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- [00:00]
A
Hi, I'm Valerie, and you're listening to the Beauty Brains. Welcome to the Beauty Brains, a show where real cosmetic chemists answer your beauty product questions and give you an insider's look at the cosmetic industry. This is episode 408. I'm your host, Valerie George, and with me today is Ferrie Romanowski. Hi, Perry.
- [00:27]
B
Hey, Valerie. Are you in a beaker?
- [00:30]
A
Well, nope. All the beauty's in my brain. So on today's show, we're going to cover lots of questions, including, is it a good idea to load up a product with active ingredients? What do you think of the Ziip Halo device? How do you remove mineral sunscreen from your skin? What do humectants really do in hair? And finally, what is Neogen plasma skin regeneration? But first, first, that famous or infamous inane chitchat.
- [00:57]
B
Valerie, you know how I hurt my leg some time ago? And, you know, I run all the time, so.
- [01:04]
A
Correct.
- [01:05]
B
So I. It was like a torn meniscus. And I went to physical therapy is what you're supposed to go to. And I've gone a few times and I'm supposed to do these exercises at home. And, you know, for the first time I was good at the exercises. And then I kind of just stopped doing them.
- [01:20]
A
Well, I thought you had this really great stick to itiveness. What happened?
- [01:24]
B
You know, I do have that for some things, just not for this. And the other thing is, like, how do you know when you're better at something? And I guess this also applies to, like, beauty products. Like, how do you know if something's working? Like, my leg is better. But I think if I would have done nothing, it would probably been better too. I. I don't know. How do you know you're better?
- [01:47]
A
You don't, right?
- [01:49]
B
I mean, it still hurts when I bend it sort of a weird way. And then, you know, there's that whole doctor thing, is like, hey, doc, it hurts when I do this. They'll say, well, don't do that. So I don't bend my leg that way anymore.
- [02:02]
A
But, well, why don't you just start doing the exercises?
- [02:08]
B
Because it's not convenient. You have to wrap a rubber band around my staircase and I gotta do that. And. And then I have this app that I'm supposed to follow. And the. The timing of the video is not on correctly, so it's like it's. And I have to lay on the floor. I don't if. You know what? If I was at the PT place, they have mats, they have it all set up it's nice and easy in your house. You know, your cat is jumping on you when you lay on the ground. It's just a lot of stuff. Conspire to make it harder.
- [02:39]
A
Yeah. I like actually going to physical therapy because they can provide corrections to your actions. It's amazing how fast the human cheats.
- [02:47]
B
Right?
- [02:48]
A
It finds the easy way out on an exercise, and unless you've been made aware of what your cheat is and you know how to not do that and you don't do another cheat that you're not aware of, the exercise would work. But it's so easy to just not be aware of that at home.
- [03:05]
B
Yeah, it is. And so all of these things have conspired for me to not do it. But then my leg, it doesn't really hurt as bad as it did. So I don't know. I think I'm just gonna stop going to pt because if I. If I'm not doing the exercises, what am I doing?
- [03:18]
A
I would like to challenge you to do the exercises at home for one week.
- [03:22]
B
All right, I will do that starting today.
- [03:25]
A
And then cancel pt.
- [03:28]
B
I'm gonna go one more time. You know, you make friends with these doctors, and they laugh at your stupid jokes, and you're like, oh, I like going there.
- [03:36]
A
I know. Yeah. I had a good time. Remember last year when I fell outside this coffee shop in Albuquerque and I wrecked my ankle, my knee, and my hip?
- [03:47]
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [03:48]
A
I had a great time at physical therapy. I had to go for, like, four months.
- [03:52]
B
Wow.
- [03:52]
A
Yeah.
- [03:54]
B
I just missed a month because I was in Europe, but.
- [03:57]
A
Yeah. I have a question. Did you still joggle every day in Europe?
- [04:01]
B
I did, yeah.
- [04:02]
A
All right.
- [04:03]
B
I haven't missed a day of joggling in 6,166 days.
- [04:09]
A
Wow. That's impressive. I don't even know if I've been around that many days. I think I have. Oh, for sure I have.
- [04:15]
B
You have. It's only, like, 17 years.
- [04:17]
A
Oh, yeah, definitely. I have kind of an embarrassing story to tell, so. I mean, I don't look that old, but I am an older mom, and I was showing somebody in this group of people a picture of Baby C, and they said, oh, is that your grandson?
- [04:36]
B
Oh, wow. There you go.
- [04:39]
A
And I was like, I know the weather is a little bit dry, and so my under eyes are probably a little more crepey, but what the.
- [04:47]
B
Well, I have to say, you're in Texas. You know, they're having kids when they're, like, 16. You could be 30 years old and a grandmother In Texas, I think there's.
- [04:59]
A
A lot of states. You could say that.
- [05:01]
B
Yeah, of course.
- [05:01]
A
Of course. Yeah.
- [05:04]
B
It would have been different in California. Right.
- [05:06]
A
It kind of, you know, it took me aback a second, and I was like, what? No, it's my baby.
- [05:14]
B
That reminds me of the most embarrassing moment I ever witnessed somebody else have.
- [05:19]
A
Okay.
- [05:19]
B
At least for me.
- [05:20]
A
All right.
- [05:21]
B
There was this woman I work with, and she was probably like in her late, maybe early 60s, but she had dark hair. And we were at a picnic, and this other guy's wife meets this woman for the first time and says, oh, are you expecting? Which is a question you never ask, but never. That was very uncomfortable.
- [05:45]
A
But, oh, my gosh, that's bad. I had a lady I was not expecting. You know, I was going through all this fertility stuff, and in the industry, in an elevator full of people, she looked at my stomach, which was just fat.
