Fermented milk and Shellfish Cosmetics – Episode 181

Valerie George (0:00)

Hi, I'm Valerie, and this is episode 181 of The Beauty Brains.

Beauty Brains, a show where real scientists answer your beauty questions and give you an insider's look at the beauty product industry. I'm your host, Valerie George, and with me today is my co-host, Perry Romanowski. Hey Perry.

Perry Romanowski (0:28)

Hello Valerie.

Valerie George (0:29)

Hope you're ready to answer some questions today about whether or not expired or fermented milk from the kitchen can be used as a DIY toner. Should you be worried about shrimp in products?

Do we need a spatula or scoop for skincare products? And what makes Maybelline lip gloss work so well?

Perry Romanowski (0:47)

Ooh, lip gloss. Yummy.

Valerie George (0:49)

I'm not sure how much lip gloss you've used, but it's an excellent set of questions today.

Perry Romanowski (0:55)

I was always a fan of that. When I was growing up, I was always a fan of that Carmex product. I just like the taste of it.

Not that I ate it, but I just always put it on.

Valerie George (1:05)

I always loved using the tube with the domed orifice. I always had that in my bag in high school.

Perry Romanowski (1:11)

Yes, I rather enjoyed when they put that together. Although I think that they must have changed the formula when they put it in there, because it seemed a little less solid or something.

Valerie George (1:22)

Yeah, it definitely had a little more seepage.

Not that it was unstable, but I could tell that it had a lower melting point, reflecting back. Of course, I didn't know this when I was in high school, when I would throw in my LL Bean book bag. But when I would take it out of the backpack and put it on, I could tell that there was a little more moisture to it, fake moisture.

Perry Romanowski (1:43)

I think I overcame my lip balm addiction, though, because I don't really use it much anymore.

Valerie George (1:49)

I just use it at night before I go to bed.

Perry Romanowski (1:52)

Well, speaking of using products, why don't we get into some beauty science news?

Valerie George (2:01)

Well, this is one product you won't want to use if you have a lot number that's affected. Herbivore had a moldy face cream and elected to do a recall at Sephora and other beauty retailers, wherever they're selling affected lot numbers.

Vast Company actually did a little expose on the incident, and you were interviewed in the article, right?

Perry Romanowski (2:23)

I was interviewed. One of the reporters had read something about a specific preservative through a Reddit discussion, and that sort of led to the article.

And so they contacted me as their expert, because apparently I know about such things, and indeed I did know about this preservative and this particular incident.

Valerie George (2:43)

Yeah, it's very unfortunate when a brand has to do a recall. It's kind of embarrassing, damages the brand a little bit.

And Perry, can you recap the herbivore incident for the listeners who haven't read the article?

Perry Romanowski (2:58)

Oh, well, essentially what was happening, the reporter, I think, was reviewing something on Reddit, and a lot of people on Reddit were complaining about their herbivore product being moldy or having growth in it. And then that actually came to the attention of the FDA, not necessarily through that Reddit discussion, but some consumers tipped off the FDA. And that led to the company recalling products that actually had this certain lot number due to contamination. To me, this is just an incidence of just terrible preservative formulating.

Really, you should not have these kinds of problems if you're using proper preservatives. Although there are some issues, and that can be with your contract manufacturer. So that could have been a problem with them too.

Valerie George (3:44)

Yeah, and it very well could be a two-pronged approach. The preservative they're using could be not an amazing preservative for the type of format.

Perry Romanowski (3:53)

It's definitely not a robust preservative This is one of the problems that I have with this whole tendency to avoid parabens. I mean, the problem is that the substitutes, they just don't work as well.

Valerie George (4:04)

No, and manufacturing is very tough. You're in an environment where there's lots of water splashing around, residual water in tanks, hoses, lines, and where there is water, microorganisms can grow.

And if you're not using a robust preservative, and or your manufacturing facility isn't doing due diligence, to maintain a hygienic facility, again, cosmetics don't have to be sterile. They just can't be dirty or adulterated. In that double approach of, hey, I don't have a good preservative, and hey, my manufacturer isn't great. And again, I don't know where herbivore manufacturers, I don't know if this is the case. You're going to have challenges. And mold is something that's challenging to preserve against anyway.