Most misleading beauty product claims - Episode 227

Valerie George (0:00)

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

It's a show where real cosmetic chemists answer your beauty product questions and give you an insider's look at the cosmetics industry. This is episode 227 I'm your host, Valerie George, and with me today is Perry Romanowski. Hi, Perry.

Perry Romanowski (0:26)

Hello, Valerie. So good to be here. Great to see you.

Valerie George (0:31)

Good to see you. On today's show, we're gonna answer your questions about how can you be sure you're getting UVA protection from your sunscreen?

A question that's very important to me right now, by the way. Can essential oils be used as preservatives? And why are Azelaic acid products mostly found in gel form? Plus, we're gonna cover some beauty science news. But Perry, why is UVA protection so important to me right now?

Perry Romanowski (0:57)

Well, it must have something to do with that slight redness I see coming through the computer screen. What's going on here, Valerie?

Valerie George (1:03)

It's pretty bad, isn't it? Oh my gosh, okay. Well, PCA Skincare contacted me pre-COVID a few months ago and said, hey, we see that you are a cosmetic chemist on the internet, you're co-host of The Beauty Brains, and they offered me a complimentary skin peel at a local esthetician.

Perry Romanowski (1:21)

Well, that's fun.

Valerie George (1:22)

Yeah. So I took them up on their offer. I received a free skin peel from a local esthetician in LA, and it was quite an experience. So needless to say, my skin is red right now.

Perry Romanowski (1:37)

Really? Yeah, it's coming through the screen a little bit, I have to say.

Valerie George (1:42)

It's peeling a whole lot.

If you guys follow me on my personal Instagram, you'll see I've been making jokes all week just about me leaving skin flakes everywhere. And I drive a car with a very large windshield, and it's very sunny in Los Angeles. So I'm like, how do I provide extra protection on my skin? Because when you get peels, your skin is very sensitive. You need to be very cautious with sun exposure for quite a while. And so I've come up with like a few devices of how to protect my forehead and face while I'm driving home from work.

Perry Romanowski (2:16)

So when did you get this done?

Valerie George (2:18)

So the peel was done on Saturday. And I'm not gonna lie, it hurt. I was like, when is she gonna be done? And she's like, when your face is frosted. So, no, the esthetician, I'm joking. She did a great job. She used a sensitive skin peel on me because I am prone to rosacea and other stuff. And she said it was a 6% TCA peel by PCA skincare. And I know that you can't see a lot of the results right now because I have so much dead skin flaking everywhere, but around my mouth, if you look very close, my skin is brand new. And I'm gonna be honest, for a while, I was like, this is terrible.

When I was getting it, I was like, oh my gosh, my face is melting off. But this new skin that I see is wow, wow, wow, wow.

And if this is what just a little bit of my skin looks like, imagine what my whole face is going to look like in a couple of days. So I'll keep everyone posted, but I'm very excited about this skin peel.

Perry Romanowski (3:26)

Well, be sure to follow Valerie on her Instagram for all the updates.

Valerie George (3:30)

Yeah, and if you guys want skin peeling videos, I'll make some for you. I haven't done it yet, but I know some people are into that.

Perry Romanowski (3:36)

Is it going to look like when a snake sheds its skin, like they pull up the-

Valerie George (3:40)

Yeah, well listen, at work, we're back in the lab. Someone came in my office and they were like, What's all over your floor? And it was like, Eeeeee So I had to get the vacuum cleaner and pick it up. That's old pieces of me. Yeah, I'm like, You guys will always know where I'm at because you'll find the skin trail. Anyway.

Yeah, no, I'm super excited and thank you to PCS Skincare. I know we don't take sponsorships and stuff. Sorry, I do want to just disclose I did get this peel for free, but I'm very excited about my new look.

Perry Romanowski (4:13)

That's very cool. We'll take a look at, we'll follow it over the time. I've never actually had a skin peel, and quite frankly, I'm not looking to do that.