- [06:00]
B
Right.
- [06:01]
A
And she said, congratulations on the baby, and walked out of the elevator. And this person is known for being a little rude in the industry. Sure. I was so mortified because everyone was like, oh, my God, I had no idea you were pregnant. And it was like, I'm not. Anyway, I went to the bar and ordered a glass of wine, and the person looked at me and I was like, I'm not pregnant. This is at an SEC meeting. So it was pretty funny. Anyway.
- [06:31]
B
That's a hoot. Misunderstandings are funny. So is beauty news.
- [06:40]
A
Well, there's a lot of misunderstood in the news, and I think you saw a little interesting article. What the Hell Are Skin Loving Cosmetics?
- [06:48]
B
Yeah, I saw that headline and it was in Slate magazine. So I read this, and this is more of a. A commentary article by probably a beauty user. But so anyway, in this article, the author, Andy Zeisler, she talks about the. Being annoyed by the term that she's seen a lot more called skin Loving cosmetics.
- [07:09]
A
I've never heard of this term.
- [07:12]
B
I mean, you know, if you look at advertising and such, you can kind of start seeing skin loving. It's kind of like when you buy and buy a car and you never saw that car before. And then when you buy it, you see it everywhere. So once you look for skin loving, you see that in advertising everywhere. So she was saying it's. It's supposed to sound warm and reassuring, but it really doesn't communicate any meaningful information. She cites an industry expert who notes that because cosmetic products can't legally claim that they change skin on a cellular or biological level because that would make them drugs, this kind of vague language is a loophole that can help make your products seem beneficial without having to commit to anything verifiable. And she traces this term, skin loving to the broader wellness and self care trend and where skin is anthropomorphized as it's needs, has needs and feelings. And so your skin can love something, but they do that anthropomorphizing of a lot. Like your hair too. Right. That's a common beauty thing. And so what was once aggressive marketing to like erase wrinkles has now a softer, gentler, more emotionally coded language like skin loving. And ultimately she contends that skin loving is not a meaningful claim and it's just an illusion designed to soothe consumers insecurities rather than deliver real evidence based benefits. I don't know, I mean, skin loving is, I guess it's kind of a newer term. But the fact that the beauty industry is making vague claims, that's been going on forever.
- [08:52]
A
I'm not surprised that brands are making this. I mean, and I probably have seen it and I'll actually notice it now. I probably ignored it because it's meaningless like to say something is skin loving or hair loving. These ingredients aren't, except for conditioning agents in hair, they just generally are interacting with the skin. It's a little bit. They're agnostic in terms of what they're doing. They're not like, wow, I'm in the skin, let me get rid of these wrinkles for Karen. Right. I mean, it's not happening like that.
- [09:25]
B
I also think maybe you and I being in the industry, we sort of will run through that and not really notice stuff. Like we could just write that off as like, oh, that's just marketing speak. You know, Whereas a consumer probably doesn't have that same view of the industry.
- [09:42]
A
They probably think it's actually a great thing to have skin loving ingredients.
- [09:46]
B
Right, right.
- [09:47]
A
Or like, oh, this is great for my skin. It loves my skin. Let me do it.
- [09:51]
B
My skin loves was always surprising. Like when I hear, you know, healthy hair, I'm like, yeah, you know, healthy like a shoestring. It can be healthy.
- [10:01]
A
Now you just said something. Is the skin loving it or is the ingredient loving the skin? How do you interpret that?
- [10:08]
B
They call it skin loving cosmetics. So I take it to mean like the skin loves these products you're putting on it.
- [10:16]
A
See, I interpret it as. Because it's skin loving cosmetics. The cosmetics love the skin.
- [10:23]
B
Oh, so they're anthropomorphizing the cosmetic, whereas I'm doing to the skin.
- [10:29]
A
Yeah, exactly. See but either way, it doesn't mean anything. Although your products, your skin could benefit, for example, from glycerin. I would get it, but that's not how they're talking about it.
- [10:42]
B
Right. Well, there was one other claim that I saw in here and this kind of sent me down a rabbit hole of this. There was a claim made by a skin care industry. Well, they left it as an expert in there, but upon further investigation, she seems more like she's a journalist and cosmetic industry critic because I looked at a couple of her YouTube video discussions and she was pretty harsh. This is Jessica Defino. I had not heard of her before and I'm curious what she thought. She made the following claim. She said the mission of the skincare industry is to destroy your skin as it is and replace it with products. No, I mean, I'm kind of a cynical guy, but even I think that's a bit over the top.
- [11:30]
A
Yeah, that's over the top. I mean, having worked at several brands and I worked in skin before I worked in hair, that is not a conversation going on in any way, shape or form. Whether it's at an entry level role, a marketing conversation, an executive leadership conversation. I was an executive at a very large brand. Like in no way, shape or form have we ever said let's do harm or create a situation where the product, we're doing something to the customer so that they have to rely on the product. That's just not a conversation. It's always like, how can we add value to skin? How can we add value to hair and position the products in a way that make the person want to purchase it because it's adding value to them, not creating this like dependency.
- [12:24]
B
Right. Yeah. I think what happens is there's certainly in America there's this anti corporation mindset with a lot of people and they think every industry is a cigarette industry trying to get you addicted to their products.
- [12:38]
A
And I was just going to use that as an analogy. Right. Only because I'm reading a book called the Cigarette Papers which proves that the cigarette industry knew cigarettes were addictive back in the 60s. But anyway.
