Does hair need trimming during pandemic? - Episode 235

Perry Romanowski (0:00)

Hi, I'm Perry, 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 a unique look in the cosmetic industry. This is episode 235 I'm your host, Perry Romanowski, and with me today is Valerie George. Hello, Valerie.

SPEAKER_2 (0:30)

Hi, Perry.

Perry Romanowski (0:32)

You know, Valerie, I just said, a-unique.

But is that grammatically correct? Shouldn't it be an-unique? Because U is a vowel?

Valerie George (0:41)

Yeah, interesting. Does it apply to the adjective or the noun?

Perry Romanowski (0:47)

Well, whenever you have that I or a vowel, you use the A-N. English is such a complicated language.

Valerie George (0:54)

Yeah, I don't know. Yeah, do we have any grammar nerds who can correct, Perry?

Perry Romanowski (0:58)

I know. Is this the grammar brains that you've tuned into? No, you've tuned into the Beauty Brains.

Valerie George (1:03)

We were English majors, people. We were science majors.

Perry Romanowski (1:07)

But we do like math, so I think last episode-

Valerie George (1:09)

We're not good at math, but we like it.

Perry Romanowski (1:13)

Wait a second. I know a little bit about math, but this is not the math brains, this or the grammar brains, this is the Beauty Brains. And on today's show, we're going to be answering lots of questions. One, about whether common product preservatives can cause hair loss, whether it's bad to not trim your hair. I haven't got a haircut in like six months, so I'm looking forward to that answer.

Whether expensive skincare products are really worth the cost, whether lab-created fragrances work the same as natural ones and can cause the same sort of allergic reactions, and how does cowboy magic work for horse hair, and does it work on people? But first, Valerie, why don't we do a little of our famous chit chats?

Now, I was looking at the... It must have been your Instagram feed, and you had put a picture of a book about, I don't know, chemistry or science or something.

Valerie George (2:12)

Well, the title was chemistry, yep.

Perry Romanowski (2:15)

There you go. And I recall you had a goal of what, reading 50 books this year or something like that?

Valerie George (2:20)

52, one per week.

Perry Romanowski (2:21)

Oh yeah, one book a week, that's right. And how's that coming for you?

Valerie George (2:25)

It's coming along. I'm a little slower posting on Instagram what I'm reading, but I just had a birthday weekend, and we went away to Palm Springs to celebrate, and I brought a big stack of...

Perry Romanowski (2:37)

That's right, happy birthday. Happy birthday, thank you.

Valerie George (2:39)

I brought a big stack of books with me to try to get through, because I checked them out from the library, and the library wants them back. So it was a perfect weekend to be able to do that.

Perry Romanowski (2:50)

Indeed, indeed. Now Palm Springs, that's in California, and I saw that the entire state is on fire. So how was the air quality there?

Valerie George (2:57)

I was actually really fortunate to leave LA because it's horrible in LA. Even indoors smells like smoke.

But in Palm Springs, it's way out in the desert, so it wasn't as bad. The sun was still a little bit blocked from the smoke, but it was actually pretty good. So I was able to get some pool time. I sat in the shade, of course, and wore sunscreen and a hat and a sun thing over my bathing suit. But yeah, it was really good. I usually like to read nonfiction books. I just like learning and learning facts and hearing stories.

And so I won't spoil the stack that I was reading, but I have some really good books, not just about science, but also just about things that are going on, history. Actually, I'll just tell you a couple of hints.

Perry Romanowski (3:49)

Sure, tell us.

Valerie George (3:50)

When I read about a topic, I go big. I do a big bender of the same topic. So I'm reading about the mafia.

Perry Romanowski (4:00)

Oh, so a bunch of mafia books.

Valerie George (4:02)

Yeah, it's pretty exciting.

Perry Romanowski (4:03)

So it's the Italian mob. Is that what we're talking about?

Valerie George (4:05)

Correct. Correct. The Italian mob.

Perry Romanowski (4:09)

Well, I mean, is the mafia is like the Russian mafia? That's the thing, right?

Valerie George (4:14)

Yeah. Are you a maid man, Perry? I'll tell you what that means later.

Perry Romanowski (4:19)

I am not a maid man. I don't even clean up the kitchen.