agents” that take care of this problem. Is that true?

Well, the chelating ingredient they are talking about is Disodium EDTA. It is found in many personal care products for the purpose of both removing metal ions and helping boost the activity of the preservative. It is true that extra chelating ingredients will help improve cleansing. The improvement they provide is not normally noticeable so companies don’t bother putting additional levels in. No data is given on the company website to compare the performance to a standard body wash, but in principle this chelating approach could work because the excess deodorant residue is partially composed of water insoluble metallic salts.

Clarsskin Experience

Admittedly, this pit problem was foreign to me until getting the Clarsskin sample. I tried the product and there was certainly an effect. My underarms did feel different. Not sure if “cleaner” is the word I’d use but “fresher”. Since I didn’t want to bias the results I applied it without using my usual bathroom poof. In doing it this way, it was much harder to generate a good amount of foam. More foam doesn’t mean it’s cleaning better but it would’ve improved the experience.

The packaging is nice. You open it once and then squeeze out the product whenever you need it. It’s a good experience but I’m not sure if I’ll stick with it. I’m not sure if the extra step is worth the extra time. Wonder why they don’t just make a whole body wash with the chelating ingredient in it. hmmm

Do you need this product?

People with “pit stains” on their favorite blouses could definitely see a benefit from this product. Are you listening Left Brain? You might also see a benefit if you don’t like how your underarms feel, if you scrub extra hard on them or you just can’t seem to get them clean. The extra chelating ingredient could actually help get you cleaner.

Beauty Brains Bottom Line:

Clarsskin is an interesting product that attempts to solve a problem that affects at least a portion of the population. If you have a problem with stained shirts or just don’t like how your underarms feel, this product is certainly worth a try. We can’t say for sure it will work for you, but there is at least some science suggesting it might.

If you want to try Clarsskin yourself, take a look at their website.

How big is this problem? Do you think you need an extra product to get your underarms clean? Leave a comment and let the Beauty Brains community know.

Sarah Bellum says:

According to Cosmeticdesign.com, you can now buy an intimate hygiene product for the special guy in your life. To which I reply: Ewwwwww!

Feminine hygiene

In the past I’ve written about all sorts of cosmetic science advances for our dainty pubular regions. There’s the Bikini Kitty intimate shaving system to keep us hair free, there are female enhancement creams to keep us on fire, and let’s not forget about the Go Commando patch that lets us banish panties. But until now I haven’t had an equivalent breakthrough to share with our male readers.

Penile product

Enter Man Junk Intimate Wash, the first product to tackle the “sensitive issue of male private hygiene.” The claim to fame of this product appears to be that it removes bacteria that can lead to a bunch of problems including sexually transmitted diseases and increased risk of penile cancer. (Double ewwwww!) I don’t know where Lefty and Righty weigh in on this topic, but I find it hard to believe that a fancy-schmancy crotch wash will protect against venereal disease any better than plain old soap and water. (And if your guy’s hygiene standards are so low that he’s not even using bar soap, then good luck getting him to use Junk Wash!)

Foreskin formula

According to Cosmeticdesign.com, this product is based on natural and organic ingredients including aloe vera, lime essential oil, tea tree oil, jojoba oil and Totarol, which is a New Zealand tree extract. (Tree extract, hmmm. I’ll let you fill in your own joke here about getting “wood.”)

Anyway, I’m really curious to how this company spins advertises this product without making drug claims – they CERTAINLY can’t claim to stop penile cancer!

What do YOU think? Is Man Junk a scam or would you buy it for that special hygienically-challenged man in your life? Leave a comment and tell the rest of the Beauty Brains community all about your man’s junk!

From The Beauty Brains Forum Member: Taiwanese Girl

I love peppermint. Christmas is great because everything from chocolate to lattes are peppermint flavored, and the world just smells nice and minty. Nothing gets me in a better mood than peppermint. With that being said, I was so ecstatic to find a box from KLEAN Bath and Body containing their Bath Syrup and Whipped Shea Butter in Peppermint Dream!!

Scentual experience

From their website, KLEAN B&B’s mission is to “share our gift of scentual discovery with others by providing luxurious and refreshing products that are high quality, competitively-priced, mostly natural, while pleasing the body, nose and spirit.” If you’ve read my previous review about natural/organic products, you’ll know that I’m not a huge fan. However, looking at the ingredient list and breakdown of each product provided on KLEAN B&B’s website, it seems that they choose to use chemicals extracted from plants, rather than synthesized chemicals. This is slightly different from Origin’s use of natural products, in that they are just using certain plant extracts, without defining exactly what chemical is in the extract. Anyhow, their main focus is on scent, and boy, one whiff of their products will completely relax you, taking your mind off things like chemistry, cosmetic ingredients, and your grocery list.