- [12:49]
B
Yeah, well, you know, I agree the cigarette industry was terrible. That doesn't mean every industry is terrible. And you know, beauty products are not killing you. So it, the. And the. And they're also not addictive. So it's not, it's not the same. But so that's a little bit over the top even for a cynic like me.
- [13:10]
A
Well, that says a lot because you're pretty cynical.
- [13:15]
B
I prefer skeptical But I could see how somebody might think it's cynical.
- [13:21]
A
Oh, gosh. Well, also, there's this new resveratrol thing that's being talked about. When I saw this in my inbox, I actually ignored the article because I just thought resveratrol, it's, you know, thought to be the most amazing antioxidant on the planet. And a company is saying this and I don't know, I just didn't get excited, but I think you got excited by it.
- [13:46]
B
You know, I'm always on the hunt for ingredients that I think at the end of the year when I want to predict what ingredient will be the hot ingredient, I'll probably say this one because there's always these new ingredients and you never know which one is going to catch on. So this one seemed like a new ingredient made this pterostaibene. And it was just published in Cosmetics and Toiletries, which is a industry trade journal. And I was just curious like, oh, this is the next big ingredient in anti aging. Because they did a study, it was a 28 day, double blind, split face study. And that just means people, nobody applying it or nobody getting it applied knew whether it was a placebo or the treated product. And they said that the product with the 0.1% pterostilbene was significantly improved skin firmness, elasticity and wrinkle depth compared to the placebo controlled one. And then they. But then they do the part where you're like, oh, they compared it to resveratrol and you're like, resveratrol doesn't do anything. So what? Yeah, this is kind of a so what? But I guess the. I wondered that too. The reason that they compared to resveratrol is because resveratrol is chemically similar. It's. They're the same class of chemicals. And so this is just supposed to be a, a more stable, easier to work with version of resveratrol. So that's why they talked about it. But you know, I'm kind of with you here. I mean, resveratrol really doesn't do much. So why come out with another ingredient that doesn't do much? I mean, you're going to use it at a low level. So 0.1%, 10,000 a kilo is going to mean what, 10 bucks per in the form?
- [15:41]
A
I think that's $100 per pound.
- [15:43]
B
Oh, yeah, 100. Yeah.
- [15:44]
A
Well, no 1% is 100.
- [15:46]
B
Right, right.
- [15:46]
A
So 0.1% would be 10, $10 to use.
- [15:50]
B
0.1% there you go. I can maths. You know. You know what they do in Europe, too? At least in the uk, they don't say math. They say maths with that S up there.
- [16:00]
A
I don't think you can put an S on the end of a th, can you?
- [16:04]
B
Yeah, that's. That's how you say maths in the.
- [16:07]
A
UK like to do math. Like, what's the.
- [16:13]
B
Wherever we would use the word math. Oh, yeah. I got to do some math. They would say, I got to do some math. I gotta study math. They say, I have to study maths.
- [16:23]
A
Is that the same thing as when you're in New England? If you wanted to say something like nana and papa, you would say nanner and papa. Like you add an R at the end.
- [16:34]
B
It could be just the thing. You know, for some reason, the people in the UK think they invented English. It's just, of course, their name is in the name of the language. But, you know, I digress.
- [16:47]
A
Oh, my goodness. Well, nonetheless, I hope you don't remember this as a really hot ingredient for 2026, because I don't think it's gonna make the list.
- [16:58]
B
We'll see. We'll see what I come up with in December. I wonder how my one prediction last year is doing. It's no fair to go back and look at predictions until the end of the year.
- [17:06]
A
So we're gonna wait until December. We're acting like it's the end of the year, Perry, and it's October.
- [17:13]
B
I know. It's barely fall. In fact, in Chicago here, it's like 85 degrees. This is summer.
- [17:18]
A
I heard it was about the same in Ohio, and that's pretty incredible.
- [17:23]
B
The only positive to global warming is my winters here in Chicago are a little better now.
- [17:29]
A
Does this mean you're gonna have a harder winter?
- [17:31]
B
No, no, it's all shifting, so.
- [17:35]
A
All right. I don't feel sorry for you ever. Do you?
- [17:40]
B
Do you feel like answering some questions?
- [17:42]
A
I do. Our first question comes to us from Lisa, a patron. Hi, beauty brains, newer Patreon supporter. Thank you very much, Lisa. My question lies with a newer aging line called Angie's Actives that states minimizing beauty steps and products. These products have up to eight Actives in each AM PM product, coincidentally made by her cosmetic chemist. Dad, how effective are these products with that many Actives? Same goes for another line called Terjean Skincare Maximum Actives. Thank you for your content and chit chat. I learn a lot, Lisa.
- [18:21]
B
So she's maxing up the Actives. So I was looking at Angie's Actives. And, you know, sometimes I feel bad talking about smaller brands who, you know, you kind of want to root for the small guy. But also, I'm here for the consumer to help you guys make good choices. And so I'm not here to try to build up small brands. That's. That could be a different podcast altogether. But in looking at these, this is a. It looks to me like, you know how that. What was that? The Korean skincare was. The k. Beauty was all there, all the rage. Yeah. It had like 11 steps. While this brand is all about, oh, you're overwhelmed by all those steps. Work took all those steps, and we put it into two products. So instead of 11, or instead of the eight or nine, here are two.
- [19:11]
A
Yeah, I have a problem with that. I'll tell you why.
- [19:15]
B
Okay.
- [19:15]
A
I have to explain this to people all the time when they ask me to develop a product for them and they want all these Actives in it. And I say, well, no matter what, we only have 100% to work out of.
- [19:30]
B
Right.
- [19:30]
A
So if you Want to have 30 actives in your product, we have to make it a smaller percentage because there's only a certain amount of space made for Actives. So when you get to a certain point, you can't really use anything at a value that's anything.
