Is Retinyl Retinoate a gimmick - and other beauty questions - Episode 300

Perry Romanowski (0:01)

Hi, I'm Perry, and you're listening to The Beauty Brains.

Welcome to The Beauty Brains, a show where real cosmetic chemists give you an insider's look at the cosmetic industry, and we answer your beauty product questions. This is episode 300 I'm your host, Perry Romanowski, and with me today is Valerie George. Hello, Valerie.

Valerie George (0:31)

Hi, Perry. I can't believe we're at episode 300

Perry Romanowski (0:37)

Yeah, it is amazing. How many other podcasts have 300 episodes? Not that many, I must say.

Valerie George (0:44)

At least about beauty, yeah.

Perry Romanowski (0:46)

Exactly. And on today's show, we're gonna be covering questions about what's the difference between Ethyl Ascorbic Acid and Ascorbic Acid.

Is Retinyl Retinoate a gimmick? Do skincare lines add self tanners to their products to produce that glowing skin look?

Does the AQUIS PRIME Hair Care System really protect hair from damage? And is it true that the majority of hair color manufacturers are located in a small town in Italy?

But first, some inane chit chat, and I'm looking at you Valerie, and your hair is very curly today. What's going on there?

Valerie George (1:22)

I am in Florida, and surprisingly, it's not too curly because there's not a lot of humidity in the air. I imagine if there were, it would be a whole lot curlier, but there's a little bit, so I'm here with my lion's mane.

Perry Romanowski (1:36)

Oh, yeah, it's very wavy. It looks good.

Valerie George (1:40)

Yeah, thanks. I am here because I am speaking at a show in Miami called Smart Lab, and it's a show for R&D professionals, and I am doing a talk about lab culture and building high-performing teams.

Perry Romanowski (1:54)

Wow, well, that is amazing. Very cool.

Valerie George (1:57)

Yeah.

Perry Romanowski (1:58)

How long are you gonna be in Florida?

Valerie George (2:01)

I head back to LA next week, so I'll just be here for a week basically.

Perry Romanowski (2:07)

Well, that's fun. Hey, you know, I have some news.

Uh-huh. Tomorrow, we're getting a cat.

Valerie George (2:15)

Oh my gosh, I thought you were gonna say porch kitty is back, but getting a cat's just as good.

Perry Romanowski (2:21)

I know, we're finally breaking down. I mean, my wife is allergic, but she's like, you know, I'm happier when we have a cat, so let's get one.

Valerie George (2:28)

So you're not fostering one, you're getting one.

Perry Romanowski (2:31)

We're actually gonna get one, yeah.

Valerie George (2:32)

Oh wow, I wish Mr. Cosmetic Chemist were as cool as your wife.

He's allergic and he would say never. But yeah, he does love cats. He does love them.

Perry Romanowski (2:43)

We'll see how that goes. I mean, I met this one the other day when I was at the shelter and you know, he was super friendly, super fluffy.

And yeah, so I think we're picking him up tomorrow.

Valerie George (2:56)

Ooh, I can't wait to share pictures on our Instagram.

Perry Romanowski (3:01)

We will do that. You know what else we'll do? Let's get into some Beauty Science News.

Well, there's been a lot of stories in the news about sustainability and the environmental impact of cosmetics, you know, it's kind of a trend in our industry. And I saw this product, this story in Glossy, about in-store beauty refills are finally going mainstream. Oh, really? Yeah, apparently the Body Shop, they marked Earth Month, which April is Earth Month, apparently.

It's not just my birthday month, it's really the whole Earth. They marked Earth Month by announcing the expansion of its bulk refill program to approximately 900 stores worldwide by the end of 2022

Valerie George (3:57)

Pretty incredible.

Perry Romanowski (3:58)

So apparently they have major brands like L'Ossitaine and Dipi-Doo, or Dipity, DipQ, Dipi-Q, you know this brand?

Valerie George (4:08)

No, I don't.

Perry Romanowski (4:10)

Am I in the industry? I'm sorry, I can't pronounce all the brands.

Valerie George (4:15)

Well, there's just so many.

Perry Romanowski (4:17)

Yeah, this whole notion.

Valerie George (4:18)

Diptyque, it's Diptyque.

Perry Romanowski (4:20)

Oh, there you go. Diptyque, oh, they're like the...

Valerie George (4:22)

Well, I know Diptyque from candles.

Could you imagine refilling your own candle at a store? Molten wax, and you have to pass it through a chiller.

Perry Romanowski (4:31)

I mean, at least that stuff you're not putting on your body, so.

Valerie George (4:35)

Yeah.

Perry Romanowski (4:37)

It seems a little unnerving to me that you're... So you go... Let me get this. So you go in, you have this container that has old product in it, and then you bring it into the body shop and then just refill the product right on top of that? Is that what happens?