Innovation at Inglot with O2M Nail Polish

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

inglot-breathable

While I knew Inglot was a bit of a hot-bed for brights, decent brushes and affordable MACesque shades, I didn’t know the company had a fair bit of science up their sleeves.

That was, until I read about O2m, the brand’s newest nail polish. Unveiled at the launch of their first US store in New York’s Times Square recently, O2m comes in 46 shades and uses technology based on the polymer that was originally developed for breathable contact lenses.

The resulting polish has an increased oxygen and water vapor permeability, which in non gobbeldy-gook-speak means that the varnish goes on well and allows your nails to breathe underneath, reducing the potential of fungal infections. Now, in fairness, I’m not hugely sure how big an issue that actually is in real life but I’m assuming that it also cuts down on the dehydrating and nail-splitting properties polish can sometimes have, which would be a bonus.

If you like the sound of it, well, it’s at Inglot’s branch at Liffey Valley where it’s selling it for €13 a bottle. Have you tried it yet - and if so, did you think it was better than other brands?

Tags: inglot, nail varnish, science
Posted in Hands, Body & Feet, Here comes the science, Lotions, Potions & Scent | 4 Comments »

Luscious Lashes with L’Oreal Paris Renewal Lash Serum?

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

loreal lash

We’ve seen tons of innovation from L’Oreal Paris recently, some of it better than others - I don’t think too many of us were impressed with the paint-roller effect foundation - and here’s even more. They’re busy bees in the L’Oreal labs and I think this product will find favour with lots of you.

But before I begin, lets get something crystal clear: this product does NOT cause hair to grow. If it did, it would be a medicine, the licence-to-print-money grail the beauty industry have been seeking for decades, and men the world over would be falling down dead to get their hands on it. Ok. Got that straight? Lets get down to brass tacks, so.

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Tags: L'Oreal paris, lashes, mascara, serum
Posted in Eyes, Lips and Cheeks, Hair & Hair Removal, Here comes the science | 5 Comments »

The Beauty Biz: Friend or Foe?

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

Remember that survey we did recently on the claims brands make for their products, how you guys feel about them, and what you’d like brands to do? Well ladies, here’s the results. I’ve delved deep, analysed the stats and talked to a couple of experts with opposing views. Let me know your thoughts in a comment.

We women seem to be locked in a never ending battle with our beauty products. So immersed in scientific jargon, buzz-words and our sometimes lofty expectations, it often feels like cosmetics give with one hand (many of us enjoy making a new purchase that might, just might, make that crucial difference) and take with the other (er, it didn’t really do what it said it would). We seem to be engaged in what amounts to a game of cat and mouse with the brands whose coffers we fill. And we’re the ones feeling like the mice, by the way.

We’re increasingly annoyed about the claims brands make for their products. In the past couple of years, there have been high-profile cases taken by the British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) on behalf of consumers against beauty behemoths like Proctor and Gamble and Estee Lauder. Both companies were ordered by the body to remove misleading advertising. Acting on consumer complaints, a TV spot for Olay Regenerist was banned because the ASA upheld complaints that Olay claimed the cream could deliver the same benefits as anti-wrinkle injections. Estee Lauder received a similar ad ban for claims they made about Tri-Aktiline Instant Deep Wrinkle Filler.

More recently, cosmetics company MAC were scarlet for themselves when it was revealed that the visuals for their Colour Craft collection were not, in fact, created using the products in the range. Rather, a brand called Ben Nye was called into play to make the lush, colourful looks used for the model shots. Which, um, were what customers were referencing when they decided to buy the products. And that’s not the end of it: Avon was also been slapped on the wrist by the ASA for exaggerating claims it made for one of its mascaras, and the list goes on.

Does this mean we now intrinsically mistrust the companies whose products we buy?

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Tags: beaut.ie investigates, survey
Posted in Beauty News & Links, Here comes the science | 12 Comments »

Origins Harness the Magic of Magnolia in GinZing Refreshing eye cream to brighten and depuff

Monday, October 19th, 2009

origins-ginzing-eyecream

I’m really sceptical about eye creams that claim to banish dark circles, so you probably won’t find much on Beaut.ie about them. In general, I wonder how can something that’s applied topically have an effect on a problem that’s caused by blood pooling in the eye area. Often, what these sort of products include instead are things like light-reflecting mica or small amounts of pigment to tone down the appearance of dark circles. But reducing the appearance is not the same thing as reducing the actual problem.

And while Origins‘ new eye cream, GinZing Refreshing eye cream to brighten and depuff, €31, uses silica and mica to help tamp down the look of your under-eye bags, there’s something else in there that’s interesting: magnolia.