- [19:47]
B
Yeah, it'll destabilize it, and you won't have room for other things you need like solvents and preservatives and thickeners and. Yeah.
- [19:54]
A
So you have a small piece to work with. And the more things you put in it, into it, the thinner the slice of pie is that those individual materials can take up, or you could pick a couple materials and use them at levels that are in air quotes, clinically studied.
- [20:12]
B
And that's the. That's kind of the problem with this brand is that, you know, they. If you're going to load it up with eight different products, what does it have? Okay, here's. I'm looking at their active 8 peptide antioxidant loaded one. So they have 8% matrixyl, 8% ceramide, 5% glycerin, 5% niacinamide, 1% hyaluronic acid, 1% green tea, 1% coenzyme Q10, and 2% matrixyl. And then they're selling it only for 39 bucks.
- [20:46]
A
I mean, Matrixyl is pretty expensive.
- [20:48]
B
Yeah. So is the Ceramides.
- [20:51]
A
Yeah, Ceramides are not cheap. And I actually would have to say that it's a little misleading because, for example, ceramides you could never ever, ever get 8% of ceramides into a product. Now they do say 8% ceramide blend but I would reckon there's you know, a very tiny amount of ceramides in there and that.
- [21:14]
B
Right.
- [21:15]
A
And that's fine because you only need like 0.05 or 0.1% active ceramide in a product to do anything. You really wouldn't want more than that. It would feel very waxy. But it's misleading to make it look like oh wow, I have 8% ceramides in there or 8% matrixyl 3000.
- [21:32]
B
Yeah.
- [21:33]
A
First of all that's way above the recommended use level. Secondly, only a tiny of that, a bit of that is protein and that's okay. You don't need a lot of peptides to do anything. But sure, I don't know, I just don't like the percentage game. And 1% hyaluronic acid, that's a lot.
- [21:51]
B
Yeah, that's.
- [21:51]
A
This looks like a sticky mess.
- [21:54]
B
Yeah, it is. And then you also have 5% glycerin, which to me does the same thing as hyaluronic acid. That's you know, humectancy. 1% green tea extract. That's, that's just a, it's, it's an extract. You're. It's not, it's not 1% green tea, the extract, it's, it's probably 0.001% green tea.
- [22:18]
A
Now here's the other thing I'd like to point out. It's purported that this one product replaces a five step skincare routine.
- [22:26]
B
Right?
- [22:27]
A
I disagree with that because most people are cleansing. So maybe double cleansing. Okay, so this serum is offering zero cleansing properties.
- [22:37]
B
Right? No cleansing, they're toning.
- [22:39]
A
So that includes putting a toner that maybe has some humectants in it to wipe away whatever off the skin. You're not doing any wiping action here, right? It is a serum, I'll give it that. But it's also not a moisturizer or an, you know, something that's going to lock everything in. I know. An essence is another part of the K beauty step where it's like a really, maybe a really concentrated serum or vice versa, whatever, but it's really only acting as a serum. So to me it replaces one step.
- [23:14]
B
Right. Like you're still going to need to clean. This isn't going to exfoliate.
- [23:18]
A
No. Look at you saying what it's replacing. I know.
- [23:24]
B
And then they have a follow up ingredient which is the all in after. And hey look at that 1% resveratrol.
- [23:30]
A
Oh, goodness.
- [23:32]
B
Maybe. Maybe they should be putting some of that pterostybene in there.
- [23:38]
A
Yeah. Now this is your exfoliating product because it does have 10% lactic acid.
- [23:42]
B
Oh, okay. So that's the second product.
- [23:45]
A
Yeah. However, I just don't know. I know it has vitamin E, I know it has ferulic acid. I don't know how stable it is. The resveratrol for sure is oxidized. It oxidizes pretty much all over the place.
- [23:57]
B
Well, anyway, so as to the question, I mean, maybe these are. This is a perfectly fine product. I agree with you though. When you try to do everything in one product, you don't do anything. Well. And if you want to have a chance, you know, I'm skeptical a lot of these ingredients will have an effect in real life anyway. You could certainly show lab effects and maybe even under placebo controlled studies you can have an effect. But from a person standpoint, it's hard for me to see a lot of these Actives having a noticeable impact. But if you're going to have a chance that they're going to have an impact, you got to minimize the amount of ingredients in your formula and so.
- [24:37]
A
Your skin can only absorb so much.
- [24:39]
B
Right, right. And so you have, you know, this has multiple antioxidants in it. Like, you know, how do you know one is doing anything and the other one's doing all of it? It's hard to know. So I prefer fewer Actives than more.
- [24:55]
A
It's certainly a safer approach. Well, let's head to our next question.
- [24:58]
B
Our next question comes to us from Samantha. Samantha says hi. I've heard some good things about the Ziip Halo device for skin tightening and overall complexion. Just wondering if you could give me some guidance re its effectiveness and if it's worth the Money. I am 38 and wanting to tighten skin, reduce texture and pores and remove some sun splash age spots with ideally treatment skincare and or this device. So I appreciate your time and love the podcast, Sam. The zip Halo device. I did a little looking into it and it's what a little handheld gadget and says that you're going to get salon level tightening from your couch. Well, it's not your couch that you use. You can lay on your couch while you use it.
- [25:50]
A
Mastery of the English language. I actually am familiar with it. So device. I haven't used it myself but I have a friend that has it and they seem to like it enough.
- [25:59]
B
So it's a micro current Nano current technology kind of a thing.
