Episode 314 - Toxins in cosmetics and color changing lipstick

Perry Romanowski (0:00)

Hi, I'm Perry, and you're listening to The Beauty Brains.

Hello and 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 314 I'm your host, Perry Romanowski, and with me today is our birthday girl, Valerie George. Hello, Valerie.

Valerie George (0:31)

Hi, Perry.

Perry Romanowski (0:33)

Well, thank you so much for joining us on your birthday.

Valerie George (0:37)

Well, I want to keep our streak going.

Perry Romanowski (0:40)

That's right.

And to keep that streak going, we're going to be answering questions on today's show, including ones about whether the toxins in cosmetics can build up in your body, why a brand can sell you a product with more than 2% salicylic acid in it, how cosmetics can change colors when applied to the skin, and what products are really worth splurging on. But before that, some of our inane chit chat, Valerie. So the big birthday today, and then you're heading out on a big trip too.

Valerie George (1:11)

Yeah, so it's the big birthday, 40 A lot of people don't believe I am now 40 years old.

Perry Romanowski (1:17)

I don't believe it at all.

Valerie George (1:18)

I know, someone did say, oh my god, I thought you were 27 turning 28 earlier this week. And I was like, thanks. But no, I have good skin, I guess. I'm part of its genetic.

But Mr. Cosmetic Chemist is treating me to a very big trip. We are going to Germany to visit my family. Mr. Cosmetic Chemist has never been.

And so I'm going to show him the village I grew up in, have lunch with my mentor, see Heidelberg Castle, which is one of my favorite places, and do more family stuff. And then we're going to head off to a lovely vacation in Slovakia.

Perry Romanowski (1:52)

Slovakia, capital of Bratislava, right?

Valerie George (1:55)

Yeah, yeah. That's actually where we're headed first on the trip. But we're going to see the whole country. It's a tour of the whole country.

Perry Romanowski (2:02)

Wow, well, I haven't been there, but looking forward to it sometime. I actually just got back from a vacation.

Valerie George (2:09)

OK, where did you go?

Perry Romanowski (2:10)

Well, if we did a driving vacation to Asheville, North Carolina.

Valerie George (2:13)

Oh, what a great place.

Perry Romanowski (2:15)

Yeah, 11 hour drive. But yeah, lots of great food, lots of great breweries and a lot of great hiking.

Valerie George (2:21)

Yeah, I believe we were supposed to record and you said, Oh, I hit too many breweries up. I'm too tired.

Perry Romanowski (2:27)

Yeah, I was a little little little wiped out.

Valerie George (2:31)

Yeah.

Perry Romanowski (2:31)

Well, you know what? There was a lot of drama before I left on this vacation, because remember the porch kitties, like the kittens? I had them in my basement, and I didn't have anyone to watch the kittens while I was gone.

Valerie George (2:46)

So you let them fend for themselves. You said, kittens, you're adults now.

Take care of yourself. Here's a big bag of food in a litter box. Goodbye.

Perry Romanowski (2:56)

If only you could do that. Although I wonder how long you could leave a cat. I don't like to leave a cat for more than 24 hours.

Valerie George (3:02)

My friend says it's about five days.

Perry Romanowski (3:04)

Five days? Well, there you go. So somewhere between there. Well, anyway, so I call up the shelter that I was going to give these cats to, and they say, sorry, we can't take them.

So now I'm scrambling the day before, like something to do with these kittens.

And I went to, I called a bunch of other shelters. Nobody could take them. I finally went to this shelter by my house, which is run by this lady. She's like the meanest lady that you would know. She's like got a heart of gold, but she is like really mean. So I said, like, hey, could I have a little cardboard box as a carrier? And she says, you don't put cats in a cardboard box? That's terrible.

Sorry. She's like, and I suggested, well, maybe I could take, should I take them to animal control? She said, you don't take them to animal control. They'll kill them.

Valerie George (3:57)

Then can you take them?

Perry Romanowski (3:59)

Right, and she couldn't take them. Although, she did help me find, when I had to drive like an hour away from my house, there was a shelter out in La Grange, and I finally got to give the kittens to them.