Science of beauty products
Today I want to introduce you to a blog of a couple of my fellow Indy Science Bloggers - The Beauty Brains. They are both professional cosmetic chemists who have more than 30 years of experience with cosmetics. They blog about all sorts of topics concerning beauty products and the science behind them. For example they have posts about hair, skin, make-up and much more.
Today I spent some time reading about sunscreens on their blog. I do a lot of gardening in the summer so I am out in the sun quite a bit. I want to minimize the effect the sun has on my skin - age spots and wrinkles as well as reduce my chance of getting skin cancer.
One post answers the question of what is a good sunscreen. They explain the differences between UVA and UVB light and the damage done by both. They also talk about the difference between physical and chemical UV blockers.
In another post they mention that antioxidants in sunscreen may actually have some antiaging properties. I never would have thought that. I just figured it was something made up to get people to buy a product!
They also discuss issues surrounding which sunscreens are available in the US compared to Europe. Its partly due to regulatory and legal issues because in the US sunscreens have to approved by the FDA.
It looks like when summer gets here this year I will have to put a little more thought into what sunscreen I buy this time!
Here’s a question I have for the Beauty Brains - you mentioned on your site that grey hair looks grey because it has lost its melanin, which gives hair its pigment. What’s the biology involved with that? What actually causes hair to lose its melanin? And is there anything we can do to slow the process down? And why do my grey hairs seem more kinky and unruly compared to the rest of my hair?
(Technorati Tags: cosmetics, antioxidants, sunscreen, melanin, wrinkles, grey hair, cancer)
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2 Responses to 'Science of beauty products'
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on February 7th, 2007 at 1:04 am
Hey Trisha thanks so much for the mention and the great question!!
Melanin is a pigment that is naturally produced in the hair follicle and “injected” into the hair fibers as the protein is formed and pushed out of the head. It’s the same kind of melanin that gives your skin its color. Although there are slight chemical modifications (eumelanin and pheomelanin) that are responsible for the variety of colors such as brown, blonde, and even red heads.
No one knows why hair follicles stop producing melanin. Genetics mostly. There just gets to be a point where the melanin producing gland just stops producing. Thus you get grey hair.
Slowing the process? No one has figured this one out just yet. And the truth is that only the pharmaceutical companies would be looking for the solution anyway. Cosmetic companies focus on things that do not react with your body. I’m not sure if there will be a solution to this problem anytime soon.
The primary reason that grey hairs seem more kinky and unruly is because you just notice them a lot more. When a grey hair is on your head it sticks out like a sore thumb against a darker background. We’ve actually tested hair tresses with only grey hair and people could not blindly feel any differences. Think about all the hairs on your head that are unruly but they are the same color as the rest of your hair so you don’t notice them.
The other possibility is that in addition to the shut-down of the melanin, the hair follicle could also stop producing natural conditioning agents like sebum and 18-MEA. This could cause the hairs to behave as you describe. However, the first reason suggested is more likely the case.
Thanks again for the mention. We’ll link to this post on our own site.
keep up the great work
on February 18th, 2007 at 8:20 am
[...] a question that comes from our good friends over at Women’s Health Research News. If you get a chance, please go over and check out this great blog by a fellow indy science [...]