Wellbox Review

The Wellbox is the latest beauty gadget just arrived in the UK from the States. It isn't clear how it works but if you have £999 to spare you can go to Harrods and find out. I am skeptical about machines like this but as there is no information in the public domain about its effects I suppose it is just a matter of trust.

I usually say that there is more information on the main beauty pages at this stage, but in this case there isn't. And there isn't much more on the manufacturer's website either.

Yves Rocher Organic Range due in October

If you are over 40 and live in the UK there is a very good chance that I have helped increase your chance of getting skin cancer. My first job in the cosmetics industry, back in the early eighties, was formulating bars of soap. In those days it was normal to put a small amount of formaldehyde into soap bars. These bars were on the shelves of most of the big supermarkets at the time.

Looking back on it, my reaction is what were we thinking? But the past is a different country where they do things differently.

These thoughts were triggered by hearing that Yves Rocher is launching a new range – Culture Bio – in October. In France the term used for organic is bio-cosmetics.

It seems that everyone in the skin care business is going organic these days. When you are watching the industry closely like I do it is easy to get cynical about this sort of thing, which is why I have to remind myself that it wasn't that long ago that we didn't bat an eyelid about putting formaldehyde in soap. It is good to see top companies taking the consumer's desire for safe and natural cosmetics seriously.

Full details on the beauty pages.

Jo Malone brand goes East

It might come as a surprise to some of their customers, but the up-market personal care brand Jo Malone is in fact owned by EstÈe Lauder. Jo Malone sold her business some years ago.

The shop in Chelsea is just one outlet. It will shortly become a truly global brand with a deal with the Lane Crawford Joyce Group for distribution in Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Taiwan, Macau, Malaysia and Indonesia. They are going to be opening their own shops and also getting concessions in other shops.

Spotting a good fragrance from an ingredient list

In my Creme de la Mer review I worked out that they were probably using an expensive fragrance at a high level from the ingredient listing.

Back to the eighties when dermatologists started suspecting that fragrances in cosmetics caused people to get allergic reactions.

They looked at what materials were used in fragrances, and highlighted the top 26. These weren't really the ones likely to cause skin reactions. In fact, it turned out that most of them were in fact components of essential oils. The law now states that if these are in the final formulation above a certain level they have to be declared on the ingdredient listing. If you know that you are allergic to say limonene, you are now able to avoid products that contain limonene.

The smell of most of the personal care products that you use comes from a fragrance oil. These oils are blended by specialist companies called fragrance houses. Fine fragrances, the more expensive blends tend to have more natural ingredients and these have the highest level of the so called fragrance allergens. The cheaper ones use synthetic chemicals which don't need to be declared. So if you can find one or several of the fragrance allergens on the ingredient list there is a good chance that it contains significant levels of high quality fragrance or essential oils.

The main ones to look out for are limonene, geraniol and linalool.

I know this sounds a bit odd. I am suggesting that products labelled with allergens are better. But the highlighted materials are nearly all natural and very very few people are actually allergic to them.

This advice isn't foolproof but it is a reasonable guide. Personally, after decades of smelling synthetic fragrances, I much prefer the smell of essential oils. The cost of essential oils makes them prohibitive as the sole perfuming ingredient in all but the most upmarket of skin care products. But I have found that the very best fine fragrances are the ones with the most natural ingredients.

More details including the complete list of allergens on the main Colin's Beauty Pages blog.

Creme de la Mer Review

I noticed that Creme de la Mer was used on 10 Years Younger last night. ( A UK programme: people are given a makeover with the aim of making them look 10 years younger.) After a chemical peel to remove some badly sun damaged skin they needed a very good moisturiser. Money being no object, the one they used was Crème de la Mer.

I have only briefly tried Creme de la Mer. I remember it as a rich and probably very effective moisturiser.

So as a cosmetic scientist, what can I learn about it. I trawled the net and found an ingredient list. It isn’t from their own website so I hope it is reasonably accurate. My first thought was that considering it is supposed to have been formulated by a physicist it is remarkably similar to formulations done by myself and my colleagues.

The basic formulation is that of a water in oil cream. These are the heaviest and most effective creams. Nivea Creme is a classic example. Attrixo is another that has a cult following. These kinds of creams are very good for very dry skin. I could easily imagine that someone who had dry skin who had previously used a standard cream might would find one like Creme de la Mer very effective in comparison.