Bath time and biochemistry

Anyhow, since I don’t have access to a bath tub, I used the Bath Syrup as a shower gel, and it was one amazing and scentsual experience. The syrup foams up quickly, making lots of spa bath bubbles (micelles!! Trap oil!! Yay biochem and what little I remember of it!), so it cleans ya up properly. It’s not as moisturizing as I’d like it to be, but I have been spoiled by using Olay’s Body Wash with those moisturizing ribbons. The smell however, completely makes up for everything. That cool peppermint smell has a hint of vanilla in it, evoking memories of holiday parties with hot peppermint cocoa and candy canes.

Rich and dreamy

After the shower, I applied the Whipped Shea Butter all over, and boy, was it rich and dreamy. I love how moisturizing shea butter is, but sometimes I hate how thick it is, and how much work I have to put in just to get my skin to absorb it. This whipped version makes it much lighter, and it absorbs into my skin quickly, without leaving any grease afterwards. My skin just felt smooth, buttery, and well moisturized.

The only down side of the Peppermint Dream is that the peppermint oil used for the fragrance has a cooling effect, so if you are like me, living in an apartment without any heat sources and poor insulation, you would be a tad cold after applying the Whipped Shea Butter. Your body will eventually heat up again, but I do suggest snuggling inside a warm blanket or in front of a heater after you apply the Shea Butter.

Yummy!

Overall, KLEAN Bath and Body offers great products at a decent price (not quite drugstore, but certainly still affordable), and they totally fulfill their mission of providing us with a luxurious scentual discovery. I would love to try more of their Whipped Shea Butter in other scents, such as Fig, German Chocolate Cake (yummy), and Klean Kolada.
What do YOU think about Klean products? Leave a comment and let us know. Or, you can start a thread and talk to Taiwanese Girl directly in the Beauty Brains Forum. And if you’re interested in getting free goodies of your own, join the Forum now and show us you’ve got what it takes to be a Beauty Brainiac!

Nancy needs natural: I’m always looking for natural alternatives and I was wondering if Aveeno products are anything special? Is oatmeal really good for skin?

The Left Brain responds:

The answer to your question is a simple: Yes and no. No, Aveeno is not anything special and yes, oatmeal is really good for your skin. Let me explain.

All about Aveeno

I don’t mean to be too harsh about Aveeno. It’s a fine brand but there’s nothing particularly natural or special about it. If you look at the ingredients used in Aveeno products you’ll see they prominently feature a variety of “Avena Sativa (oat) Kernel” extracts. But you’ll also see typical cleansing and conditioning ingredients used in many skin care products. While Aveeno tries to distinguish itself by featuring oat protein, there’s really nothing functionally different about their formulas. They are very nice products but they’re not exceptionally natural.

Oats are ok!

But, and here’s the exciting part, researchers for the German company Symrise have recently synthesized and stabilized the active ingredient in oatmeal that really does help soothe skin. According to the Dermatology Times the active ingredient is an inhibitor of histamine called dihydroavenanthramide E. It’s chemically similar to the topical antihistamine Tranilast, which could explain its anti-itch properties. It can also be easily added to cosmetic creams and lotions. I’m not aware of any products using this new technology yet, but if the Beauty Brains become aware of any, I’ll be sure to let you know.

Rachel slyly says…Supposedly, Gwyneth Paltrow is using the Ultra Lux 9 lotion by Sonya Dakar with snake venom. This review of snake oil’s benefits and lack there of, reminded me of it. Here’s a story about Gwyneth P. using snake venom as well. I’m very curious about your reaction.

Left Brain’s biting reply..My reaction is that Gwyneth is nuts! It sounds absolutely crazy that someone would put poison on their skin in hopes of getting rid of wrinkles.

Of course, that is just my initial emotional reaction which isn’t exactly useful for making an objective judgment. Unfortunately, the Beauty Brains don’t have a bottle of the Ultra Lux 9 lotion to look at the ingredients, so this opinion isn’t definitive.

However, after scouring through the latest scientific literature what I found was alarming. According to these Brazilian researchers, exposure to snake venom from either rattlesnakes or vipers has the following effects…

“Besides hemorrhage, snake venom metalloproteinase induce local myonecrosis, skin damage, and inflammatory reaction in experimental models.”

I certainly wouldn’t suggest putting that on my face!

How much snake venom?

Granted, we don’t know what kind of snake venom they use in the product. Heck, we don’t even know if they use any! If they do, it would be used at such low levels that it wouldn’t cause a toxic reaction (or have any other effect for that matter). How much is a low level? It would be like putting a single eye drop in an Olympic-sized swimming pool. Not even snake venom could hurt you at those low levels.

Why use snake venom in a skin product

You might wonder why they would put any snake venom in there at all. This is all about marketing. Pretty good marketing too as they got the New York Post, Style Dash, handbag.com, China Daily, Makeherup, a host of other beauty blogs, and now the Beauty Brains to talk about it. All this PR without a single dollar spent. Brilliant!

Of course, the reason people talk about it is because it’s something icky (snake venom), it’s “endorsed” by a celebrity, and it sounds plausible (people us botox right?) Well, rest assured Beauty Brainiacs this idea is just as crazy as it sounds.

Keep venom off your face and in the snake.