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Katie Rigdon

The Chemistry Behind Moisturizers - 1 views

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    Hey guys so the interesting aspect of this article is the part about emulsions. Emulsions are basically mixtures of water, oil, and surfactant (something that binds to both oil and water and therefore helps them combine). This topic is interesting in terms of moisturizers because your skin needs oil to moisturizer it but just putting oil on our skin is very messy. Emulsions allow for neat and tidy moisturizers for our skin!
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    So bringing back an old article, do you guys think we could relate this to what we're learning in class by looking at the process of mixing water, oil, and surfactant. Because water and oil naturally repel, do you guys think that getting them to mix together would be an endothermic reaction, because thats not how they want to be? Just a random thought :D
Andrew Kang

Premium Beauty News - When plastic packaging is antimicrobial... - 0 views

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    for a little throwback but with a new twist - nanoparticles in cosmetics. how the plastic packaging of cosmetics with new materials can help protect + preserve the cosmetics it contains. 
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    This may seem a little random, but after reading all of these articles, it's a bit unnerving to think that we let preservatives sit on our faces all day long, gathering into our pores and clogging them. From reading this article the word 'inorganic' and 'plastic' stood out to me the most since these are unnatural products that block pores.
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    I agree with you, Amanda, that thinking about all the stuff in our cosmetics seems "unnerving". Ignorance is bliss, but now that we are more educated about the chemistry behind cosmetics, its seems really weird to be putting all these strange chemicals on our face. When I read the labels on my products, I used to just think, "wow look at all those chemicals with long names" but now I recognize them and think, "There are pthalates and sodium lauryl sulfates, and all those other dangerous compounds in my shampoo?????"
Katie Rigdon

Animal Testing 101 - 0 views

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    Here is one organization fighting animal testing. It is interesting that they point our that animal testing is still used even though it supplies results that are not always applicable to humans. I think this could be a really interesting blog topic!
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    The entire premise of animal testing is and has been a hot topic for a while now. It poses big ethics questions that can be looked into. However, there was something in the article that said that even if a product blinds an animal, it sometimes is still sold to humans, which raises the question of whether or not animal testing even has a purpose anymore.
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    Animal testing is pretty big in the cosmetic world, but we definitely need to relate it back to chemistry some how. I think if we find some sort of connection to chemistry, then we're golden :)
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    well in the real world no field of science stands on its own. it is always interwoven with other fields, like chemistry and biology especially since we're looking at cosmetics. this article seems mostly ethics/biology concerned so i don't know how relevant it will be :/
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    Yeah, you have a point. But wasn't there a part of the project that we needed to include that related to a field other then chemistry?
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    If worse come to worst, we can always relate how an animal absorbs the cosmetics' chemicals differently than humans do (relating it back to chemistry).
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    true true so this covers the whole "relating to other fields" topic. and animal chemistry (is there such a thing?) is definitely worth looking at.
Amanda Jara

Soap and Saponification - Chemistry - 4 views

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    We can relate this post on hydrolysis and what we just did this past chapter with solutions.
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    maybe we can also look at how different soaps utilize this technology
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    The chemistry behind soaps could be a really interesting topic. I know in AP Chemistry we were talking about how some soaps just remove the oils on your skin, but it is also really important for soaps to moisturize your skin as well as clean it so that your skin doesn't get really dry.
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    Sorry I just realized that that last comment wasn't totally related to the article but it is another aspect of soaps that we could look into. It could also be interesting to compare the ingredients of different soaps and see if the differences really affect their performance.
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    It's not related to this article but it is related to what we're learning in class/cosmetics - I smell a possible blog post.
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    Going off of what Katie said about soaps removing the oils on you skin, I know some people who have really sensitive skin and actually break out into rashes after using certain soaps. Maybe we can look why that happens, (is it the removal of oils, or the addition of chemicals that are supposed to help moisturize the skin). From there we can probably find the ingredient that leads to such effects.
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    That's a good idea - the "or." Perhaps it is actually both? And these ingredients that supposedly help moisturize your skin, how are they passing testing if they dry it out? Things to look into.
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    It looks like a this topic could really tie in with the last topic in advanced chem in terms of polar and non-polar molecules. Yay connections :)
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    Maybe we can go even further and see if it is the different combinations of ingredients that causes reactions. Perhaps it may be the case that one ingredient may be harmless if it is alone, but when combined with something else, it can change its properties.
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    I'm in the process of writing a blog post on soaps, and iin my research, I basically found that soaps are made from fats and salts, which make the non polar and polar, and so that lets them bind to non polar things like grease and polar things like water, and they lets them wash stuff away. Thats a way we can relate this to the stuff we're learning in class :)
Jenny Mu