But the story is not just of a very effective moisturiser. This cream is supposed to be an exceptional one. Is there anything out of the ordinary that might explain its remarkable popularity? The Crème de la Mer website admits: "There is nothing miraculous about its ingredients – sea kelp, calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, lecithin, Vitamins C, E and B12, plus oils of citrus, eucalyptus, wheat germ, alfalfa, and sunflower."

I agree. These are all ingredients that other people have used. The sea kelp is the one that attracted my interest.

Is there anything in seaweed that gives benefits to the skin? Yes there is. Plants maintain their shape using long thin but very strong molecules called polymers. These are used to give the plants structure. The best example is cellulose, the main ingredient in wood. Reduce the polymer size a bit by heating wood in alkali and you can make paper. Reduce it still further and it makes a good wallpaper paste. Even smaller cellulose molecules applied to the skin have a tendency to shrink as they dry out. This has a tightening effect which can reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. This neat trick has been used for years.

Cosmetic scientists have long been seeking the best polymer to combat wrinkles. It seems that polymers derived from seaweed are particularly good. And you can change the behaviour of polymers by the way you treat them. Crème de la Mer has a long treatment process for the seaweed which might well affect the way it works. I don’t have any proof of any of this, but it is believable.

All in all – I have to say that Crème de la Mer might well be a very good product and might justify the high price charged for it. What I would really like to see would be a trial comparing it with Nivea Crème over a reasonably long period of time. It would be particularly interesting to see how much you need to use to get a benefit. If it lasts a long time because you don’t have to use so much of it, it might even be a cheaper option than some of the alternatives.

A more detailed Creme de la Mer review can be found on my blog.

Bath Oil

The bath oil is often overlooked as a way of hydrating the skin. The oil forms a coating on your skin locking in the moisture. Dispersing mineral oil bath oils are best, and can be enhanced with essential oils. And if you are in the mood have some candles, a bottle of wine and some music. Enjoy some me time while benefiting your skin.

More detail on my main beauty pages blog.

Vanillin - One of my friends

I am a chemist and I regard chemicals as my friends. One of my favourite chemical families are the terpenes. The terpene I want to talk about is vanillin, which as you might guess, was first isolated from vanilla. It has a very distinct sweet odour and is often used on its own as a vanilla flavour. The reason it is on my mind at the moment is that it gives the Waitrose Baby Bottom Butter its distinctive smell, which some people have likened to vanilla ice cream. Well there is a good reason for that. Vanillin is the smell of vanilla ice cream. In fact I think most people think of the smell of vanilla as that of vanillin. When you smell real vanilla, although it does have a rich and interesting smell, it doesn't really smell as vanillary you expect.

Terpenes often surprise you when they turn up where you least expect them. I came across a paper in a pediatric journal where vanillin had been used in a study to see whether familiar odours can calm down babies. In the study they found that babies that were used to the smell of vanillin were calmer than normal when their mothers left them if they were exposed to the smell of vanillin. They found the same effect from the smell of the mothers' breast milk. From the way the study was conducted it wasn't clear if this is a unique property of vanillin or if any distinctive smell would have had the same effect. But for me, it was a familiar feeling of being surprised and delighted by my favourite family of chemicals.

More details on my beauty pages.

The First Beauty Blogger

The first treatise on cosmetic science was written by a woman in 11th century Salerno called Trotula de Ruggiero. It is interesting to see a woman playing such a prominent role so early in history. Her fame in her day was such that she was even mentioned in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Some of the information contained in it is still recognisable today, though some is also extremely bizarre.

There is more on my main beauty pages blog.

Aromatherapy

I think that aromatherapy may be in long term decline. Sales are falling and people are losing interest.

The main people to blame are self styled 'aromatherapists'. There are no valid qualifications in this area and the literature they produce is ridiculous. I think that the public have begun to see through them.

My tip is, if you are interested in the benefits of essential oils look at the properties of the oils themselves and what they can do. Some are surprisingly beneficial. And the search itself is fascinating. Avoid any product that proclaims itself to be an aromatherapy product, and ignore anyone claiming to be an aromatherapist.

Full details on my beauty pages blog.

Calendula - a folk remedy with science behind it

My latest post on the main Colin's Beauty Pages blog is a review of the benefits of calendula. This ia a herb that has been used since ancient times but recently has been proved to be a good anti-inflammatory agent useful for nappy rash.

Colin's Beauty Pages come to Blogger

Hi everyone. I have my own blog that I host myself but I thought there might be some value in having a cut down version on Blogger as well.

If it seems to work I will carry it on. If it doesn't I wont.