Kashish’s question…My sister is using some products from Seabuck Essence and she is getting very good results. I wanted to ask that is anyone else also trying this product and shall i use it? She told me that its made up of Seabuck Thorn, a herb which is very good for human body. The Beauty Brains [...]

In this week’s episode Perry and I talk about the Think Dirty app that claims to help you identity dangerous ingredients in your cosmetics. Plus another game of Beauty Science or Bullsh*t! Show notes Beauty Science or Bull Sh*t – a special bacteria-based episode Another special themed version – this time it’s about bacteria. Guess [...]

I must confess. One of my favorite things about being a chemist is getting to say long words and knowing what they mean. I loved learning the IUPAC system for naming chemicals. That’s why I found ingredient lists on shampoos & conditioners baffling. I didn’t know what most of the chemicals were. They were similar [...]

Watermelon & CoQ10 Facial Cream with Caffeine SPF 20 is certainly a mouthful and it’s one of the beauty best sellers on Amazon. Is it worth $38? Let’s look at the label. To the skeptical eye of a cosmetic chemist, this product is a bit of mess (at least as it’s portrayed on Amazon.com) Let’s [...]

Having worked with a number of advertising agencies over the years I can tell you that they SALIVATE over the possibility of a side by side demonstration. And if that demo can be done against a competitive product they’ll pretty much wet themselves right in the meeting. (This is not to suggest that all ad [...]

Happy Independence Day to all our American readers! To celebrate we’re reprinting one of our favorite posts about cosmetic science around the time of the American Revolution. If you’re interested in learning what life was like in colonial America, you can find an excellent summary at Fortklock.com; the details of how women made their own [...]

Tree asks…The sales assistant in a makeup store told me I shouldn’t be using waterproof sunscreen because it’s too heavy for me. The sunscreen contains zinc oxide. She recommended me another one that doesn’t contain parabens and is also lighter. I don’t care about parabens but is waterproof sunscreen something I should stay away from? [...]

Oconor asks…A lot of people, myself included, are taking a DIY route for this product, and I know refrigeration will slow the oxidation, but how will freezing affect a formulation like Skinceuticals C and E Ferulic and the LotionCrafter copycat kit? The Beauty Brains respond:  Freezing is never recommended for a cream or lotion because it [...]

What are active ingredients in cosmetics? What does active even mean? And are the rest of the ingredients “inactive?” This week we give you some tips on how to spot which ingredients really work.      Show notes Name that brand We try out a new game where I ask Randy to name beauty brands based on their [...]