- [26:03]
A
Yeah. Microcurrent, I think is, has been around for a very long time, but I, I think this is actually going to be a trending thing in 2026. Just my opinion. But this is a little home device that basically puts out a little bit of electric current. Not like to shock you or whatnot, but this.
- [26:24]
B
So I can't use it as a taser then. So it's. You're doing your skin, someone's attacking, you can zip them. No.
- [26:31]
A
Yeah. No, not at all.
- [26:33]
B
Okay.
- [26:34]
A
But essentially.
- [26:35]
B
Sorry I sidetracked you.
- [26:37]
A
It's okay. It's purported that this current is able to travel in the skin and do all the things that, you know, are purported to be done when infrared light or current goes into the skin, which is improving elasticity, helping reduce the appearance of pigment, uneven skin tone, reducing puffiness, all those types of things. Now, a lot of their claims are around reducing fine lines and wrinkles, smoothing out skin texture, etc. And I think that happens to come from this microcurrent serum that you're supposed to use with it. They call it a conductive gel. And this gel is, you know, where they get you on repeat, making sure that you, you buy this product from them. But essentially they say it helps and they have a bunch of different ones. It helps, you know, basically maximize results on your skin. So not only is the product driven into your skin more, but it's creating this synergy. And the serums of course, are like over a hundred dollars.
- [27:42]
B
So it's like a electrified version of micro needling then? Kind of.
- [27:47]
A
Yeah. Except it's not like piercing the skin, but it's helping get things in the skin. Exactly. And so I have a friend who uses it and they're pretty happy with it. Although I think they once admitted to me they're not sure if it's doing anything, but they like doing it, so sure they like doing that. And they actually reverse engineered this product for me because the conductive gel, because it's so expensive. I mean, they're charging $130 for this conductive gel, but it's really mostly like butylene glycol and maybe some of them have like niacinamide or whatnot. But it's primarily butylene glycol and glycerin.
- [28:28]
B
Wow.
- [28:29]
A
The cheapest things on the market that you could put in.
- [28:32]
B
Although those are very effective humectants.
- [28:34]
A
They're very effective and very gel, like at high levels, providing a lot of glide. So I'm not knocking them, but I'm just saying $130. Really?
- [28:41]
B
Yeah. Well, you know, you got to make up for. They cost a lot to build those devices, so it does.
- [28:49]
A
Yeah. So I don't know if it works. I can only go off the experience of my friend. I do know that people do find a lot of value in microcurrent and my friend is happy with it. Although I recall they're not sure if there's really any results, but at least they feel better when they do it. So that's something.
- [29:09]
B
But it's one of those things, you know, you spent a lot of money on something, you really don't want to say, oh, I wasted my money. You'd rather say, maybe it's doing something.
- [29:19]
A
Yeah. Now I wouldn't get the gel. So if, if anything, I would probably just get the device itself. And then you could probably use any serum that you really enjoy to help it glide on the skin. I think you would be totally fine.
- [29:35]
B
Or you could also save your money and then go to a professional treatment because, you know, this is an expensive device and the things that you could get at a professional doctor's office or something. A dermot is going to work better than what they can sell you at a home device.
- [29:55]
A
Yeah. I mean, ultimately, if you're looking for longer term tightening and lifting, like, I definitely would get a Botox filler. Maybe consider a more aggressive treatment like ULT therapy, something like that. But those are really expensive and you do have to do them every, you know, so especially Botox and fillers only last so long. But those will definitely give you better results than this at home device.
- [30:23]
B
Yeah. And this is temporary results too. Although I suppose if you're at home on your couch just doing it every day, they can keep that results up. I guess.
- [30:33]
A
Yeah. While you're watching tv.
- [30:35]
B
You know, I was thinking, though, I was just in Switzerland.
- [30:37]
A
Right, okay.
- [30:38]
B
And you know, one of the biggest causes of sagging skin and such is gravity. Right. So could it be a treatment where you go to the top of the mountain and your skin doesn't sag as much because you're farther away from gravity?
- [30:57]
A
I have a question.
- [30:58]
B
Yeah.
- [30:59]
A
Would a consumer notice a difference?
- [31:03]
B
You would notice if you're on top of a mountain, I will tell you that.
- [31:07]
A
Well, on the contrary, I would like to say that the higher up you are, the closer you are to the, the sun and the more UV exposure you get, which would help degrade collagen, which would actually lead to more sagging.
- [31:19]
B
That is all True, but you are closer to the sun, so the gravity of the sun is pulling you more so then it stretches your face.
- [31:26]
A
It offsets it.
- [31:27]
B
Yeah, it offsets.
- [31:29]
A
We have no scientific data to support this. But also, speaking of microcurrent, there's not a lot of scientific data on it. Point being. And so I would try the device, get the serum elsewhere. And honestly, just having a routine and like, taking care of yourself really goes a long way. And so I. I would do it.
- [31:47]
B
Absolutely. And at 38, you're still a youngster.
- [31:51]
A
Your.
- [31:52]
B
Your skin's still young. Right.
- [31:54]
A
Do you know, it's. I look back. This happens to everyone. You look back at photos of yourself a few years ago, and you're like, wow, I was so young looking. But at the time, you don't. You don't see that. Right. But now I'm like, oh, my creepy neck. And when I have to pick up baby C out of the crib, I'm like, mommy's old. She can't move that fast.
- [32:12]
B
You know, a little known fact about me, I'm not sure if I ever shared this before, but you know how I run every day?
- [32:18]
A
Okay.
- [32:19]
B
You know what else I do every day? At the end of my run? I take a picture of myself. A selfie.
- [32:25]
A
I did know that, but I don't think our listeners knew that.