Not just a pretty face, the plant came to the brand’s attention because of reports in scientific literature (Guerlain are using it too in Success Age Splendid) “This triggered our attention and we thought it could work for us,” Dr Lieve Declercq, the global spokesperson for plant physiology and molecular biology at Origins, told me.

And why a flower? “The major benefit is botanicals often perform multiple tasks as opposed to one single function, and this is the strongest we have ever used,” she says. But it is the plant’s abilities to control vascular permeability and the fact that it’s a potent antioxidant have made it perfect for use in the new product.

“Dark circles are caused by blood vessels under the skin,” Declercq says, adding “when you are tired, they become leaky and because the tiny capillaries close to the surface in the eye area are very noticeable, you can really see them.” This leaky thing is worrying: “the vessels let extra cellular fluid and blood out but we have found that magnolia makes the eye area less prone to this problem in the first place, and it controls that sensitivity and stabilises blood capillaries too,” she explains.

Sounds interesting, doesn’t it? The company has backed the product with both clinical and real-person trials and statistics include 68% improvement in moisturisation and a 38% improvement in radiance.

What do you reckon? Will you give it a go?

Tags: dark circles, eye cream, Origins
Posted in Anti-ageing, Here comes the science, Skincare | 15 Comments »

Clinique Even Better Skintone Correcting Moisturiser

Friday, October 16th, 2009

clinique even better

Unless you’ve been hiding in burrow, you’ll know that skincare ranges to lighten and brighten skin are big news right now. Coming at us from Asia, Aphrodite let us in on her discoveries when she was away over in that part of the world, and if you’re a regular Strawberrynet-er, you’ll have clocked the extraordinary amount of brightening ranges that have always been available in from brands that trade in the Orient.

Now they’ve landed on our shores - we checked out one from Shiseido recently - but lets get one thing straight. For us pale caucasian types, this stuff isn’t about changing your skin colour. Rather, as we age, pigmentation spots and blemishes can appear, marking our complexions and making us appear older than we are - after all, what are liver spots but very visible markers of age? And while pigmentation can be easily zapped by an expert using laser, that can be painful and expensive. Creams have an another advantage in that they treat the whole skin, and not just one area.

So if the zapping option doesn’t appeal or your issues are mild, then brightening skincare is the way to go. One of the launches I’ve been most impressed with is the just-on-counter Even Better Skintone Correcting Moisturiser, €52, from Clinique. Not only does it help to banish pigmentation spots, but it’s also designed to be a one-pot-stop, so you get all your benefits in a single jar.

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Tags: Anti-ageing, Clinique, hyper-pigmentation, pigmentation, Skincare
Posted in Anti-ageing, Here comes the science, Skincare | 17 Comments »

In a Sweat? New Vaser Treatment Tackles Hyperhidrosis

Friday, October 2nd, 2009

sweating

Sweating is a pain. It’s even more of a pain if it can’t be controlled by anti-perspirants and it really limits what you can wear - I would never wear grey, for example, cos I’d have big lovely looking patches in a jiffy. Black is my friend.

Botox is a recent solution to the problem and it was popularised by slebs who needed to be sweat-ring-free for big events and appearances. Plus, if I was a celebrity and mags like Now! and Heat took such gleeful delight in drawing red circles around my sweat patches, I reckon I’d be heading for the doctors surgery pronto, too.

One problem with Botox is that it’s not permanent and will need to be repeatedly topped up every few months to keep the problem at bay. The other issue is that it’s expensive. So what can you do? Suffer on with your Driclor or Mitchum, or look for a new solution?

A promising – and permanent - alternative is one offered by the Dundrum Clinic, who are using Vaser to cure excess underarm perspiration. It’s a system that was first developed to provide a less invasive form of fat removal, but it can also help to achieve an 80% reduction in the amount a person sweats.

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Tags: surgery, sweating, vaser
Posted in Brands, treatment & product reviews, Hands, Body & Feet, Here comes the science, Money No Object | 4 Comments »

Kerastase Launch Stimuliste for Thinning Hair

Friday, October 2nd, 2009

kerastase stimuliste

It’s not just men who suffer from thinning hair - women do too, and it can be caused by a whole heap of reasons: pregnancy, stress, tiredness plus biological and hereditary factors can all come into play. The ‘bad hair day’ expression was invented for a reason - for lots of us, hair is our crowning glory and if it doesn’t look good then we don’t feel right.

While we’re waiting for the cosmetic industry to come up with a solution to the problem of hairloss - and whoever finds it will be rich beyond their wildest dreams - there have been some recent developments that are inching us towards the final goal.

