Rest My Chemistry - The Pheromones

 

Type “pheromones” in google search and at any given time over six million results will come up. So what exactly are pheromones and why so many results??

According to a medical encyclopaedia, the pheromones are chemical signals that trigger a response in another member of the same species and were first discovered in silkworms, where female silkworm would release such a signal in order to attract a mate. There are many types of pheromones that animals and even some plants emit and sex pheromone is of course, the one most people have heard about.

So how does that affect us, the human race? Do we actually have them? Can we really attract a mate just by the way their smell gels with ours? But, more importantly, can we actually bottle it, so we can smell our way into anyone’s heart… or bed even.  

Well, looking at the google results, that is just what over two million links want us to believe.  

Enter “Scent of Eros” which some scientist dude (he even wrote a book about it) developed with some other dude and is marketing a selection of pheromone-based products. It promises to make a man feel more “manly” and for a woman it is supposed to lift their mood and get them to feel better about themselves in order to be more appealing to men. 

I mean, alcohol already exists, right? And then, the disclaimer: “there’s no scientific data that supports the claim that any “pheromone-containing” fragrance or fragrances additives acts as an aphrodisiac.” And the point is? He then goes on to say that the most wearer can expect from the product is something of a perceived boost to their confidence?! Yeah sure, I’ve just spent a $50 on a product that will make me more confident so I’ll believe it will! A Balenciaga handbag would do the same trick for me! More expensive, but I’d enjoy it more.

Moving on, there are some more intriguing products available on different sites. “Pherox” is “different” again, but this time it is supposed to be taken orally and not sprayed onto skin. It claims that it will boost the natural production of sex hormones that we emit and hence attract more mates. Shame you cannot smell them as I’d love to be able to smell that powerful “aura of irresistibility” around me, once I take the magic pill of course!  No ingredients listed on site but once you take it you shall experience “feelings of euphoria, confidence and jubilation…flushing, redness of the skin and a heightened pulse”. Sounds more like an illegal class b substance to me.

Then I come across “Liq-Me” that creates “drop dead appeal”. Yes I really want to meet a guy I fancy and for him to drop dead! Nice. And on the same site there’s another one called “Amour Devil” that will “create extreme romance” with the opposite sex. Sounds like something Borat would say! And what is extreme romance? They suggest spraying the product on the neck or the “appropriate areas”. I’d say if someone got near to smelling my “appropriate areas” I’d be onto a sure thing!

I managed to stumble on a site that looks more serious that gives me all the info and scientific research into different kinds of pheromones and gives a list of published scientific articles that support the theory that pheromones work to attract romantic interest. And of course they claim that their pheromones work and they charge a whopping $100 for their version of it.

Oh I don’t know, I’m not sold on it. I’ve tried a few of the so-called pheromone enhancing products (for research purposes naturally) that mostly smelled like cat’s wee and gave me no extra attention from men. But saying that, pheromones are quietly muscling into the mainstream fragrance market. Paris Hilton apparently loves them and has included them in her perfume.  Even the fragrance I love and wear (Escentric Molecules) apparently has the pheromones as one of the ingredients. And do I attract more men? No. So far only (straight) women commented that I smelled nice, but they also said the same for this other non-pheromone perfume I was wearing.
 

So make your own mind up.

How To Make Your Skin Glow

The trends are funny. The minute you get comfortable with one of them, lets say, shiny skin, some horrible people start telling you that it’s so over and you should be doing matte.

As one of those “horrible people” or make up artists, let me apologise.

What happens is that long before you, the general public, or whoever is reading my humble ramblings, are aware of the so-called “trend”, we the make up artists have been doing it for a while already.

Then the cosmetics companies notice and develop products and then the trend goes mainstream. The minute the trend has gone mainstream, make up artists have gotten sick and tired of the look and have moved on.

One of the easiest changes that makes so much difference is the shine versus matte.

Take the skin for example. In the 80s matte was the look that created a nice flat canvas for all the shading, blushing, and crazy colourful eyes and lips. Then we move onto late 80s and early 90s, as a knee jerk reaction to the previous excess it all got very neutral and nude. Yes nude make up came into vocabulary about then. And skin gradually became less matte.

Mid 90s it was shine central, Vaseline skin came into fashion. Then after that we got dewy, which to a lay person is something not matte and not shiny. But definitely more natural than the matte look. Your skin should appear "glowing" without apparent shine. And the glow is reserved on cheeks and nowhere to be seen on less flattering areas such as nose or forehead. 

Matte had another appearance not long ago with all the 80s revival trends, so we pretty much came full circle.

What I am trying to say that this season the skin is back to dewy. Total shine was never really that flattering, especially not on photographs, so we settled in the middle. Sheer skin, not too much coverage, the look that is very achievable these days with modern foundation formulas.

So how do you do dewy skin you may ask?

This is how I do it.

Apply foundation that you like by dabbing a few dots in the middle of your face and blend it well outwards with a brush. Good choice of foundations would be Armani Luminous Silk foundation, Crème de La Mer The treatment Fluid Foundation, Laura Mercier Moisture Supreme Foundation. I love La Mer foundation, but for such an expensive product, the colours are limited which is stupid really. Laura Mercier Moisture Supreme is excellent as well, and as a bonus it does not have silicones which I personally dislike on my skin.

Many companies sell foundation brushes that are made of microfibre or nylon, I personally like the real sable brushes that I get from Screenface in London, I prefer to blend with real bristle. You blend the foundation into the skin until the foundation kind of disappears and is not visible. You should have now a nice even base and move onto the concealer. The concealer is there to fix any problems you might have such as dark circles or spots or other “blemishes”. By the way, I don’t see freckles as blemishes so don’t go there.

