Can household product reviews be sexy?
What do this striking young lady and this dapper gentleman have in common?
Post your best guess in the comments, then read on.
So, I recently saw this link on my twitter feed:
10 Things an Adult Man Should Know About Laundry … but Probably Doesn’t
I opened the link and skimmed the list. Clearly, they were writing this for other adult men 
But, way down on the page, they provided some bonus tips for “Washing your Girlfriend’s Stuff.” Here’s one of those tips:
5. Panties, pantyhose, and bras still need to be separated by color, but they also need to go into a little white mesh bag called a “delicates bag”.
I was reminded of a past girlfriend who always hand-washed her bras and hung them up to dry. Then I thought, “If this delicates bag is like hand-washing but inside a washer… could I use a delicates bag to machine-wash all my hand-wash only items?” Let’s find out! Read more…
Why am I recommending a beauty products blog?
Recently I was introduced to a blog called FutureDerm, where one Nicki Zevola reviews beauty products. And I want to recommend her blog to anyone who cares about hair and skin products. I will use three of her recent posts to illustrate why I’m recommending it.
1) In this post about SPF makeup, she explains why the SPF rating on the product label doesn’t match its performance in real life:
…scientists test facial powders to determine SPF in a manner mandated by the FDA, assuming that 2mg of product will be used per cm2 of skin. The average face is about 600cm2 (although that varies from person to person, of course), meaning that a person needs to apply about 1.2g of facial powder to get the SPF stated on the product’s label. However, most women only apply about 0.085g of powder at a time – fourteen times less than you need to get the SPF listed on the package!
2) On whether retinol creams are likely to break down over time:
Other studies, such as this 2004 study in the Journal of Raman Spectroscopy, have shown retinol also becomes unstable in the presence of too much oxygen. So both light and air cause retinol to break down into an oxidized species.
After a month of use, your retinol cream will undoubtedly have less potency than when it is first opened. That’s just the nature of the beast, sorry. However, if your retinol cream contains other antioxidants, is encapsulated in liposomes, or packaged in a light-protective container, then your retinol will have degraded far less than otherwise. … I would also add that an airtight pump, like in Green Cream or Skinceuticals Retinol Creams, are excellent choices.
3) In this review of a Proactiv mask, she addresses the ingredients and why they might be effective at improving skin:
Kaolin, a hydrated silicate of aluminum, has been established as an effective adsorbent for hundreds of years. Kaolin has long been used to treat skin erythema, eczema, and inflammatory skin disorders. It is an adsorbent ingredient that has been proven to absorb excess oil on the skin, as mentioned in The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. In fact, kaolin is so adsorbent makes me hesitant to recommend this to anyone with dry skin!
Sulfur is an important mineral component of vitamin B, collagen, keratin, and several amino acids. According to The Encyclopedia of Skin and Skin Disorders, sulfur is thought to slow bacterial growth as it dissolves the top layer of the skin and slows oil-gland activity within the skin.
What I like about her content is that she doesn’t limit it to reviewing her experience with a product. She cites a fair amount of scientific research that ties a product’s performance to its ingredients and method of formulation. And in #2, she proposes products that address an unavoidable issue with a key ingredient. This appeals to the scientist in me, and for anyone, this makes her blog a useful repository to predict how other products with similar ingredients might function. As far as how compounds like retinol degrade, I’m familiar with that from my line of work. I love being able to read stuff like this because it expands my thinking on how the science can be extended toward designing cool and useful products. Yes, even cosmetics.
And she keeps the FutureDerm blog going while handling the little side gig of being a medical student at Pitt. Well done.
(Picture from UK’s Telegraph)
My mother’s plan for me to marry a brown girl is doomed.
Before I fly home for Thanksgiving, my mother tells me, “Bring a nice outfit. We’re invited to a party on Thursday night.” I ask her who’s hosting. From her answer, I establish my mother’s intent: for me to meet brown* girl(s) whom she imagines are potential wife material for me. After all, I pay attention to her stories, such as the time she returned from a dinner party at that house months ago. “Bhabi has a daughter around your age. She’s a [law/medical] student at [insert name of elite East Coast university]! I saw her. She’s very pretty!” [1]
On Thanksgiving night, we get to the party and most of the guests are already there. My family is shown to the kitchen where finger food appetizers await.
Click to enlarge.
I don’t know anyone there and I can’t see anyone my age I could talk to, so I decide to start the party hanging out with my sister in the kitchen, since (1) we’ll be able to gossip on our own a bit and (2) my sister wears amazing shoes so eventually the women WILL come by to compliment them and converse with her. And then my socially adroit sister could borrow a line from Barney to play a little game of “Haaaaave youmetmybrother?”
Within two minutes, this plan is derailed.
The host auntie [2] pries me away from our nascent gossip session to show me to the guys’room, where her sons and those of the other aunties are watching the Cowboys game. I don’t get super excited for regular season NFL games, but I figure I’ll get to chat with people and it’ll feel like a party.
Nope, mistaken again. Everyone’s super absorbed with the game: one guy because his fantasy team’s players are involved; and, the rest because that’s what guys with peach-fuzz mustaches in high school do. I would know, I was there once. And after dinner is served, we get to watch the next NFL game. Yup, the young ladies will SWARM IN to watch football like bees drawn to nectar!!! Now, readers, don’t feel bad for me. This story you’re reading now? I drafted it in my head as the Cowboys kicked their game-winning field goal.
But! My mother is bound to be disappointed. She and I don’t always agree on what the path to happiness is, but she is certainly concerned with my happiness in life, and I am so blessed to have her care this much. So what went wrong in her plan? Read more…