- [32:28]
B
Yeah. I have, what, 6,000 selfies of every day I'm running? It would be interesting to see how my face changes over that time.
- [32:36]
A
You could do a hyperlapse video for us.
- [32:39]
B
I could.
- [32:41]
A
I actually would like to see that.
- [32:42]
B
All right, I'll work on that.
- [32:45]
A
Yeah. Anyway, well, let's head over to our next question from Kathryn, which is an audio question.
- [32:51]
B
All right, let me call that up. Here we go.
- [32:54]
A
Hi, beauty brains. When I use mineral sunscreen, I can't seem to get it off of my skin. Even after a swim and a shower and using a cerave cleanser, it's still there. So which is the lesser of two evils? To just leave the rest of it on all night long or to use a washcloth to kind of really get more of it off? I do have rosacea, so I know that second one's not a great idea. Appreciate your help. Thanks very much.
- [33:22]
B
You know, I have to admit that I don't always wash my face on skin before I go to bed. And so I'm sure I would be.
- [33:31]
A
A liar if I said I did. Yeah, well, especially since having the baby, I'm like, I'm lucky if I can shower.
- [33:38]
B
So Well, I, you know what happens when you're also, when you're like self employed and you work at home? It's like, oh, you know, I used to shower every day and after a run, of course I would shower every time. And then I start working for myself and I don't go out of the house. I'm like, eh, do I really need that shower today? So the next thing you know, two days have passed and you haven't showered and you still got sunscreen on yourself.
- [34:02]
A
I still can't believe you're married.
- [34:05]
B
That's right. How does it happen?
- [34:08]
A
Well, you have a two story home, so we do go to the basement.
- [34:13]
B
We have separate bathrooms too.
- [34:15]
A
Oh, nice. Okay, well, here's what I would recommend. I actually hate double cleansing for myself, but I will admit using an oily type cleanser could be good in this situation to help pick up some of the particles off the skin. Because sunscreens in general are intrinsically oily. And so you have this oily material on your face that you're trying to get off with a traditional cleanser. And it's oily, it's waxy, the particles are in an even film. And so by using something that has a similar chemistry, you may be able to more easily pick it up from the skin in that first cleanse with a cleansing balm. Then you could do your regular second cleanse. Alternatively, if you just want to do your single cleanser, I would take a, a toner afterwards and a little like toning cloth that's pretty soft and gentle on skin. And I would just do gentle small wipes with a toner that doesn't have. Maybe it's fragrance free, maybe it doesn't have a lot of extracts in it to not exacerbate your rosacea and physically wipe the particles off the skin with like a saturated soft cloth.
- [35:34]
B
Yeah, yeah.
- [35:35]
A
Versus a washed cloth which can be kind of rough.
- [35:38]
B
Right, right. I mean, that's what I would use. But I'm not good to my skin.
- [35:44]
A
No.
- [35:44]
B
But I do not anthropomorphize my skin either. So take that skin.
- [35:49]
A
Oh my God. Well, anyway, Katherine, I hope that helps you and your rosacea. Yeah, but that's what I would do.
- [35:56]
B
Great advice there. We got one more question. Well, we got a couple more questions.
- [36:00]
A
We do. The next one comes from a patron.
- [36:03]
B
Oh, a patron. Michelle. Thank you so much. Michelle. Michelle says hi, beauty brains. I enjoy the chit chats too. See, everybody loves the chit chat. But I also have a hair question. All right. From What I understand you can't really control the water content in hair and hair is naturally hydrophobic, which can be a good thing. Still, many people with curly or coily hair say they want hydrated hair for curl definition. And stylists often recommend humectants saying they draw water into the hair. What do humectants actually do in hair products? And can hair truly be hydrated? Those are very good questions.
- [36:45]
A
Yes. And it's not a clear cut answer. So. Yes.
- [36:49]
B
Well, let me, let me tell you just first off, not related to hair, what it's doing in hair, but one of the reasons that you find humectants in products is because it can help to stabilize the formula. So this is just a nerdy chemistry formula.
- [37:05]
A
Yeah, it's not always for humectancy.
- [37:07]
B
Right. And so like we would put it in a shampoo, which I don't think like glycerin in a shampoo is a good idea. But what it does do is it reduces the freezing point. And so if you're bottle of shampoo gets too cold, it doesn't solidify because the glycerin will reduce the freezing point. And so that helps for formulation. It's not really doing anything for your hair from a shampoo. I think it just gets washed off.
- [37:31]
A
Because it's washed off, it definitely does.
- [37:33]
B
Right. But in other products like conditioners and leave ons, it certainly does something. And that's what we'll focus on now.
- [37:39]
A
So hair does is hydrophobic, meaning it hates water. It has a hydrophobic phobia. Water phobia.
- [37:46]
B
If we're allowed to anthropomorphize water now too.
- [37:50]
A
Oh my goodness. Stop it.
- [37:54]
B
Sorry. Anthropomorphize. I just like to say it.
- [37:56]
A
I know, I can tell. I can tell. So essentially your hair naturally repels water. And this is because you have three layers to your hair, fundamentally. And so the middle layer is the cortex. You want to protect the keratin or protein in the hair from water. And so hair has this fatty layer on the outside. It's different ceramides and a specific lipid called 18MEA, which is a shortened word for 18 methyl icosanoic acid. Is that what it stands for?
- [38:30]
B
I think you're right. Congratulations.