Under eye concealer should be slightly paler than the foundation and blemish concealer should be the same colour. I like Nars concealer. 

You apply both with a fine brush and blend.

Then you apply loose powder. Take a large brush and fix the foundation, especially concentrating on the middle of the face, under eyes, nose, around the nose, chin and forehead. You need the powder to fix the foundation and the concealer. Becca does a really good loose powder (soon to be sadly discontinued grr), it’s called Fine Finishing Powder or use Laura Mercier Loose Setting Powder.

And that’s generally it. If your skin is on the dry side, and you find that the powder just “sits” there, I have a trick that will fix that. Spray some Rodial Dragon’s Blood Hylaruonic Tonic on your face, then pat dry with a tissue.

There you go, a perfect dewy look.

And the more time you spend on your skin preparation, the longer your make up will last.

Oh and another point, whatever your skin tone, please don’t use a lighter foundation than your own skin colour. It will make you look weird, pale and unhealthy. If you must,  go a shade darker.  


Main image courtesy of Becca Cosmetic.

What are Parabens?

When writing about mineral make up the other day, I mentioned parabens. I know that most people have heard of them, but they don’t really know more than what we read in papers – “parabens are bad”, etc.

The thing is that every cream or foundation produced will need some sort of preservative, otherwise they will go off. Most cosmetic products (especially liquid based) have a shelf life of maybe three months, if refrigerated. In order to prolong the shelf life, cosmetic companies have to use preservatives. One of those is paraben and its varieties.

Parabens are esters of para-hydroxy benzoic acid. All of them are synthetically produced in the lab and they are quite cheap and effective, so they are added to products such as foundations, moisturisers, toothpaste, shampoo, self-tan, etc.

Some of them are present in nature, but for the sake of argument, we’ll look at them as man-made.

So why are parabens apparently bad for us?

I’ll start with allergic reactions. Although rare, they still happen to some people that they react to parabens.

Another, more controversial issue, is that parabens tend to slightly mimic estrogen in human body. Soy does that too, by the way.

Estrogen (oestrogen) is a female hormone that when produced in high concentrations can lead to breast cancer.

The fact is that the link between parabens and breast cancer was not proven. Mainly as the parabens are not staying in our bodies for long at all, they are very quickly metabolised and excreted. But the people will fear them anyway, so I’ll list them here in case you wish to avoid the products containing them.

Here they are: butylparaben, ethylparaben, heptylparaben, methylparaben, propylparaben.

Less common parabens include isobutylparaben, isopropylparaben, benzylparaben and their sodium salts.

 

So what are the alternatives to parabens?

I know that companies use phenoxyethanol, which on paper does not look that fabulous at all, but hey, it’s not paraben!

The “natural” alternatives are vitamin E, citric acid, grapefruit seed extract and rosemary oleoresin.

What do I think? Hmmm, I don't know what to say. I use products with parabens, I'm lucky that I'm not allergic to any of them, so if I happen to like the product and it contains parabens, I'll use it. 

I think that life is too short to worry constantly about what goes into or onto us. I just don't have the time to be obsessive about it really. And I think the stress is the biggest killer of them all.

Unless you get hit by a bus, then the bus is bigger, hands down!

What makes mineral make up different?

 

After doing some research, apparently not much. 

Both the "mainstream" or regular make up and mineral ranges contain pretty much the same ingredients like titanium oxide, mica, zinc oxide, iron oxides, silica, talc, etc.

But what differs mineral make up from regular one is the lack certain allergens, like parabens, chemical dyes and mineral oil. And those are the reasons which make the mineral make up good for oily and acne prone skin. And sensitive skins. 

Oh and by the way, when I say mineral make up I mean foundation. 

People tend to think that mineral make up is more “natural”? Unfortunately that’s not quite the truth and there's nothing wrong with that. No one actually went to the mine, got your zinc oxide and titanium oxide, milled them and made make up out of them. It just doesn’t work like that. Both of those ingredients are processed in the lab as nothing in nature is that clean that can be used in cosmetics, especially zinc oxide has to be synthesised in the lab.

I wrote about zinc oxide in my previous post and indeed, its calming properties make it suitable for sensitive skins. Together with titanium oxide it also provides some sun protection.

One ingredient you should definitely scan the label for is bismuth oxychloride. While it gives the luminosity to the make up, it's also been reported that women would have acne flare ups and irritation when using make up with this ingredient.  

I’m not denying that mineral make up can look great, in fact some of my favourite products are products from the mineral ranges. But, the whole thing lost a bit of sheen for me when the cosmetics companies decided to jump on the bandwagon and brought up eyeshadows, lipsticks, liquid foundations and other things.

The beauty and the attraction of mineral make up was that the ingredient list was short. But now, once you start making liquid foundations, it became as long as the conventional foundation. Why? 

 

Well microbes love breeding in the water and without a suitable  preservative the product will not keep. Apart from going “off” it can also infect the skin. So in order to prevent the product being spoiled they put back the same ingredients that they got rid of in the beginning…. Confused?

So when picking mineral product read the ingredients. The shorter the list, the better the product for you, especially if you have sensitive skin. Especially look out for added mineral oil and fragrance. 

If you want to buy liquid foundation, eyeshadows, lipstick etc from the mineral range, by all means go for it, but be realistic. Chances are that you’re buying the normal stuff that is no different from your mainstream make up.While there's nothing wrong with those products, as long as you know you are buying into the hype, all is well.