INGREDIENTS: Figuring out what's "hypo-allergenic" and "non-comedogenic" - 0 views

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    This is an easy to read, interesting blog post about the usage of worlds like "hypo-allergenic" and "non-comedogenic" on cosmetics, and what it actually means chemically for products to be labelled with those words. This kind of addresses what we were talking about on the simvastatin article, about cosmetics that can help clear skin Things that are non-comedogenic do not necessarily clear skin, but they do not cause acne. We could start there, looking at chemical compounds in cosmetics that can cause acne and that don't cause acne and then look into how to treat it.  
Andrew Kang

Topical simvastatin shown to accelerate wound healing in diabetes - 3 views

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    maybe we should look at the chemistry behind simvastatin - how it can penetrate the skin? after that it's a lot of biology 
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    Really interesting article although this seems to be straying a little from cosmetics. It also might be hard to relate this back to what we are discussing in class. Looking at cosmetics that also help heal people's bodies could be a possible blog post.
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    Yeah that's what I was worried about. And good idea!
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    I like the idea of just looking at how it penetrates the skin, and I think we can relate it back to cosmetics through that because a lot of cosmetic products need to find effective ways to get their ingredients to penetrate the skin, because otherwise, they wouldn't really work. just an idea
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    Kind of going off of what Katie said about cosmetics healing the body, you can always find the foundation commercials advertising regenerating ingredients that "take years off your face." it can be a different angle to discuss instead of usual topic of how facial cosmetics cause premature aging.
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    People often forget that cosmetics also encompasses things that benefit your health as well. I made one blog post already about how anti-aging creams work but I never looked at foundation and other products.
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    That could be a really cool blog post Andrew- makeup that is actually beneficial to your skin. I know there are some concealers that not only cover acne but actually contain ingredients that help heal it! I'm sure there are lots of other products like that.
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    A lot of commercials say that their product will help clear skin, but how many actually do? And what do they use to do it?
Amanda Jara

Beauty Secret: The Dangers of Cosmetics 5/04/07 | abc11.com - 2 views

  • phthalates, and she's convinced it led to a birth defect in her son
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    This article says that scientists have found evidence that a model who used a great deal of cosmetics (concealer, foundation, corrective makeup) in her career are to blame for the birth defects to her son, (the phthalates in most of the cosmetics). Maybe we can find more articles that result in someone suffering defects due to phthalates.
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    this is a really cool article Amanda! I think it's kind of scary that some of the cosmetics that you might think are totally FDA approved and everything could still cause things like birth defects
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    when the FDA approves products I don't think they foresee a person using tons and tons of them such as a model. hmm.... avid make-up users be forewarned.
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    Would providing a list of, for lack of a better word, 'side effects' be a possibility for make-up companies? Perhaps adding something like a long-term effects list.
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    definitely! or maybe even a a label with the maximum amount of the product that can be used while still being safe.
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    It would be interesting if makeup companies were forced to be transparent about the long term effects of their products. I mean are companies even thinking of that kind of thing when they make their products? Do they do long term tests? or do they just test to make sure that their products don't cause damage over the short period of time they are actually used? After working on this blog for a couple months, I'm realizing that I am a very ignorant consumer: I just use products without really considering how safe they are for me. I always thought that FDA approved meant that a product was safe so it's a little scary realizing that that actually isn't the case.
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    It's true that companies should test their products for long term effects, however, realistically, that would be VERY expensive, and by then that product may not be "hottest thing out there." An idea could be that we could look into the business aspect of producing cosmetics. For example, the costs in getting the materials together, testing it, marketing, etc.
Andrew Kang

Cosmetic chemical hinders brain development in tadpoles - 0 views

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    Do you think people should be concerned - or it's just the media sensationalizing another possible harmful effect that in fact we have no reason to worry about?
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    I feel that there would need to be more research, tests, experiments, etc. done to be even close in saying whether or not a cosmetic is that harmful to a human. However this brings up the topic of what extent are people and researchers willing to go to in order to perform such tests. An ethics issue can be brought up, as well as the whole human testing vs animal testing.
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    I think that pretty much all chemicals can be dangerous at high enough doses or long enough exposure. Like our blog post about sodium lauryl sulfate in shampoos, the harmful effects described about SLS are only true if you continuously marinate your scalp in it for 24 hours. In this experiment, they had to expose tadpoles to the chemical for 10 days in a row to get some sort of effect. I think we are fine for now :)
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    I like the idea of talking about research ethics in one of our blog posts, especially since I think there are a lot of people who don't really know what tests the products they use go through before they are put on the shelves. Here is a list I found of companies who apparently use animal testing. http://vidacompassion.org/main/list/company.html
Katie Rigdon

