Episode 379 - Wonder Water, Product Dupes, Sunscreen layering and more

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 cosmetic industry. This is episode 379 I'm your host, Valerie George, and with me today is Perry Romanowski. Hi, Perry.

Perry Romanowski (0:28)

Hello, Valerie, great to see ya.

Valerie George (0:30)

Good to see you. I'm glad you're back. On today's show, we're gonna cover lots of questions, including can layering sunscreens make them less effective? Why can't you use L'Oreal Wonder Water on your scalp? What's the history of using blue light to treat acne? Is it damaging to use a pretreatment on hair? And when can you call a formula a dupe? But first, inane chit-chat.

Perry Romanowski (0:54)

Valerie, we were a guest on a show recently, which is a lot of fun.

Valerie George (0:58)

Oh my goodness. We had such a great time on Jonathan Van Ness' podcast, JVN, maybe you know him from Queer Eye, maybe you know him from his hair brand, but we had so much fun. You killed me, Perry.

Perry Romanowski (1:15)

You know, it's funny, I was talking to my wife about that, and I was like, oh yeah, we're on this podcast. I think there's a guy from Queer Eye, and she's like, well, who? And I'm like, I don't know, John or something like that.

Valerie George (1:26)

John.

Perry Romanowski (1:26)

She's like, what? What? You were on with him? Like, he's like a big star.

Valerie George (1:32)

Even Mr. Cosmetic Chemist knew who he was.

Perry Romanowski (1:36)

Oh, I did not, but...

Valerie George (1:38)

Well, he didn't know who he was, but he was familiar with the matter.

Perry Romanowski (1:42)

Sure, sure. Well, I'm so oblivious to it, but my wife was way impressed.

Valerie George (1:48)

Oh, gosh. Well, guys, I'm going to give you a little sneak peek, but we do want you to listen to the full thing when it drops. We don't know when. We forgot to ask. But it's called Pretty Curious.

Perry Romanowski (1:58)

I mean, next week. Next week.

Valerie George (2:00)

Oh, okay.

Perry Romanowski (2:00)

All right.

Valerie George (2:01)

Well, you guys should listen anyway, because it was actually a lot of fun, and I have a feeling it's that funny on every episode. But Perry was asked a question. We were both asked questions in the Rapid Fire segment.

Perry Romanowski (2:12)

Sure.

Valerie George (2:13)

What don't you leave home without? And I was like lip balm, and I said Burt's Bees, but I actually meant to say La Roche Posay, the Kikaplast. I get it in Europe. It's so good, but I couldn't remember the name, so I said Burt's Bees, which is also true. Perry said toothpaste, and the look on JVN's face, he was like, what? And he said just toothpaste, and it was like every time you leave the house, and Perry was like, yes. I love how you doubled down and committed to it.

Perry Romanowski (2:49)

I did commit to it. To be fair, I was answering the question, like when you go traveling, what is something?

Valerie George (2:54)

Or like you go to an island or something, yeah. I knew that's what you meant, but you committed to it, you kept going.

Perry Romanowski (3:03)

I know. Well, then I realized what it was more broadly, like whenever you go out, I'm like, all right, I'll just go with it. But I...

Valerie George (3:12)

There were like 10 other funny moments like that, guys. It was really awesome. So anyway, it drops next week, the week of November 18th, something like that. Check it out.

Perry Romanowski (3:24)

Yeah, and it's called Pretty Curious.

Valerie George (3:27)

In other news, Perry, there has been a Pretty Kitty sighting. She's been missing for a few weeks. And the last time anyone saw her on camera was she clearly had an injury. And I was like, she's dead. We talked about this. I just had to assume she was no longer with us. But I landed late one night at an airport, and I always parked my car at my lab because it's like right next to both airports in Dallas. And I saw her. And I think her knee or elbow is dislocated or something like that, because it's her leg is all gangly, but the hip works. And I got some great tips from Instagram, mostly podcast listeners, and they gave me some good advice on how to trap her. So we're going to do it.

Perry Romanowski (4:14)

Okay. Well, good. Hopefully, that works out. You know what else worked out for me, fortunately?