Can a $1,200 Eye Treatment Really Reduce Wrinkles? - Episode 430

Valerie George (0:00)

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 cosmetics industry. This is episode 430 I'm your host, Valerie George, and with me today is Perry Romanowski. Hi, Perry.

Perry Romanowski (0:26)

Hello, Valerie. Great to see you back.

Valerie George (0:28)

Good to see you. On today's show, we're going to cover a lot of questions, including how does Olaplex Bond Shaper Curl Rebuilding work? Are plant stem cells reducing wrinkles? What chemical and hair color damages the hair? What's a good sunscreen to use that won't sting the eyes? And is Le Balm Solid Moisturizer worth the price? But first, that inane chit chat.

Perry Romanowski (0:49)

Yeah, you were gone last week. Was it a road trip, a flying trip? Where were you?

Valerie George (0:53)

We took a road trip, baby sea turned one, and we went to visit family, and we ended up driving 19 hours each way. We love road trips, though. We stop and see a lot of sites, and make it a good time. Visit cool restaurants, coffee shops, points of interest.

Perry Romanowski (1:11)

Yeah. There's actually this app called Run, a Road Tripper.

Valerie George (1:16)

Okay.

Perry Romanowski (1:17)

And if you put in where your road trip is gonna be, it'll tell you all these things along the way to see, like wacky things. Like we did that once we were driving back from Florida to Chicago, and we stopped in, I think it's North Carolina, to see the world's largest fire hydrant.

Valerie George (1:35)

Yeah, my parents love that kind of stuff. You know, we'll stop if we see it, but we're more like historical points of interest, like, oh, what happened in this area in the 1700s, and we visit the historical markers and that kind of stuff. When we do audio books related to driving through the area so we can get a sense of the history. So yeah, it's a lot of fun. And baby sea was pretty good.

It's a long time to be in the car as a baby.

Perry Romanowski (2:05)

Sure, sure. Now did you, what did you do with the dogs? Did you kennel them up or something?

Valerie George (2:08)

Oh yeah, they go to this little farm and hang out, and have a great time. We were going to take them, just given the duration we were visiting family.

And my parents have this crazy huge yard and a pool, and Butch loves swimming. But it would have been too much. That's a big drive for a baby and two 90 pound dogs.

Perry Romanowski (2:30)

Two big dogs, that's right. Well, we're glad you're back. I've just still been taking care of kittens.

Actually, we're leaving on a trip at the end of the month. Another trip.

Valerie George (2:42)

See, you act like I'm the one who's always gone. You're always gone. This was my first vacation in a year.

I've been on work trips, but I feel like that's a little different. But is this pleasure or for work?

Perry Romanowski (2:58)

We're actually going to Greece. My niece graduated high school and we're taking her on a trip there. So that'll be Greece and Albania.

Valerie George (3:07)

Can I be your niece?

Perry Romanowski (3:11)

Well, I think there's some genetics involved there that aren't going to work.

Valerie George (3:15)

No, Greece is great. I once spent a whole summer there working at my church as a camp there, a traveling camp, and it was awesome. You're going to have a great time.

Perry Romanowski (3:24)

I've never been and I'm looking forward to it. I'm especially looking forward to it because I hear they have a lot of cats.

Valerie George (3:29)

They do and dogs and they just kind of roam around and they're allowed in the restaurants and whatnot.

Perry Romanowski (3:34)

Oh, yeah. Well, I love all animals. Great.

Valerie George (3:38)

All right.

Perry Romanowski (3:38)

You know what else I love?

Valerie George (3:39)

Beauty News.

Perry Romanowski (3:45)

Valerie, this one came across my desk, well, my computer screen anyway. It's a new tool to grade cosmetic ingredients. Apparently there's this new cosmetic ingredient platform called Expert ING and it was created by formulation scientist Dr. Brijesh Patel.

And you know what it does? It gives letter grades to more than 49,000 cosmetic ingredients. So I guess they have to take an exam to get a grade. I don't know.

Valerie George (4:15)

Yeah.

Perry Romanowski (4:17)

Well, the pitch is that, unlike some other ingredient databases, the grades are based on information from regulatory agencies around the world. Wow.