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Putting the science in beauty
There are lots of scientific-sounding words on bottles and pots of shampoos and creams - like liposomes, nanosomes and sodium lauryl sulphate. So what are they exactly and how do they benefit us? SCOPE asks scientist Vanessa Hyde, who has years of experience in testing medicines and beauty products, what they mean and if there's really any science in the products we use. For example, what's a nanosome? "Well if you look up the word nanosomes in a scientific dictionary you won't find it," says Vanessa. "Nanosomes probably mean a very small sphere, or bead of product." "These words are a concept rather than an ingredient," she says. Rejuvenating shampoo So what about shampoos that claim to rejuvenate your hair by adding micro oils, pro-tensium, vitamins, magnesium, active fruit concentrate and a scientific anti-breakage ingredient? All products have some type of active ingredient that performs a particular task (such as to clean or to moisturise), so there is some science going on in the form of chemistry. However, sometimes science is used to advertise and sell the products too. "A lot of it is very clever marketing. You need to read between the lines," says Vanessa. "Hair is dead. You can't bring it back to life with shampoo. The only living part is the root." Most hair products actually work by coating the hair, smoothing down the rough, dry edges on the hair to give it a more healthy appearance.
Another ingredient we sometimes hear about is salicylic acid. Lots of spot and blemish treatment creams contain it. Salicylic acid is actually the active ingredient in aspirin, because it has antibacterial and antifungal properties. However putting crushed up aspirin on your blemish might be overkill. Sometimes companies use numbers and research to make their products sound successful. A well-known age-defying anti-wrinkle cream claims in its advertising that "76.4% of women agreed that our scientific formula made them appear to look, on average, 9.8 years younger." However on closer examination, the ad reveals that the cream was given to only 39 women for the research study. "The sample size is fairly small," says Vanessa. "It's very expensive to do a study in a large sample group." Simple science So the complicated sounding "science bit" behind many popular beauty products may be much simpler than you think. Vanessa advises people to always check the small print on the labels and in the ads before spending too much of their hard-earned cash. Learn more: Find out more about the science of makeup Find out how antioxidants work Decipher the ingredients in your beauty products |
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