- [38:33]
A
There's a reason we call it 18 mea. So anyway, your hair doesn't want water and shouldn't have a lot of free water in it. And in fact, I always say you can't wet a healthy hair. If hair is healthy, that means it has a really great intact lipid layer. And if you put water onto it, the water will almost bead up on the hair. It doesn't soak the hair. Whereas if your hair were bleached, it would suck in the water right away and it would take a very long time to dry. So that's like the state of hair. Now hair has two types of water in it. One is bound water, which means it's a permanent part of the crystalline structure of hair.
- [39:14]
B
Right. The water molecules are stuck in between the protein strands and so.
- [39:20]
A
And they're not coming out.
- [39:21]
B
And it's not coming out. Right. So that's about 30% the weight of your hair.
- [39:26]
A
Exactly. Then you have free water. And this free water that can come in and out of the hair is what makes hair frizzy when you're in humidity because the water coming into your hair swells the hair fiber. And it's what makes hair what we call plasticized where it has a little bit of mobility to it. Now too much water makes the hair stiff because it's swollen, but just enough, which is pretty much ambient humidity in a non super humid climate. Climate makes your hair a little bit movable. Like your ponytail swings and all that kind of stuff. So you want a little bit of water in there. You don't want a lot.
- [40:10]
B
What happens to the hair when you, you dump it in like a pool and it gets super saturated?
- [40:16]
A
Well, it's so overloaded. It's. I mean it's, I think it's a weight factor as well.
- [40:21]
B
Yeah. And you know, you have big globs of water in between all the strands and stuff. And so that's, that's a short lived kind of a thing. But that's not great for your hair if you're moving it around much.
- [40:36]
A
Yeah, well, because your hair is getting really swollen and so when you apply. I am not a fan of leaving humectants on hair of any hair type because what happens is one, you get a lot of drag on the hair. And if you have curly, coily, kinky hair, that drag actually causes a physic problem on the hair and can cause strain and cause hair to break if you're providing any manipulation to it. But the second piece is that water attraction into the hair. You don't want it, you don't want your hair to swell. And so I can see how it's confusing when people say, oh, I, I want my hair to be hydrated. They're not talking about water. What they're talking about is hair that feels smooth, has elasticity, it has Movement, perhaps it's soft to the touch. It's what we think healthy hair feels like, and we're equating it to water, but it's definitely not water.
- [41:31]
B
And it's more. It's more oily. You're talking about lubricating petrolatum. Yeah. Mineral oil, that kind of thing. I can see how people think of that as moisturize because that has the feel and the movement of being like, Of. Of water. However, it's not really moisture.
- [41:52]
A
No. And people want to argue about this all the time, but it's, like, really well established that water in hair is terrible for hair of all hair types because it creates swelling. This physics constraint, it. It's not great for any and all hair types, pretty much. So I don't know how it started. I wish I knew how this hydrated hair phenomenon started. But if we're talking literal hydration, you don't want an excessive amount of water in the hair. How do you feel about your hair hydration?
- [42:27]
B
You know, I'm not as against wet hair as a lot of people, but, you know, I have short hair. In fact, if I want to style my hair, I just throw a little water in there and then shape it and it looks good enough. Sometimes you get these little things sticking up on your hair, and you just want to pat it down. So, you know, you can just lick your hand and then stick it down.
- [42:54]
A
That is gross. But I guess cats, but it's effective. Yeah. Maybe that's where you got it from. Well, you know, it's interesting. I'm from the Midwest.
- [43:04]
B
I'll.
- [43:04]
A
I'll say I'm from the Midwest. And there's a nice amount of humidity there. And so it lent the perfect weight to my hair where I didn't have too much water in it, so it wasn't frizzy. But my hair laid nicely in California. I mean, the air is so dry. I didn't have that weight to my hair, so my hair was bigger but less frizzy. And then in moving to Texas, people say Dallas. People from Dallas. Oh, Dallas isn't humid. I'm sorry. My lungs felt like they were full of water when I moved here, and my hair is basically a frizzy mess 100% of the time.
- [43:44]
B
Wow, that sounds like a great move. You know, the air, of course there's humid there. Right. Isn't that how, like, cactuses get most of their water? I just. In the humidity and they'll.
- [43:56]
A
No, I think they get it from random. I mean, maybe that can happen, but they get it from deep in the ground. Like, really deep in the ground. And so when it rains, like, there's no cactuses in North Texas. Right. They're all in the south, where it's.
- [44:11]
B
Right.
- [44:11]
A
Humid, but a little drier towards the west, if that makes sense.
- [44:17]
B
Who knew this would turn into the cactus brain?
- [44:19]
A
I don't know anything about cacti.
- [44:22]
B
I don't know.
- [44:23]
A
But I know that they're not grabbing it from the air.
- [44:28]
B
I think that's an open question. Don't plants just in general respirate at nighttime? They pull a little out.
- [44:38]
A
Well, if I just use Google, cactuses have really clever strategies for water. And the main source is rain and dew or fog on their spines, root systems. And then they store it so the.
- [44:55]
B
Spines will collect dew, which is water from the atmosphere. Look, we're both right.
- [45:03]
A
Well, I mean, you. I love how Perry twisted that into. But that's not what you meant. You didn't mean condensed atmospheric humidity.
- [45:13]
B
I think we'll have to go back and check the tape.
- [45:17]
A
Our last question comes to us from Buzz. Hi, Beauty Brains. I've seen this product, Neogen Plasma Skin regeneration. So how does it work? How long has it been around? And how helpful and effective is it?
- [45:30]
B
Neogen Plasma. So another device. Why people love their devices. You know, I hadn't heard of this one. So what I did was I went to YouTube.
- [45:43]
A
Okay.
- [45:44]
B
To check it out, and it turns out this is like a derm treatment.
- [45:47]
A
Okay.