The Insect Repellent DEET | Pesticides | US EPA - 2 views

  • After completing a comprehensive re-assessment of DEET, EPA concluded that, as long as consumers follow label directions and take proper precautions, insect repellents containing DEET do not present a health concern. Human exposure is expected to be brief, and long-term exposure is not expected. Based on extensive toxicity testing, the Agency believes that the normal use of DEET does not present a health concern to the general population. EPA completed this review and issued its reregistration decision (called a RED) in 1998. (More about REDs)
  • Read and follow all directions and precautions on this product label. Do not apply over cuts, wounds, or irritated skin. Do not apply to hands or near eyes and mouth of young children. Do not allow young children to apply this product. Use just enough repellent to cover exposed skin and/or clothing. Do not use under clothing. Avoid over-application of this product. After returning indoors, wash treated skin with soap and water. Wash treated clothing before wearing it again. Use of this product may cause skin reactions in rare cases. The following additional statements will appear on the labels of all aerosol and pump spray formulation labels: Do not spray in enclosed areas. To apply to face, spray on hands first and then rub on face. Do not spray directly onto face.
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    It's a good thing insect repellent is not harmful, since I know, at least personally, that it is essential during summer months. This can be another example of the media and paranoid consumers over-exaggerating the truth about certain products.
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    I'm not sure if this is relevant, but I remember one time I sprayed bug spray with deet all over my legs, and some of it got on my toes, and my nail polish started to dissolve and come off like it does when I use nail polish remover... Maybe there is some chemical relationship between deet and acetone, perhaps the structure or something else that causes both to be able to take off nail polish. Then again, this isn't the most relevant/pertinent of questions. Just an interesting thought I had.
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    that's definitely relevant - jenny! and if there is a relationship between deet and acetone, what does it simply about the safety of deet? acetone isn't exactly a child-friendly chemical.
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    That would be a really interesting topic. I'm going to do some research right now!
Jenny Mu

Deet! - 2 views

katie, I think you forgot to bookmark the link or something, because I can't get to the page :(

chemistry cosmetic skin deet bugspray

Jenny Mu

Chemistry of Make Up :: Education :: ChemistryViews - 2 views

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    This page helps explain the chemistry behind colors
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    Amanda - this might help with your blog post on colors in makeup
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    Yeah this is great! It's really interesting to see what goes into making the different colors. It's amazing how different the same product can be just because it has a different color.
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    that's a good point, that maybe you have the same eyeshadow in different colors, yet each of those different colors is actually made up of different stuff. It kind of makes you think... is there one color that is better than the rest because of its components? hmm...
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    I saw your tweet about crushed beatles and I think I saw the same article when I was doing some research on the same topic too! It's really interesting, apparently the FDA has to approve color additives. This (http://www.fda.gov/forindustry/coloradditives/coloradditiveinventories/ucm115641.htm) is an extensive list of all the color additives they have approved so you might be able to get some good information from there. The FDA website in general has a lot of really great resources for our blog.
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    *beetles not beatles. Haha we don't want crushed brit bands in our cosmetics :) yeah that's a really interesting page. I think I just spent the last 10 minutes scrolling through all the things and picking out the ones that I recognized from the back of food wrappers. But I wish they would put what color the additive is, so you can see what colors go into your products. But maybe they didn't put the color because it changes based on the chemistry of the item that it's going into? that could be interesting to look into...
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    haha sorry about that typo :) oh and I'm pretty sure I found a page that lists what color it is. Let me see if I can find it again.
Jenny Mu

Nanomaterials and Hormone Disrupters in Sunscreens | EWG's Skin Deep® | 2012 ... - 1 views

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    This site gives a really good overview of the top ingredients in sunscreens, and their pros and cons. 
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    Katie - I think this would help with your blog post
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    So it seems that the biggest concerns with sunscreens and their components is that some of the components, like mineral formulations like zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, or oxybenzone, are small enough to penetrate the skin and be toxic!
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    Like you mentioned before, toxicity is something interesting we could look into. Toxicity with regard to both us as humans, and our environment, like the aquatic life that would come into contact with some of the chemicals in these sunscreens. Katie, maybe you should add this to your blog post :)
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    I definitely will add this! Looks like some really helpful information that people should know about.
Katie Rigdon

