Perry Romanowski - The Beauty Aisle Insider

WHO ARE THE BEAUTY BRAINS?

The Beauty Brains are a group of cosmetic scientists who understand what the chemicals used in cosmetics really do, how products are tested, and what all the advertising means. They have no cosmetics to sell so you can be sure that the information provided is the most unbiased beauty advice available.

LEFT BRAIN

The most hard-core skeptical scientist of all the Beauty Brains, the Left Brain peruses the world of science to bring you the latest developments and explain how they might apply to the cosmetic world.

RIGHT BRAIN

Still scientific, but a bit less militant, the Right Brain has a good eye for the humorousand human interestside of science. The Right Brain is particularly skilled in interpreting advertising claims.

SARAH BELLUM

Sarah works behind the scenes researching questions, reviewing the latest beauty technology and acting as the Beauty Brains guinea pig.

WHATS THE PURPOSE OF THE BEAUTY BRAINS?

There are literally thousands of cosmetic products and companies constantly bombarding you with confusing, and sometimes false, claims. The Beauty Brains was started in 2006 to help women understand the real science behind the beauty products they use every day. We have taken questions from people around the world about all beauty topics, including hair care, skin care, makeup and even cosmetic surgery.

Were here to help you cut through the confusing, misleading and sometimes false information with which the beauty companies bombard you. Our goal is to explain cosmetic science to you in a way thats entertaining and easy to understand. We believe the more information you have, the better youll be able to find products that you like at a price you can afford. So you can listen to the advertising, or advice from a friend, or what your stylist tells you. But if you really want to understand cosmetic products in an unbiased, scientific way, you need the Beauty Brains.

In this book weve collected our best questions and answers to make learning about cosmetic science easy and entertaining. By giving you honest, unbiased information, the Beauty Brains can help you become a smarter shopper so youll be able to get the products you like at prices you can afford.

Stylists love to push proucts but is it really the best idea to buy them? In this chapter, youll learn the truth about whether salon brands are really exclusive to salons, the different types of shampoos that are available and get some straight talk about the most popular hair care brand.

THE SHAMPOO SECRET BEAUTY COMPANIES DONT WANT YOU TO KNOW

While we hate to disagree with dermatologists, we dont understand why they recommended a deep-cleansing shampoo when you have dandruff. Deep-cleansing-type shampoos will remove the surface flakes, but only a dandruff shampoo can address the cause of flaking and itching. So wed recommend finding a good dandruff shampoo instead of chasing deep-cleansing, clarifying and antiresidue products. This may seem confusing to you because the beauty companies tell you there are so many different kinds of shampoo. But in reality, every shampoo on the market falls into one of a few basic categories.

THERE ARE ONLY FOUR MAIN SHAMPOO TYPES IN THE WORLD

All shampoo can be categorized by their basic function. So why are there what seem like thousands of products on the market, you ask? Because companies that sell shampoo need new ways to talk about their products to keep them sounding new and exciting. Theres nothing wrong with companies being creative about their names and claims as long as they are honestly depicting what their products can do. But you can be a smarter consumer if you can see beyond the marketing hype and understand the functionality of these four basic shampoo types.

1 Deep cleansing shampoos ( aka volumizing, clarifying, balancing, oil control and thickening ). These shampoos are designed to get gunk off your hair and scalp. They typically contain slightly higher levels of detergents so they foam and clean better. They include the examples above as well as salon products like Paul Mitchell Shampoo and Frederic Fekkais Full Volume Shampoo.

2 Conditioning shampoos ( aka moisturizing, 2-in-1, smoothing, antifrizz, strengthening, color care, straightening and hydrating ). These kinds of formulas are all about leaving a moisturizing agent, like silicone or polyquaternium-10, on the hair to smooth it. They are very good for dry hair, especially if you color-treat or heat-style, but they can weigh down fine hair. Good examples of this type include most of the Pantene formulas and some products from the LOreal Vive collection and Dove Advanced Care.

3 Baby shampoos ( aka kids shampoo and tear-free ). These are milder, lower-foaming surfactant formulas that are designed not to sting or burn your eyes. Theyre better for babies but they dont clean hair as well. Johnsons Baby Shampoo is the classic example, but this category also includes Touch of an Angel and The Little Bath.

4 Antidandruff shampoos ( aka anti-itch, flake control and dry scalp ). These are medicated shampoos that contain a drug ingredient that controls itching and flaking. In the United States these are considered to be over-the-counter (OTC) drugs. Head & Shoulders is the leading dandruff product; other examples include Nizoral Dandruff Shampoo and Redken Dandruff Control Shampoo.

ARE SALON PRODUCTS IN REGULAR STORES THE SAME AS THOSE IN SALONS?

Salon products are no different than those sold in stores. Selling salon brands in places that arent salons is called diversion. The truth is that these salon brands depend on diverted product to boost their sales. They want to have it both ways. They want to tell you that Paul Mitchell is a salon-only brand, which makes it seem more exclusive, but they also want the high-volume sales that they can get only through mass market outlets like your local Target or Walmart. Additionally, they dont want to anger their salon distributors because people are able to get the same stuffbut cheaperin nonsalon outlets.