New from salon brand Kerastase is Stimuliste, a leave-in spray that “helps to reinforce the hair fibre, maintain the density of thinning hair and reduce the rate of hairloss.” You lash on ten squizzes into scalp daily, massage in and leave on, with no rinsing required. It has a two-step approach: Aminexil helps to reduce the rate of hairloss and amino acid arginine helps to provide added substance - meaning hair looks thicker.

€49.30 is the damage, and you’ll find it - and a companion shampoo - at Kerastase salons now.

Tags: Hair & Hair Removal, Kerastase, thinning hair
Posted in Hair & Hair Removal, Here comes the science | 11 Comments »

Slendertone Face: All You Need to Battle The Ageing Process?

Friday, September 25th, 2009

controller headset

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it even an iPod?

Nope, it’s none of those things. It’s actually Slendertone’s newest foray into the gadget market and it’s got a waiting list of TWO THOUSAND PEOPLE in the UK. Imagine? Landing in Brown Thomas last week, this baby is the sexy face of anti-ageing and clamps to your cheeks to deliver toning, plumping and altogether fabillis lifting that boffins at NUI Galway have declared to be the real deal.

I haven’t had a chance to check mine out yet - and I’m not saying that as any form of an excuse, cos I am dying to sit down with the leaflet and work out how the doofer works. But I have been beside myself with the busy. This weekend, I am promising myself, will be my time with Slendertone face. I intend to spend the weekend in bed propped up on cushions reading trashy novels as my face gets reverse-aged. A glass of wine or 12 may also be involved.

At €300, it’s pricey, but get this - it’s £300stg in the UK, so fair play to Slendertone for not trying that old ramp-up-the-price-the-Irishers-won’t-notice trick. We will.

Whaddya reckon? Would you splash €300 on an anti-ageing gadget or would you prefer to go down the posh skincare route like Aphrodite?

Tags: Anti-ageing, gadget, slendertone
Posted in Anti-ageing, Gadgets, Books & Accessories, Here comes the science, Skincare | 11 Comments »

Double Duty: Cosmetics With Skincare Benefits

Friday, September 18th, 2009

beauty with benefits

One of my favourite things about beauty bits is spotting trends and one that’s gaining a lot of traction recently is for cosmetics that contain extra benefits, like moisturiser, SPF, antioxidants or anti-ageing ingredients. It makes sense: why shouldn’t the things we use daily provide more than just a colour and camouflage function? Good news: now lots of them do.

1. THE POSH POUT ENHANCER

I’ve already raved about this lovely yoke and it’s Rouge Dior Serum de Rouge, €32. It comes in eight shades and promises to do a little more than merely add shine and colour to your pucker: that’s thanks to the fact it contains 20pc ingredients such as hyaluronic acid, mango butter and vitamin A. It’s not just a worthy spend: this stuff looks fabulous on, and you’ll find it at department stores.

2. THE FRIENDLY FOUNDATION

With watermelon extract, rich in naturally occurring vitamins, carbohydrates and amino acids, and antioxidant vanilla and curcuma longa, Korres Oil-free Watermelon Lightweight Tinted Moisturiser SPF 30, €22 at HQhair.com, seems more like something you’d eat. But in fact it’s a light face base, and it’s causing quite a stir on beauty blogs recently for its kind-to-skin properties and natural-looking coverage. If you’re a fan of products free from mineral oils and silicones, this baby ticks both boxes.

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Tags: beauty trends, Clinique, Dior, Elizabeth Arden, Korres, makeup, Shiseido, Smashbox, Too Faced
Posted in Eyes, Lips and Cheeks, Here comes the science | 4 Comments »

Could Your Candles Be Carcinogenic?

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

candles

We’ve been busy debating the merits of fancy ’spensive candles on the Blather over the last few days, trying to decide whether a Jo Malone would trump a Diptyque and how a Cloon Keen Atelier offering might stack up against a Max Benjamin number. So I was thinking of y’all when I came across a study that was presented orally to the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in Washington on 19th August last.

That study was conducted at South Carolina State University, and reported that burning paraffin wax candles releases harmful fumes into the air of your home, including some toxins that have been linked to asthma and eczema as well as known human carcinogens. This was said to be because burning candles doesn’t produce high enough temperatures to completely combust the heavy molecules contained in paraffin wax. This in turn led to the formation and emission of the potentially hazardous molecules.

Beeswax and soy candles, by contrast, were not found to produce the same amounts of indoor air pollutants.

One of the researchers did state that the emissions of an odd paraffin candle was unlikely to have any adverse effects but cautioned against prolonged exposure to multiple lighted paraffin candles (as in every day for years) or lighting them frequently in unventilated areas.

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Tags: Cancer, candles, health
Posted in Diet & Wellbeing, Here comes the science | 27 Comments »