Episode 325 - What makes a good hair mask?

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 325 I'm your host Perry Romanowski, and with me today is Valerie George. Hello, Valerie.

Valerie George (0:31)

Hi, Perry.

Perry Romanowski (0:33)

All the way from sunny California, stop raining there yet?

Valerie George (0:36)

It did stop raining, but it's not quite sunny California yet. It is cloudy and gloomy in 35 degrees Fahrenheit, California.

Perry Romanowski (0:45)

Well, this sounds like a perfect day to answer some beauty questions because on today's show, we're going to be answering questions about whether lightning conditioners actually work, what we think makes a good hair mask, how chlorine can affect the hair, why companies put lots of ingredients in their products, and is petrolatum really a terrible ingredient?

But first, Valerie, some of that chit chat. Hey, didn't you just go to a meeting yesterday and maybe get an award?

Valerie George (1:17)

I did, yeah. I have won the California Chapter 2022 Best Speaker Award for my talk on the science of hair color. I also won an award for this talk in 2021 at the Connecticut Chapter.

Perry Romanowski (1:31)

You almost swept the country.

Valerie George (1:34)

Yeah, so yeah, I have a lot of fun giving these talks. A lot of people say share the link, but these are actually live in-person talks.

Perry Romanowski (1:44)

Yeah, you have to go there and eat dinner and talk to people, and then you could see Valerie talk. And they're not recorded, mostly.

Valerie George (1:50)

Nope, it supports the Society of Cosmetic Chemists, any funds that are made from these meetings. Mostly they pay for the meeting, but it supports the SCC.

Perry Romanowski (2:03)

Well, that sounds fun.

I actually heard the talk, I think you gave it for the IFSCC or a similar one. So yeah, you do an excellent job. Maybe at some point we could share that with our patrons.

Valerie George (2:16)

Maybe, yeah, that would be a good thing to share with them. That one was recorded.

Perry Romanowski (2:22)

Well, that's fun. And I heard you have a skunk in your garage.

Valerie George (2:27)

Not as cute as it actually, I think they're as cute as cats, not as friendly as cats, maybe, unfortunately, or maybe not. Yeah, Mr. Cosmetic Chemist headed out the garage door to go to his car, which is parked outside the garage.

And he encountered a skunk. He says the skunk followed him back in the garage. And then he left for work by going out the side door of the house. And now it's just me and the skunk.

And I have to leave for a meeting right after this. So I am a little concerned about what I do.

Perry Romanowski (3:02)

You know, to bring this back around to beauty, what if you got sprayed by the skunk, what's your remedy for that?

Valerie George (3:10)

I don't know. I'd probably try this tomato juice stuff, but I don't have any tomato juice. So I'd have to go to the store. I mean, it would be a disaster of a day.

I'm gonna pop open the trunk remotely of my car, which is in the garage. And I have to get in the car. And I can't see on the sides really because it's kind of dark in there. So I won't know if the skunk is hiding. So I will crawl into the trunk, shut the door, climb up to the car, back out, leave the garage, open a crack.

Whether or not I see the skunk.

Perry Romanowski (3:46)

Hopefully the Southern California skunk isn't in your car right now in the wheel well and gets free time when you start the car. No, of course, I bet it's not even in the garage.

Valerie George (3:58)

No, and he's probably out by now.

Perry Romanowski (4:02)

All right. Are we ready to talk about some beauty science news?

Valerie George (4:05)

Yeah.

Well, I saw a really cool article this week about Byersdorf, which is the parent company of the brand Nivea. They have created a sunscreen for a young girl who has a rare genetic disease. Did you see this?

Perry Romanowski (4:27)

You shared it with me. I saw it. And why don't we get the skin hand that I mean, making a single talk about customized beauty products, making a single product for one person.

Valerie George (4:38)

Yeah.

Perry Romanowski (4:39)

What went into this?

Valerie George (4:40)

Yeah. So basically this girl has a rare genetic light disease called erythropoetic protoporphuria. I'm not a doctor, so hopefully I did that well, but they abbreviate it EPP for all the right reasons.