SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic: What is new? Episode 432

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

Perry Romanowski (0:27)

Hello, Valerie. Welcome to fall.

Valerie George (0:29)

It is officially the latter half of the 2020s, but on today's show, we're going to cover a lot of questions including, does Peptonix really grow hair? What's up with the new Skinceuticals C, E, Ferulic formulation? Is there any science behind DHT-3 blockers to promote hair growth? Does Clear Gloss DPU work? And can you damage hair on purpose to get volume and body? But first, that chit chat.

Perry Romanowski (0:56)

Valerie, I've been going to a lot of golf outings, you know, and I was just at one at the Midwest SCC golf outing.

Valerie George (1:03)

Okay, how'd it go?

Perry Romanowski (1:05)

Oh, it was good. Golfing was fine. I think my team was one of the better scorer ones, but only because, you know, you get that one sales guy who's like really good, and then everyone else sucks.

And that's what happened. But anyway, so I'm there, and there was a person who wasn't part of the industry. She was somebody's friend, but she's like, hey, let me ask you, what do you think of those red light masks? Do you think they're worth getting?

Valerie George (1:34)

She asked the right person or the wrong person, depending on what her end outcome is.

Perry Romanowski (1:41)

You know, I never like to be super definitive on things like this with people, because if somebody went out and spent like $300 on something, they don't want some dude who just goes like, yeah, that was a total waste of money. So whenever somebody asks like that, I try to sort of couch my responses in a positive sort of way. And I always will say, well, you know, if you like doing it and you can do it consistently, maybe you'll get some impact.

In reality, I do think they're kind of a waste of money and you're not going to get more impact than if you use a typical topical moisturizer regularly. I just don't think those red light masks, people are going to use them enough or even that they're strong enough, the at-home ones, I mean, and how can you even trust any of the device makers because anybody can make a device like that, call it some red light facial mask and it does nothing. So, but I didn't want to share that all with somebody who might have spent the money on it. So I did a nicer version of that, but really I think red light masks are mostly just a gimmicky thing that won't really help people's skin.

Valerie George (2:59)

You're right, the data is a little lacking. I mean, I think there's some information out there, studies which are likely biased by the way, that show an incremental improvement, but incrementals, I think less than 5 percent, or I forget the exact number in the study. So you're right, I don't think so there's too much variability, but I probably would have told her all that.

Perry Romanowski (3:24)

Well, you know what else I think about any beauty technology? If it's super popular on TikTok or Instagram or other social medias, and you see a bunch of influencers pushing it, it's probably not going to be anything special.

Valerie George (3:40)

I agree.

Perry Romanowski (3:40)

Because they're spending all their money on influencers thing, and not really necessarily the technology. So if something really works, you don't really have to advertise it that much. It's just like, oh, this works, and everyone's going to tell their friends, and so on and so on. If you have to pay people to talk about your product, is your product really that good?

Valerie George (4:00)

I also think it's hard to know if the results really paid off. I always talk about this with hair, your hair either looks good or it doesn't, and it's always growing.

So you always have new hair coming in. But with skincare, you have to use a cream or a device and think, gee, I hope in 10 years I know that this made a difference. And the reality is you won't. And so even I've had cosmetic lasers done at the dermatologist, like really high intensity, high frequency stuff. And I think my skin looks pretty good for my age. Most people think I'm about 10 years younger than I really am. But I don't know if those were the culprit or if it's genetics or lifestyle or all the SPF I've worn. I don't know.