Clean beauty, oil cleansing and more – episode 194

Perry Romanowski (0:00)

Hi, I'm Perry, and this is The Beauty Brains.

Hello, and welcome to The Beauty Brains, a show where real cosmetic chemists answer your questions about beauty products and give you an insider's look at the beauty product industry. I'm your host, Perry Romanowski, and with me today is my co-host, the not-off-scene Sarah Bellum. Hello, Sarah.

Sarah Bellum (0:30)

Hi, Perry, it's good to be here.

Perry Romanowski (0:32)

Good to have you. On today's episode, we're gonna be answering some beauty questions about tinctures and seborrheic dermatitis. We're gonna be answering questions about active beauty, and we're gonna look at oil cleansing. But first, let's say hi to Sarah Bellum. Thanks for filling in, Sarah. Valerie couldn't make it today.

But I know ever since that you got that job, it takes you away from Brains Publishing.

Sarah Bellum (1:02)

Life of a working woman there, Perry.

Perry Romanowski (1:03)

It's been a little harder for you to join us, right?

Sarah Bellum (1:05)

It has, but I always appreciate being invited.

Perry Romanowski (1:08)

Do you like being away from Brains Publishing that much?

Sarah Bellum (1:11)

Well, you know, the pay is a little more steady.

Perry Romanowski (1:16)

If it weren't for that darn health care, huh?

Sarah Bellum (1:18)

Yeah, you know, I know, some of those adulty things. But I always enjoy working with the Brains.

Perry Romanowski (1:25)

So, but what have you been up to?

Sarah Bellum (1:28)

Well, you know, I work on content. Kind of a lot of what you do, but more on the marketing side. So what are consumers doing? What are they buying?

Perry Romanowski (1:37)

So you're still in the beauty industry then?

Sarah Bellum (1:39)

I still am in the beauty industry. But a little bit more on the consumer side now.

Perry Romanowski (1:43)

Well, that's fun.

Sarah Bellum (1:44)

Yeah, sure.

Perry Romanowski (1:45)

And you've been traveling a little bit?

Sarah Bellum (1:47)

Yeah, I have. Some of you, it turns out.

Perry Romanowski (1:50)

Yeah, yeah. Well, where did you go?

Sarah Bellum (1:52)

I went to California. San Francisco, Sonoma. How about you?

Perry Romanowski (1:55)

Oh, yeah, that sounds wonderful. I was in Orlando.

Sarah Bellum (1:57)

Oh. And you're heading out again soon, aren't you?

Perry Romanowski (2:02)

That's right. Heading out to California.

And then heading out to Milan, Italy, for the International Federation of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists meeting.

Sarah Bellum (2:11)

It wasn't a very supportive voice.

Perry Romanowski (2:14)

She is just ducky.

You know, when I was in Orlando, I was at the sunscreen symposium. It was hosted by the Society of Cosmetic Chemists down there. There were some interesting talks. But you know, the top issues that were talked about in sunscreen?

Sarah Bellum (2:29)

No.

Perry Romanowski (2:30)

First, there was a few people talked about whether they were safe or not. And of course, scientists say, yeah, they're safe. But it was more about whether consumers think they're safe.

And I guess they kind of do, right? Yeah. Then another one that came up was whether they're safe for coral reefs.

Sarah Bellum (2:47)

Yes, there's been a lot of conversation around that.

Perry Romanowski (2:51)

Do you think that's driving consumer action?

Sarah Bellum (2:56)

I don't know. I would have, five, ten years ago, I would have said no, but I do think there is more awareness about kind of our impact on the environment, which isn't a bad thing, actually.

Perry Romanowski (3:07)

It does seem that consumers are moved much more quickly by these kinds of stories now that social media is around.

Sarah Bellum (3:15)

Yes, well, social media is powerful in sparking these conversations.

Perry Romanowski (3:20)

Then the other topic that they talked a lot about was the blue lights, you know, from phones and computers and whether you need to protect yourself from that.

You know, I'm not really sold on this one. Actually, I'm not terribly sold on the one that sunscreens are killing the reefs either. Global Warming is doing a much bigger job of that. But this blue light, it just seems like marketing hype to me. I don't know how the products in that area are looking.

Sarah Bellum (3:46)

Yeah, I mean, you know, there is a lot of conversation around that as well.

Even if a blue light was an issue, can personal care products protect you from it? I mean, it seems dubious.

Perry Romanowski (3:59)

I mean, I guess that the theory would be, if you have sunscreens, can protect you from a range of UV radiation.

And you can be protected from even light, visible light, right? I mean, clothes protect you from that. Yeah, that's true. So I suppose you could do something about it. I just, I'm not convinced that there is a significant enough effect that people would notice any difference.