Episode 368 - Drunk Elephant vitamin C and more skin care questions

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 cosmetics industry. This is episode 368 I'm your host, Valerie George, and with me today is Perry Romanowski. Hi Perry.

Perry Romanowski (0:28)

Hello Valerie, great to see you as always.

Valerie George (0:30)

It's good to see you, and I'm so excited for today's show because we're gonna cover lots of questions, including does spraying magnesium on your legs help you sleep and relieve nausea? Are Olivada's waterless skincare products which use pressed olive oil truly effective and comparable to Botox? Is the new DIY Vitamin C serum from Drunk Elephant safe, effective, and likely to be popular among consumers? What are the differences, pros and cons of Morpheus 8 and Ultherapy for skin tightening? And can cheaper hyaluronic acid products be as effective as more expensive ones? But first, that inane chit chat.

Perry Romanowski (1:09)

You know, Valerie, when you are reading the questions and summarize and you laugh, that seems like it's never a good sign for that question.

Valerie George (1:17)

Sometimes it is hard to hold a straight face and it has nothing to do with the question. But yeah, it's a little predictive of where we're gonna go.

Perry Romanowski (1:27)

Right, it is the beauty industry after all. Hey, Valerie, I just saw you were in Chicago and you didn't even call me.

Valerie George (1:35)

Oh, that is correct. Well, here's the thing, I meant to call you.

Perry Romanowski (1:41)

That's how she rolls.

Valerie George (1:42)

Isn't it as good as calling you if I thought of calling you?

Perry Romanowski (1:47)

Oh, yeah, probably. In some university, you probably did call me, but you know, it just wasn't this one.

Valerie George (1:53)

Well, to be fair, I was going to contact you, but the problem is I landed around midnight, my flight was late, and then I had an early meeting and then my flight was delayed from all the storms. There was a lot of stress trying to get figured out when I was going to leave and whatnot. And so I actually really was there less than 24 hours, in and out.

Perry Romanowski (2:14)

Wow. You were in and out for some big powwow meetings that you're part of.

Valerie George (2:20)

Now, how close are you to O'Hare?

Perry Romanowski (2:23)

I am on what's called the Blue Line. And the Blue Line is if you land in Chicago, there's actually a train that'll take you all the way downtown, right to the center of town. And it's called the Blue Line. So I'm like a half mile from the Blue Line. So I would, when I go to the airport, I just walk to the Blue Line, and it takes like a 20 minute train ride right to the airport.

Valerie George (2:43)

So theoretically, I could have taken the Blue Line from O'Hare to your local station.

Perry Romanowski (2:49)

You could have done that, yes. And in fact, you know how much it costs to take the Blue Line downtown?

Valerie George (2:56)

How much?

Perry Romanowski (2:57)

Like five bucks.

Valerie George (2:58)

Wow, that's like a very small fraction compared to an Uber or a taxi.

Perry Romanowski (3:03)

Right. Uber is like 50 bucks. So, yeah, and the train is usually faster because of the traffic and all.

Valerie George (3:11)

Well, the next time I'm in Chicago for an impromptu less than 24 hour whirlwind meeting, I will be sure to remember to call you.

Perry Romanowski (3:19)

Well, I will look forward to that. Hey, are we ready for some news?

Valerie George (3:24)

We are. What did you see this week?

Perry Romanowski (3:33)

I saw a couple of things about reef safe friendly sunscreens. First of all, Walmart was a part of a class action lawsuit because they were labeling their sunscreen as reef friendly, but it contains ingredients that at least the lawyers think are potentially harmful to coral reefs. Interestingly, Walmart said their motion to dismiss because the plaintiff does not state that she did not like the products or that it caused health problems or that it harmed coral reefs. Instead, she just takes issue with the sunscreens that are in there, the Abelbenzone, Homelocylate, Octosalate, and Octechrylene. And she said, if you have those, you can't say it's reef friendly. But, as we know, reef friendly is just kind of a made-up thing, and so there's no standards, are there?

Valerie George (4:30)

No. Wasn't Big Lots also involved in a lawsuit for these ambiguous claims as well?