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.
Thursday, 17 July 2008
Tuesday, 15 July 2008
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.
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.
Wednesday, 9 July 2008
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.
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.
Monday, 7 July 2008
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.
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.
Thursday, 3 July 2008
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.
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.
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