I have just watched a really interesting programme. It had claimed that it was going to radically alter what we have believed for decades about exercising. In fact, 3 minutes exercise a week is enough to achieve significant health benefits. A strong claim, I had to give it a watch. Read the rest of this entry »
Hi Colin. I’m a junior in high school in the United States, which means it’s time for me to get serious about my college search. It is my dream to become a cosmetic chemist, but I could really use some advice on how to get there. If you could give me some information on the schools you went to, the degrees you received, how you broke into the field, etc, that would be GREATLY appreciated. I have been looking into some international schools as well so even if you went to school in the UK, any information you have would be extremely helpful.
I don’t like the blog No More Dirty Looks much at the best of times, but a particularly irritating blog post had me reaching for my camera. Rant alert.
One of the most commmented on blog posts I have done recently was the one on the preservative combination of methylchloroisothiazolinone and methylisothiazolinone. But I was surprised by the number of people who have written in to talk about their experiences. Read the rest of this entry »
With stories in the last couple of weeks including scares about lead, cadmium, arsenic and today cobalt, I have decided to set up a bingo card comprising the Periodic Table. The rules are simple. When there is a scare story you just cross off the element involved. Fabulous prizes for a full group or a period.
I got an e-mail from someone asking about the testing of cosmetics on animals. Well, I say asking. They had done a lot of research and it sounded more like they were telling me that cosmetics are tested on animals in effect because of legislation that requires all new chemicals to be tested for safety.
I wasn’t quite sure how to respond at first. The animal rights people are well known to be extremely forthright and some of them resort to pretty robust methods. I don’t want to end up getting my car blown up. I also don’t want to be hypocritical. So let me say that if I thought that the testing of cosmetics on animals was necessary to ensure their safety I would support it. It doesn’t seem any more cruel to animals to use them in this kind of way than to cut them up and eat them, which most of us do every day. People are going to use cosmetics, and they need to be safe. I have no desire to harm animals but I don’t want people using harmful products either.
But as a scientist who develops cosmetics I have never felt the slightest need for data generated on animals. I have never had to wrestle with any moral dilemmas simply because I don’t see any need for testing on animals in the first place for the purposes of developing cosmetics. There have been legislative requirements in some countries that have meant lots of testing has had to be done to comply with the law. (I am pretty sure this has never been the case in the UK as it happens.) Legislators are not very good at science generally. In California they seem determined to take no notice of it all. But as things stand the EU has now banned any testing of cosmetic products using animals. Hopefully this is an issue we can now all forget about.
I have found a stash of shampoos, conditioners, body lotions and hand creams in a box in my cellar. They are left over from a move to this house in 1997, so are now 15 years old. The question is: are they safe to use???
Fifteen years old? I would ditch them. Read the rest of this entry »
I have to apologise for people who have written in with problems. For some reason my e-mail filter suddenly decided to treat everything coming in via the contact form as spam, so I have only just picked up some of them. I hope none have been completely lost.
I am working through them now, and one reply is already scheduled for Monday.
Ali from the the Joie de Vivre blog (http://jdvbeautyhall.blogspot.com/) asked for my opinion of products based on gem elixirs, one range of which is being promoted rather effectively in the UK at the moment. I have to congratulate whichever PR firm they are using because they have done a good job of getting the story out there. I like to give credit where it is due.
But I am afraid that is about all the credit I can give them. I find the actual idea behind this range to be, oh I don’t know. Where do I even begin? First off gem elixirs are not so age old folk magic. I had never heard of them until last week. The comparison with Bach Flower remedies is at best imperfect. The Bach Flower remedies themselves are a load of balony but they do at least have an actual history of use, even if they don’t have a history of effect. Elixirs made with gems are a new idea and a silly one. What skin benefits are likely to derive from gems? Read the rest of this entry »
I had a curious e-mail appear in my in-box today. Here is the whole thing: Read the rest of this entry »
Methylchloroisothiazolinone Free Products