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.