- [45:48]
B
So what it's called is plasma skin regeneration. It's. So basically, the Neogen device, as they say, uses nitrogen plasma.
- [45:59]
A
Okay.
- [46:00]
B
Which essentially is just air. You know, air is mostly nitrogen. The air that in our atmospheres, 70% nitrogen.
- [46:07]
A
Yep.
- [46:08]
B
So the air gets zapped with electricity, becomes superheated, and then that turns it into plasma. And then they shoot the plasma into your skin to deliver a, like a little burst of heat. And then that heat, well, it internally will damage your skin, like in, you know, a specific spot. And then the idea is the.
- [46:32]
A
That you mean a specific depth.
- [46:34]
B
Right, a specific depth. And then that's going to cause the body to react to that and then start building up collagen and elastin and restoring your skin. So you damage your skin to make it better.
- [46:49]
A
That's how most of the treatments work. Like microneedling by a derm. It hits. Actually, not a derm. Excuse me, a esthetician that's licensed to do it, or dermatologist, a med spa. They can go down to the dermis. You know, my exposure to plasma starts with the movie Ghostbusters.
- [47:07]
B
Okay. Yeah, the green guy. Yeah.
- [47:09]
A
I just don't feel like this is good for your skin.
- [47:15]
B
Well, you know, plasma is the fourth state of matter, right?
- [47:19]
A
Right.
- [47:19]
B
Solid liquid gas plasma. And the only place you find it is on the sun and apparently in your derm's office.
- [47:27]
A
Yeah, that's what I mean, it must not really be plasma. Right?
- [47:31]
B
Right. Yeah. Well, no, I mean, it could be plasma. It's just like on a. On a tiny level because plasma is just the nucleus moving around. So it could be like a little tiny bit of it.
- [47:47]
A
So I, I'd like to see their proof. I'd like to see.
- [47:50]
B
Yeah, proof. Well, that's.
- [47:51]
A
And where they felt like this is good for skin.
- [47:54]
B
Well, essentially. What is it? It's a controlled injury and this heat damage. So you're damaging your skin, but it causes the upper layers of your skin to peel. And the idea that that's going to stimulate stuff going on at the lower levels without burning your face. Like lasers can sometimes burn your face, so you kind of get the benefits of lasers, but without all the red, redness and flaking and downtime. I guess that's the idea.
- [48:27]
A
I watched a video of it as well.
- [48:29]
B
Okay.
- [48:30]
A
Yeah. And I'm not interested in doing it. It just, I don't know, I don't like the look of it, the, the sound, the stamping. Maybe it didn't help that the lady's face looked like she'd had way too much stuff done in her lifetime. And so I'm like, is that what my face is gonna look like? I don't know. I wouldn't try this one. They had me at the word plasma. I'm out.
- [48:56]
B
Well, curiously, this, this product first came out back in 2006. That's when it was cleared by the FDA. So it's been around for like 20 years. And the fact that it's not widely known or hugely popular could suggest something to me about how well it works. Right. Because if it was really great, everybody would be doing it. Right.
- [49:19]
A
I mean, I feel like a lot of people have done it. And when I look at the beauty magazines, you know, and scanning a few articles, people have said, yeah, like, it makes my skin really tight. Which maybe I could use it on my neck, now that we're talking about it.
- [49:38]
B
While you're on top of a mountain.
- [49:40]
A
Just my neck only. Alright. Speaking of top of the mountain, I hear a song in the distance.
- [49:46]
B
Oh, that is the song. Well, I guess that's the end of the show.
- [49:50]
A
Thanks for listening. If you get a chance, head over to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and leave us review. That will help other people find the show and ensure we have a full docket of beauty questions to answer.
- [50:01]
B
You know, I've been enjoying the comments that I've seen over at Spotify, so that's always fun. So, so keep it coming. Thanks everyone. And if you have a question, you can get it answered here on the show. Just record it on your smartphone and email it to thebeautybrainsmail.com or you can use the form that we have in the show notes and just fill that out. Or we also have a phone number if you want to call it in. Just 872-216-1856.
- [50:29]
A
That'll get you there to our voicemail. Now, is this a toll free number? Is that even a thing thing anymore?
- [50:35]
B
This is a. Yeah, it's toll free. I mean, I mean it's a Google.
- [50:39]
A
Number, but is that important anymore? Like that?
- [50:41]
B
It's toll free.
- [50:43]
A
No one's paying long distance anymore.
- [50:45]
B
You know, Valerie, this is why that, that lady asked you if it was your grandka toll free.
- [50:53]
A
Oh my gosh.
- [50:54]
B
Remember when we used to pay for long distance things? Like it was more.
- [50:57]
A
Oh my gosh.
- [50:59]
B
Yeah. Oh my God. Hey, you know what else? The Beauty Brains are also on Patreon. If you like the fact that we don't have commercials here and you want to support the show because it is not free to produce the show, you can help us out by subscribing at patreon. Go to patreon.com thebeautybrains and subscribe at any level. If you do that, we get you a transcript of the show and you get a higher priority of answering your questions. And you know our gratefulness that you help support the show. So thank you to all of our patrons.
- [51:32]
A
Don't forget to follow us on our various social media accounts. On Instagram, we're at the BeautyBrains 2018 on X, we're at the Beauty Brains. On Blue sky, we're at the Beauty Brains. We have a Facebook page, a TikTok and a YouTube.
- [51:42]
B
Wow, that is a lot. We are out there and loving it.
- [51:47]
A
Oh my goodness. Well, thanks again for listening everyone. And remember, be brainy about your beauty.
- [51:52]
B
Thanks everyone.
- [51:59]
A
Kittens.