Can Coca Cola give you a better sun tan? Episode 141

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

You are listening to The Beauty Brains, where real scientists answer your beauty questions. And now, here's Randy and Perry.

Randy Schuller (0:19)

Hello, everybody, I'm Randy Schuller, the left lobe of The Beauty Brains, and I'm joined, as always, by the right lobe, Perry Romanowski.

Perry Romanowski (0:28)

Hey, Randy, right lobe. I was said I was like that.

Randy Schuller (0:32)

I get mixed up on which brainy monikers we've used in the past, but that's what I'm going with for today's show.

Perry Romanowski (0:39)

Well, I was like it when you tell me I'm right, so.

Randy Schuller (0:43)

Hey Perry, on today's show, we're going to bust a myth about using Coca Cola to get a better suntan. We're going to explain how sugar sprays texturize your hair, and we're going to piss off a dermatologist by explaining he's wrong about sunscreens.

Perry Romanowski (1:00)

We love to piss off the dermatologist of the world.

Randy Schuller (1:04)

So before we get to all that, what's going on with you?

Perry Romanowski (1:09)

Well, you know, I'm realizing what a terrible consumer I am, because you know what I'm doing today?

Randy Schuller (1:15)

What's that?

Perry Romanowski (1:17)

My wife and I were buying a new car.

Randy Schuller (1:19)

Oh, outstanding.

Perry Romanowski (1:21)

Outstanding, no, I'm all stressed out about it.

Randy Schuller (1:24)

Well, it's a lot of money.

Perry Romanowski (1:25)

I mean, it is, it's a lot of money. In fact, you know, this car is gonna cost what I bought my first house for.

Randy Schuller (1:32)

Holy crap. How much is a Tesla these days?

Perry Romanowski (1:37)

I bought a very inexpensive house. You know, I bought my first house when I was 21 years old.

Randy Schuller (1:42)

Only for you.

Perry Romanowski (1:43)

Still in college, but anyway, so we're getting this car. We went and test drove, like, I don't know, four different models, and now we got this one. But there's something about buying a car. I always feel like they're ripping me off.

Randy Schuller (1:56)

It's because they are.

Perry Romanowski (1:58)

Really?

Randy Schuller (1:58)

Of course.

Perry Romanowski (2:00)

I just wish somebody would take my money and then deliver the car to my garage, and then it's all just done.

But no, it's this whole process. You got to go in, they got to get their shmarmy manager to explain how the engine differential is going to wear. Ah, just driving me nuts. I'll be glad when it's all over with. The other problem is my car works perfectly fine. Why do I need a new car?

Randy Schuller (2:22)

Hey, can you do me a favor? Remind me not to ask you about your personal life on the show.

Perry Romanowski (2:29)

I'm sorry, I thought we were auditioning for the new car talk.

Randy Schuller (2:33)

We do model ourselves.

Perry Romanowski (2:35)

Why don't we get to the beauty news stories, which is why people pay attention to this show, right?

Randy Schuller (2:39)

All right, here we go with beauty science news.

Perry Romanowski (2:47)

Randy, I saw this study published in the Journal of Perception that looked at the influence of cosmetics on people's perception of other people, right? So in this study, they had people look at pictures of other people wearing makeup and not wearing makeup. Then they had to rank them for things like attractiveness, dominance, and prestige.

I guess the researchers were attempting to find out how makeup affects the perception of social status, and they found that men and women both thought people looked more attractive when they wore makeup. Are you shocked by that?

Randy Schuller (3:21)

Once again, our tax dollars at work.

Perry Romanowski (3:23)

Yeah, however, women perceived people who wore makeup as more dominant, while men thought they looked more prestigious.

Now, they did a follow-up study to figure out what was driving women to see other women as more dominant, and they discovered that it was related to feelings of jealousy towards other women who were wearing makeup. I guess it made them seem more physically intimidating and more promiscuous.

Randy Schuller (3:50)

Tread carefully here, because...

Perry Romanowski (3:52)

No, I mean, I don't really know what to make of this study.

So wearing makeup influences your social status and perception. Perception, I mean, okay. How does this get published in the Journal of Perception, really, or who even thinks of this stuff?

Randy Schuller (4:08)

Well, my question for that next study, for that researcher, is to be, what happens when you wear makeup when you go shopping for a new car? What does that do for you?