Beauty review – new herbal essences shampoo – drama clean and more

In case you haven’t seen it yet, Herbal Essences has restaged their popular hair care line. Restage is a bit of an understatement – it’s more like they’ve completely revamped the brand with new packaging, color, and fragrances. But what about the formulas? Are the new Herbal Essences products really different than the old ones? [...]

Sulfates in shampoos: What are they?

Ambarian asks…What exactly are Sodium Laureth Sulphate , Sodium Lauryl Sulphate, Ammonium Lareth Sulphate and Myreth Sulphate . What is their main purposes in a shampoo? Is it true if you buy a shampoo that contains ALS it is not as harsh on you hair . Is it true that these will strip hair of [...]

A safe way to make your skin look brighter and younger

Margaret and Betty are inquisitive about Definity: Margaret says Definity works great for her but she wants to know if all the products in the line are basically the same; Betty is worried that Definity’s not safe because she heard it contains hydroquinone. The Right Brain provides this definitive response: P&G must be doing a [...]

Can yogurt rebalance your skin’s pH?

A while back we reported on the trend of using yogurt in your skin products to create better products. Well, the good folks at Givaudan (a large fragrance supplier to the beauty industry) is introducing their own yogurt-based product. This new product called Yogurtene Balance Powder is a spray dried version of yogurt and is [...]

Four types of wrinkles and how to get rid of them

Ellen inquires: Cosmetics companies don’t usually do a good job of explaining the problems they claim to solve. Take anti-wrinkle creams for example. Can someone just please tell me what causes wrinkles in the first place? The Left Brain Educates: Since the goal of the Beauty Brains is to educate our community, we thought we’d [...]

Will color protecting products really protect your color?

Cindi says…My stylist keeps pushing “color-protecting” shampoo and conditioners at me. I was under the impression that no products like these could really help keep color lasting longer. Are there any kinds of shampoos and/or conditioners that really work better for color-treated hair? Left Brain’s colorful reply. You are right to be skeptical. The fact [...]

Cosmetic safety: Will hair dye give you cancer?

Every so often you hear about how chemicals in your cosmetics are responsible for cancer, birth defects or even autism. Unfortunately, the sources for these conclusions are rarely cited and when they are, they are typically a biased political committee or marketing group. This article about hair dye and cancer caught my eye. Reading the [...]

How can you tell if skin brightening products really work?

Emi’s inquiry: I have a question about a product from a natural skincare company “ Dr. Hauschka’s Moisturizing Day Cream“. It purports to brighten dull skin. I know all of the ingredients are supposed to be biodynamically grown and are all natural (and it smells nice), but what is it in there that can actually [...]

4 ways to tell if your cosmetic has expired

Gilda’s guilty of using old product: I have a Matrix Sleek Look shampoo and conditioner I bought 3 years ago, Can I use it? Is it effective? The Right Brain reassures her: Three years for a shampoo or conditioner is not out of the question, so your Matrix might be fine. But what about cosmetic [...]

25 tips for building a better beauty blog

Since many members of the Beauty Brains community are bloggers themselves, we get a lot of questions about how to run a blog. So for all of you beauty bloggers out there, here are our top 25 tips for building traffic and generally improving your blogs. (And if you found the post helpful, let us [...]

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