Episode 369 - Can Tranexamic Acid Really Reduce Hyperpigmentation?

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

Valerie George (0:31)

Hi, Perry.

Perry Romanowski (0:32)

Hey, Valerie, we got lots of questions. On today's show, we're gonna cover whether tranexamic acid can really help reduce hyperpigmentation. Can Rene Furterer products for...

Valerie George (0:45)

Furterer.

Perry Romanowski (0:47)

Furterer? Is that like a Frank Furterer?

Valerie George (0:49)

It's a cousin of Roger Federer, but it's Rene Furterer.

Perry Romanowski (0:54)

Oh, there we go. So can tennis player's cousin actually help have products that help with thinning hair? And will eating hyaluronic acid actually improve your skin? Does Gucci Westman's use a more potent form of vitamin C and what silicone are a good replacement of cyclopentasiloxane? But first, some chit chat. Valerie, we might get interrupted today because I have a, well, like a telehealth appointment or something. First of all, I had this telehealth appointment for yesterday, and I call in and they're like, oh, the person lost their iPad, so we're going to reschedule.

Valerie George (1:36)

Don't worry, Perry, they'll still be late. That's the miraculous thing with all these Zoom meetings that they're having or whatever the health platform meetings are. They still show up 10 minutes behind.

Perry Romanowski (1:46)

Well, you know what's interesting? They're like, okay, we can reschedule the telehealth or we can do an in-person visit. So I said, in-person visit, come on in. Then they give me like a window for like a three hour window. So like you get your cable done. This is like your doctor's coming here sometimes.

Valerie George (2:02)

Wow.

Perry Romanowski (2:03)

But what I was thinking about this, when you have an appointment, this is just like a regular checkup or something, but when you have an appointment, do you make a list of all the things that are wrong with you? Because when they get here, you're like, you'll forget, right?

Valerie George (2:13)

Yeah, you have to. It's just like when I go to the dermatologist every six months, I get my skin checked out. That's not an appointment you can do by telehealth, I don't believe, because they check every nook and cranny, and they remember all your old ones somehow. And I have to remember like, oh yeah, that one looks new, that one was bothering me. And then I'll leave the appointment. I'll be like, dang it, I forgot to ask her about this one or that one. It happens, you gotta write them down.

Perry Romanowski (2:40)

You know that exact thing happened to me, like I had this little discoloration on my bottom lip, and like, you gotta ask about this, and then I forget. And they didn't look at it, so I mean, if it's not so obvious, it's probably not cancer, right?

Valerie George (2:53)

Yeah, like it's on your lip, they would notice.

Perry Romanowski (2:56)

Oh yeah, you'd think so, so it's probably nothing, but it is, you know.

Valerie George (3:00)

I have a question, was it you or your wife that remembered you didn't ask?

Perry Romanowski (3:03)

Oh, no, I remembered I didn't ask because, you know, I get sort of flummoxed when the doctor's there, you know. I've got my routine, I'm trying to crack jokes and stuff, and come up with zingers. Meanwhile, I'm forgetting the whole reason I'm there.

Valerie George (3:19)

They don't like zingers, that's for sure.

Perry Romanowski (3:21)

Well, some of them do, and then that just makes me try harder too when I get no reaction.

Valerie George (3:26)

I know, and they're probably like, this patient is so annoying. I've been there.

Perry Romanowski (3:31)

Yes, wait, were you the patient or the doctor in that case?

Valerie George (3:34)

The patient, although a funny story. One time we were having flu shots at work, and the lab was in a remote location of the building. So we would go, oh, my flu shot time, let me go during my appointment, and you're just wearing your lab coat. And people actually thought I was the doctor administering the flu shots. And I was like, I do look like I could be a doctor, right? But no, I work here. It's me, it's Valerie.

Perry Romanowski (4:00)

I'm certainly with the lab coat on. In fact, that's why they put lab coats in, like you see in commercials, they'll just throw an actor in a lab coat and say, oh, they must know something.