Episode 386 - Seals of approval, Brooke Shields and more

Perry Romanowski (0:00)

Hi, I'm Perry, 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 386 I'm your host, Perry Romanowski, and with me today is Valerie George. Hello, Valerie.

Valerie George (0:28)

Hi, Perry.

Perry Romanowski (0:30)

Valerie, I love what you're doing with your makeup right now.

Perry Romanowski (0:32)

Whoa.

Perry Romanowski (0:36)

Well, you know, on today's show, we are gonna cover lots of questions, including how much should you trust the seals of approvals on product labels? What do we think of Brooke Shields' new hair care line? What makes a good lip mask and day cream? What are our thoughts on the Geek & Gorgeous brand? And finally, why would a brand include two hydroquinone-based lightening creams with the same active level and concentration in their line? But first, a little chit chat. Valerie, I mentioned about the makeup. It's because you have this little dark mark under your right eye.

Valerie George (1:11)

Well, I wouldn't call it a little dark mark. I have a huge black eye. And what you're seeing actually looks way better than what it looked like several days ago.

Perry Romanowski (1:22)

Well, Valerie, that's amazing. So what happened?

Valerie George (1:26)

That's the first rule of Fight Club, Perry. You don't talk about Fight Club.

Perry Romanowski (1:30)

Of course. That's right.

Valerie George (1:33)

Well, actually, here's what happened. So I just kind of put, you know, on Instagram, I made a little post like, oh, you know, guess who sock themselves in the eye? This, you know, this gal. And, you know, people were asking what happened, making jokes. And one person wrote, let me guess, you picked up something that either was stuck or was lighter than you thought it was, and it came and hit you in the face really hard. And I was like, oh, how did he know that's what happened?

Wow. So basically what happened is I went to grab something. I was on a work trip and I went to grab something at the hotel and it was stuck and also much lighter than I thought it was. So I picked it up with a lot of gusto and the corner came and hit me right under the eye. And I had a huge lump and I tried to get the lump down. And now it's just a big old ugly bruise. And people think Mr. Cosmetic Chemist beat me up, especially because he has a cut on his knuckle.

Perry Romanowski (2:33)

Oh my, that poor guy. Yeah, but poor Valerie, really.

Valerie George (2:39)

Yeah, you know, the actual hitting hurt, but the bruise hurts worse.

Perry Romanowski (2:45)

Oh, really? Wow.

Valerie George (2:46)

Yes. I would rather be hit again than have the bruise.

Perry Romanowski (2:51)

Well, I wonder how long those bruises last. It's probably a week or so.

Valerie George (2:56)

Well, we're going to find out. I think it's more than a week.

Perry Romanowski (2:59)

Yeah. Well, that's in a spot that doesn't really drain. It doesn't have a lot of blood flow there, right? Isn't that why people get, like, the dark circles under their eyes? Mostly because the blood doesn't flow as much there.

Valerie George (3:11)

Exactly. And I can't really rub it because it hurts so bad, and it's very puffy and tender. So, well, we'll find out next week when we meet. You'll see how much it's gone away.

Perry Romanowski (3:21)

Yes. Well, I hope that you are feeling better there.

Valerie George (3:27)

Rough Monday, that's for sure.

Perry Romanowski (3:29)

Well, I had a rough Wednesday. You want to know what happened?

Valerie George (3:33)

Yeah. What happened?

Perry Romanowski (3:34)

It's really cold here in Chicago. And I feed the porch kitties every morning. I swing over my door, and they run in a little extra quick the other day because it's really cold. And there's two puffers in the heat miser. They come in no problem, and a little blue she runs in too. But there's a cat Benitu who he kind of wants to come in. You know, he's always looking in, but you open the door and then he kind of scurries away. He's very skittish.

Valerie George (4:04)

Yeah.

Perry Romanowski (4:04)

But on this day, it was so cold. It was like, you know, five degrees Fahrenheit for you people overseas. But so it's cold. And he actually walked into the room, and he started walking towards the basement and towards inside more of the basement. And so I just shut the door to the outside, and he freaked out, and he didn't know what was going on. So he ran and he hid behind my furnace, and he's got in there such a small space. I like, I couldn't reach it. Like he was just there, and he would not budge. He would not come out for anything. He was just so scared. I felt terrible. I thought he was like stuck there, but no, he wasn't. He was there, but he wouldn't move. And he stayed there all day, and I didn't know how to get the cat out. Like he wouldn't leave. He would just, he just stayed there. So I got the advice that you should just leave him, leave him be, and he'll just come out when he comes out. And so I put out a lot.