CCMR - Ask A Scientist! - 2 views

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    The radiation that comes from the sun, known as the solar spectrum, contains the visible sunlight that we see as well as invisible components of "light." The different parts of the solar spectrum have different wavelengths. Some of the solar spectrum is blocked by the earth's atmosphere, including the ozone layer that people are concerned about losing.
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    I thought this article was really interesting as it talks about how different sunscreens differ from each other based on the frequencies of light they absorb.
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    I think I will write my next blog post on this topic so I am going to post a few more links and let me know what you guys think!
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    relating it to chemistry, it would be interesting to look at the different chemical compounds and which one help deflect which uv rays. I think this site mentions para-amino benzoic acids, zinc oxide, and titanium oxide.
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    everyone knows that there's chemistry behind sunscreen but it'd be cool to finally to see HOW the chemistry works! good idea
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    Yeah! It's also kind of interesting because there are two different types of sunscreen: chemical and physical. I can talk about the differences there too!
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    I wonder if the sunscreens that created the thick, white 'goo' is stronger and more efficient than the transparent sunscreens used today. Most bottles of sunscreen say to reapply within a certain number of hours, so it can be interesting to see how older formulas of sunscreen compare to those most commonly used today.
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    That's a really good point, Amanda. Those thick white sunscreens that just show up on your skin opaquely probably helps to protect your skin just by blocking out the sun... Nowadays, since no one wants to have gross, whitish stuff on their face, sunblock has become clear so that you can't see it. I think they protect you from the sun by either absorbing the rays, like with oxybenzones, or reflecting the sun in tiny particles of metal oxides. Changing sunscreen to be transparent was probably for aesthetic reasons, but which way is better for sun protection? Is just straight up blocking out the sun with an opaque covering better or are these new, fancier ways better...
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    The Nanomaterials article above mentions something about using smaller particles between 20-200nanometers which make the lotions nearly clear. Because of this, I would hypothesize that it is not as effective. In addition, continuing with this topic, (despite this being from the above article) the nanoparticles seem to have a negative effect on the aquatic life and their environments.
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    hmmm interesting that you say that we could tie in environmental effects into one of our blog posts maybe? Perhaps about the chemical compounds in our personal products, and how they affect the environment? I think sunscreen is a big one, because a lot of the time, people just go into the water right after they put it on, so it can come off into the water and affect aquatic life. Good idea
Jenny Mu

snopes.com: Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Shampoo - 4 views

shared by Jenny Mu on 15 Nov 12 - Cached
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    this is the article I talked about before about the email chain with the myth of sodium lauryl sulfate and cancer
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    Interesting on how certain aspects of a product can be made out to be much worse than they really are. While some ingredients may be fatal, there are others that seem to have exaggerated effects and aren't too bad.
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    yeah It's funny how some rumors start. this article mentions that people thought SLS would degrade into nitrosamines, which are carcinogenic, but that doesn't make any sense at all since there isn't even a nitrogen in SLS, but there are in nitrosamines... welp that reminds you that there are some really uneducated people in society
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    wow shampoo sham must be one among many other things blown up to be worse than they really are. everyone is so quick to be wary of a chemical just because it has a long name or strong properties outside of its use in cosmetics. i wonder what other kinds of products people are sensationalizing as dangerous like this.
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    So it looks like it's actually really important to check our sources and make sure that we are looking at information that is actually based on scientific experiment and not just hearsay. We should probably also cross check information to make sure that it appears in multiple places on the internet as opposed to using just one, non-reliable source.
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    I agree that we should double check where we are getting our information from. But it may also be a cool idea to compare what people think they know about a product and the actual data. We can see how far off people are from the truth and if the myths and rumors are even remotely close to what is really going on, chemically.
Jenny Mu

eBay Guides - What is Arbutin The most common skin lightener. - 1 views

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    really helpful guide to arbutin, the most common skin lightener
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    I think that talking about skin lightening, which is really important in old ladies with dark spots, could be a good blog post. I think this site is really helpful in terms of explaining things thoroughly but in an easyish to understand way too. It appears that because theres a glucose attached to the molecule of arbutin, it makes it much more effective. This kind of relates to chemistry so thats good :D
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    ooh its good that it explains the mechanics of it since usually people just put stuff on their face w/o knowing how it works. i'll cover this one.
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    Wait this is a great article because it really explains the detailed structure of arbutin as well as how it works to lighten skin. The alpha vs beta aspect could also potentially be interesting to expand upon.
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    From what I understand by reading it, the glucose added onto the hydroquinone makes it safer. There was also a mention of 'anti-cancer activity' on melanoma cells. This can definitely be expanded upon since it is something so different from everything else researched.
Katie Rigdon

