The New Sunscreen Ingredient, Niacinamide Overload, and Keratin Treatments - Episode 428

Perry Romanowski (0:00)

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

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

Valerie George (0:29)

Hi, Perry.

Perry Romanowski (0:30)

Valerie, we have a big show today, and we want to get right to it because I gotta hop on a plane very shortly this afternoon. But before I hop on that plane, we're gonna answer your questions, including, are benzyl peroxide products dangerous? Is a U Beauty serum really a holy grail? What is the new sunscreen active approved by the FDA?

Do you need more than 5% niacinamide? And how do keratin treatments work? And keratin treatments for the hair, that is. But first, a little chit chat. As I said, Valerie, I'm getting ready to hop on a plane to Austria.

Valerie George (1:06)

Whoa, what's in Austria?

Perry Romanowski (1:08)

Well, I'm speaking at a conference out there. You know, a cosmetic science conference. It's a two-day conference. I'm going to be giving a talk about AI and cosmetic formulating and how the two can mix, match, and sometimes conflict.

Valerie George (1:25)

Wow, you're the right guy to do it. I know you're a big proponent of AI in the right places, also a proponent of not AI in the right places.

Perry Romanowski (1:33)

Exactly.

I realize that AI is going to be bad for society, but it also can be good for society. And I don't think the correct solution is to stick our heads in the sand and be negative because it's not going away. So we got to learn to adapt to this. Use it when it's good. Don't use it when you shouldn't. And figuring that out is what the talk is all about.

Valerie George (1:57)

Wow. Very cool. Wish I could be there.

Perry Romanowski (1:59)

Yeah. Have you been to Austria?

Valerie George (2:01)

Oh, many times. Yes. I lived in Germany until I was almost 10 years old. And so we've, we've popped over a few times. It's very beautiful.

Perry Romanowski (2:10)

Yeah. Yeah. I'm staying in Vienna. So that's, that's the big city and lots of old architecture there.

Valerie George (2:18)

Okay. I've actually, I've actually never been there or Wien, as they say, but I've been to many remote villages and stuff like that. My, Oma, she actually, her ancestors were from a village, a very tiny village in Austria before they relocated to Germany. But this was like 400 years ago.

Perry Romanowski (2:37)

Now, Austria, they pretty much speak German.

Valerie George (2:40)

Yes. But it's a little bit of a different dialect. You'll be okay. It's not like Swiss German, which at times can be incomprehensible.

Perry Romanowski (2:49)

Oh, well, I mean, I don't speak regular German either.

Valerie George (2:53)

So, okay, great. Yeah.

Perry Romanowski (2:56)

Everybody speaks English though. That's, that's what I know.

Valerie George (2:59)

Yeah, that's good. Yeah. No, Austria is great. Love the food. Obviously, love the language. Love the topography.

And for a treat. Yeah.

Perry Romanowski (3:08)

Well, I will report back.

I also hope my kittens are still here. Well, I don't know if I hope they're still here. I want them to get adopted, but, you know, the kittens got their surgeries, and so they're ready to be adopted. And I tell you, they're almost as big as their mother. So now I have a house full of six cats, and they're very energetic, I must say.

Valerie George (3:31)

Oh yeah, I've seen a couple popping on screen. I see one getting in the plant. Oh, so cute. I wish I could take them.

Perry Romanowski (3:37)

They are. Well, they're called Chicago Rescue Shelter, and they're trying to adopt them out now. So they already got their pictures. It's up on a website, but you can check it out on, let's see, you can follow on PorchKittyTikTok so you can see the kittens there. You know, somebody wrote a comment on my TikTok there. They said, Oh, I've heard you talk about the Heat Mizer on the podcast, and now I get to see them.

That's fun.

Valerie George (4:03)

Yeah, it's cool because, you know, they don't necessarily look like you describe them sometimes. So or not that you describe them in act really, but it's good to put a kitty face to a kitty name.

Perry Romanowski (4:14)

Of course, of course.

Valerie George (4:15)

Well, I've had Butch and Frank for three years. That's my big news this week.