Do bond builders for hair really work? Episode 216

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 cosmetic industry. This is episode 216 I'm your host, Valerie George, and with me today is a man who once appeared on The Tonight Show playing the ukulele while balancing a hat on his nose, Perry Romanowski. Hi Perry.

Sarah (0:33)

Hello Valerie.

Perry Romanowski (0:34)

That was a fun time.

Valerie George (0:37)

We'll have to hear more about it. Anyway, today we have a few interesting beauty questions to cover, including how do bond builders work? Is sodium cocosulfate more gentle than SLS? And does men's antiperspirant work better than women's?

And of course we're going to cover some beauty science news too, but first, how are you holding up?

Perry Romanowski (0:58)

You know, I'm doing all right. You remember how last show I mentioned I was reading Gone With The Wind?

Well, I finished the book.

Valerie George (1:07)

Oh wow, that's great. Congratulations.

Perry Romanowski (1:09)

Thank you. And it was fabulous.

Although an unexpected ending, I have to say.

Valerie George (1:15)

Well, no spoiler alert.

Perry Romanowski (1:16)

No, no spoilers. And how are you doing?

Valerie George (1:20)

I'm doing good. Holding up okay. Getting used to just how things are going. You know, work is extra busy, I think, because everyone's working from home. So that makes it a little challenging versus if I'm just working from home. So it's a lot of emails, a lot of video meetings.

Perry Romanowski (1:37)

A lot of video meetings, huh?

Valerie George (1:39)

Yeah, it's interesting. I have a lot of coworkers who I'd say go the full mile in getting ready and, you know, kind of looking put together. And then I pretty much look like me, except sometimes I'm in my pajamas still.

Perry Romanowski (1:53)

You look good now.

Valerie George (1:55)

Yeah, thanks. Yeah, so it's been interesting.

Perry Romanowski (1:59)

Well, I haven't had much effect except my wife's home all the time. And so she's, it's a little different when I'm home alone by myself. The working goes, and now with her here all the time, I can't play the ukulele in the middle of the day.

Valerie George (2:13)

Yeah, everyone has different work styles. I have to work in complete silence.

Mr. Cosmetic Chemist has to work with lots of noise. It's just, it's a lot to get used to, but we're managing. Does your wife do a lot of video meetings?

Perry Romanowski (2:29)

Yeah, their whole thing is just video. She's like, she's on video meetings like the entire time.

Valerie George (2:33)

Yeah, me too.

Perry Romanowski (2:34)

Which does make me wonder, is there like beauty tips for doing these video meetings?

Valerie George (2:39)

Well, actually, yeah. There are lots of tips to make sure that you, not just like that you look nice. I mean, how you look is how you look, but I think lighting is really essential. I make sure that I am well lit from the front, so I have a lot of natural light in my face. It fills in all the shadows and makes me feel comfortable on camera.

Perry Romanowski (3:02)

Well, I have to say, my family has been doing this Marco Polo thing. Essentially, it's like video texting.

And one of the things that I've realized is that you gotta keep the camera above your eye level, not below.

Valerie George (3:17)

Yeah, exactly.

Perry Romanowski (3:18)

Below doesn't look as good.

Valerie George (3:20)

I did a video call today where they asked me to do something, and I was like, oh, when do you need to buy? Because they wanted me to be on camera for some explaining some thing. And I had the phone, I was on phone for this particular video meeting, and it was like pointing up at my chin, and I had like a quadruple chin. It was awful. I was like, I need to lose some weight. Dang.

Perry Romanowski (3:43)

No, you lose weight, just lift the phone over your head, then you lost the weight.

Valerie George (3:47)

It's like a free face lift.

Perry Romanowski (3:49)

Exactly. It's just one more thing before we get into the news stories.

Remember we mentioned the dream podcast? You had mentioned that last time.

Valerie George (3:58)

Yeah, yeah. I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, have you?

Perry Romanowski (4:01)

I did. I listened to it.

It was just what I was looking for, explaining how the food supplement industry really is not regulated.