Sunscreen - 2 views

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    Sunscreen (also known as sunblock) is a lotion, spray or other topical product that helps protect the skin from the sun's ultraviolet (UV) radiation, and which reduces sunburn and other skin damage, ultimately leading to a lower risk of skin cancer.
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    This one helps further explain what I posted down there about para-amino benzoic acid, titanium oxide, and zinc oxide. It seems that para-amino benzoic acid is similar to oxybenzone, which this article says absorbs the UV rays, which is how it helps protect your skins. The metal oxides merely reflect them off. I think the mechanism by which sunscreens help protect is interesting
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    Yay! Looks like we're making some connections between blog posts!!! I'll be sure to tie mine into yours using that information!
Andrew Kang

Polymer chemistry: Dual-function molecules enhance widely used chemical reaction while ... - 1 views

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    Article on easier way to make acrylic acid polymers which, after I looked it up, is actually used in a lot of cosmetic products. This may be relevant to what we're studying now because it mentions emulsifying agents (connected to colloids). 
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    yeah when I was reading articles a lot of the time they mentioned emulsions and colloids and stuff like that. We could definitely talk about that. Also, maybe we could talk about foams and aerosols too. I sense some future blog posts! :D
Amanda Jara

The Health (and Beauty) Dangers of Common Soap & A Top-Recommended Alternative - 1 views

  • These are some of the most common health symptoms that studies have linked to ingredients found in common commercial soaps and commercial personal care products:
  • Today, 75% of liquid soaps and over 30% of bar soaps in the US are antibacterial, all containing the synthetic chemical triclosan.
  • Has been shown to kill your skin cells
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  • Dries your skin
  • Can aggravate skin disorders such as eczema and psoriasis Does nothing to prevent most illnesses, since colds, flues and more are typically viral (and antibacterial only kills bacteria, not viruses) Dioxin, a highly carcinogenic may be formed during the manufacturing process of triclosan, making it a likely contaminant.
    • Jenny Mu
       
      It seems as though there was one of the email chains going around in the nineties that said that SLS was a carcinogen, Snopes did an article on it,where they found that the myth was false Even though SLS is not a carcinogen we can see if it has other health effects
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    I don't know if we could actually take anything from this site, but it's a really good place start looking into. It seems that triclosan and Sodium Lauryl Sulfate are big issues that can be further researched. They are very likely to be found in other body cleansing cosmetics.
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    I definitely agree that Sodium Lauryl Sulfate is a pretty big issue, you always see products boasting that they are "Sulfate free!" and what not. I believe I actually tweeted about SLES a while back, but never expanded upon it. But I think we should do more research into what makes that compound so dangerous and why its bad to be in personal products
Jenny Mu

Is your face cream good enough? - Times Of India - 0 views

  • For example, creams with ceramide, peptides, AHA and BHA are effective.
    • Jenny Mu
       
      This article states that "creams with ceramide, peptides, AHA, and BHA are effective." in helping the cream get absorbed by the skin we should look more into those and figure out chemically what is making these compounds so essential to good skin care.
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    This article also mentions AHAs, which might be our next topic for a blog post
Jenny Mu

Cellular basis for how anti-aging cosmetics work identified - 0 views

    • Jenny Mu
       
      alpha hydroxyl acids (AHAs) might be interesting to look more into, or even develop a blog post about
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    Anti-aging cosmetics might be a good topic, but once again, as long as we don't stray too far into biology and stay focused on the chemistry of the topic. 
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    I was actually trying to find an article on the chemical processes behind anti-aging cremes the other day but I haven't found a good one yet. You are definitely right though, I think anti-aging cosmetics could be a really interesting topic to look into especially to see if these cosmetics actually can produce significant results.
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    Yeah it seems as though there isn't really one certain chemical process that prevents all types of aging, but rather there are a bunch. I wrote an article about antioxidants, but another widespread one seems to be alpha hydroxy acids AHAs
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