Do oxygen facials work & more beauty questions – episode 192

Perry Romanowski (0:00)

Hi, I'm Perry, and this is Episode 192 of The Beauty Brains.

Hello, and welcome to The Beauty Brains, a show where real scientists answer your beauty questions and give you an insider's look at the beauty product industry. I'm your host, cosmetic chemist Perry Romanowski, and with me today is my cohost Valerie George. Hello, Valerie.

Valerie George (0:30)

Hi, Perry.

Perry Romanowski (0:32)

Valerie, we got a great show today. We're gonna do an extra question. So on today's episode, we're going to be answering your beauty questions about whether oxygen facials work and how that works. We're also gonna talk about how plant-based hair colors work, whether light can degrade a shampoo's effectiveness, whether you can substitute body wash for hand soap, and we've got a little segment on kitchen chemistry and small batches. But first, let's say hello to Valerie.

What's going on, Valerie?

Valerie George (1:05)

Oh, just getting ready for the work week. Sunday always gives me a little bit of stress. He bought all the things I need to do to get ready for the week. So, I don't usually find weekends relaxing.

Perry Romanowski (1:16)

Well, we had a fabulous weekend here in Chicago. But you know what? There was a strange thing that happened to me, and this is only vaguely related to beauty products.

It was so odd. I thought I would share. So, I go to the grocery store. I had to pick up some brownie mix or something like that. And so, I'm checking out, and there's a lady in front of me.

And she turns to me, and she reaches into her shirt, and pulls out a puppy, and says, hey, do you want this puppy?

Valerie George (1:50)

Oh my gosh.

Perry Romanowski (1:53)

It was a very cute puppy. It was maybe a month old or something. I scritched it on the head. I go, I would love a puppy, but my wife's allergic, so we didn't get it.

And so, she just took the puppy, and then put it back in her bra, and left.

Valerie George (2:09)

Well, now, what would you have said if it were a cat?

Perry Romanowski (2:12)

I know you love cats, right? Well, my wife's allergic to cats, too, so this is why I don't have it.

So, that's the kind of thing you see in the city, like the puppy in the bra. I've never really seen that.

Valerie George (2:26)

Well, I hope the puppy found a good home, I guess we'll never know, because we'll never see that lady again.

Perry Romanowski (2:30)

Well, unless I go back to the grocery store. All right, we got a big show. Let's get started with a little beauty news. Beauty news.

Here's a story that caught my eye, Valerie. It's, and I can't really believe this is a trend now, but it turns out that not showering is becoming a trend. I first heard of this, it was a question on the NPR game show, Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, but they referenced the story where, then made me go look it up, but it was where they interviewed people who just stopped showering.

Valerie George (3:06)

Well, I feel like trend is a loose term here because I can't imagine that many people would stop showering, but go on.

Perry Romanowski (3:17)

Well, I think it's the same way that co-washing, not washing your hair, or using conditioner to wash your hair is kind of a trend too.

Valerie George (3:26)

Yeah.

Perry Romanowski (3:27)

There was an article in The Atlantic, and a guy experimented with not showering for 30 days, and this kind of ties into this notion of the microbiome, and if you don't use detergents and things on your body, your natural microbes will eventually equilibrate, and then you don't really need to shower. Maybe you spot wash in places. The benefits are supposed to be that you have less exposure to the chemicals of modern day beauty products, and something else. I don't get it, but they assure them that eventually, not right away, right away you smell, but eventually, if you don't shower for a long enough, you don't smell anymore.

Then the idea is that it's going to leave your skin in better condition and be more moisturized, and then of course, you're going to save time by not taking any of those showers.

Valerie George (4:23)

Well, I'd like to try to wrap my head around this because I'm a little perplexed. And by the way, I have seen lots of up close photography and smelled the scalps of people who don't shower or wash their hair, and it is not pretty. So I can't really understand a lot of the benefits here, but let's go back, instead of asking ourselves why are these people not showering, let's start with why do people shower?