If you grew up in Canada like we did, you probably grew up loving David Suzuki. The environmentalist and educator has been ahead of so many issues for so long, so we were quite delighted to see that the foundation that bears his name has taken on cosmetics. Yesterday they announced the findings of their months-long research into cosmetics, and they’ve unveiled their own Dirty Dozen, which has a lot in common with the ingredients we warn about in the book (where we show you how to actually find these mysterious things on product labels, and in which products they appear). We like their list!
We’d love to see Canada pave the way for reform, but considering the head of the cosmetics industry in Canada is also a former government health official, we won’t be holding our breath.
You can download the complete PDF here. And read on to see what made their list:
1. BHA and BHT
2. Coal tar dyes
3. DEA
4. Dibutyl phthalate
5. Formaldehyde-releasing preservatives
6. Parabens
7. Parfum (a.k.a. fragrance)
8. PEG compounds
9. Petrolatum
10. Siloxanes
11. Sodium laureth sulfate
12. Triclosan
So we both happen to be 31 years old but, pinkyswear, we are not making this stuff up. A new study done by QVC—yes that QVC—has revealed that 31 (and not, say, 23) is the peak age for beauty.
Even more exciting, according to the Telegraph:
Some 70 per cent of more than 2,000 men and women polled cited confidence as a key factor in making a woman attractive, ahead of the 67 per cent who included physical beauty and 47 per cent who looked for a sense of style.
I don’t know about you but confidence wasn’t exactly booming in my teens and early twenties even if certain physical attributes were, ahem, more buoyant with youth. And confidence is something that accrues with age. You know what else does? Happiness! Maybe this getting older thing is not so bad after all—right?
The verdict is in: Women can do more things at once, or should that be: men can do less? A group of British researchers have finally put this long-held (but never verified) theory to the test and the results are pretty unequivocal.
According to the The Week, here was the researchers’ methodology:
They gathered 100 students—50 men and 50 women—and gave them eight minutes to perform three tasks at the same time. They all got the same tasks, which included solving simple math problems, finding restaurants on a map, and devising a strategy for finding a lost key in an imaginary field. Then, while they were juggling those assignments, the subjects received a telephone call, which they could answer or ignore. If they answered, they were asked some general knowledge questions while they continued the original tasks.
Apparently the women were undaunted by the multiple tasks and 70 percent of them outperformed their male counterparts. The men did well on the math, decent on the map test, but totally sucked at strategizing about the key.
It turns out the men didn’t use any kind of logical approach (!) but rather jumped right in with no plan.
I think even our male readers are probably having a little chuckle at that, no?
Ok, now for the rub: Multitasking is actually shown to make everyone less efficient (even us girls who are so good at it). Apparently when you focus on a single task both sides of your brain work together, but when you multitask they divide to conquer and that slows productivity. Still, my takeaway from this study? Women are more logical.
One more thing, though. Not to get all bra-burny, but why is it that this is just being looked into now? When working on the book this was something we ran into time and again: So much of the available research skews male and so much about women’s brains and bodies (and you know, hormones and skin…) remains cloaked in mystery. At least this is bound to change in coming years with so many ladies entering these fields.
Would you like to see more studies about women?
A bunch of Germans—why are they always out front on this stuff?—tested fragrances to see if they had any tangible effects on brain chemistry. Most of them did not, but jasmine? Big oui. It’s being called the first scientific proof that aromatherapy works.
From The Week:
Researchers … have concluded that the smell of Jasmine is just as effective as Valium—at least, on lab mice. Could doctors someday prescribe a daily whiff of this fragrant flower?
I mean, if they’re smart they will, am I right?
Photo (cc) by Flickr user kpjas
File under “when Onion headlines become a reality,” a new study has come out showing that Botox injections might actually dampen people’s emotions. In the journal Emotions, Barnard researchers write that people with Botox “exhibited an overall significant decrease in the strength of emotional experience” after being shown videos that tugged at their heartstrings.
That facial expressions—furrowed brow, heavy-lidded eyes, scrunched-up nose—deepen our experience of our feelings is obvious to anyone who has ever had to try a little to get their cry on. Sometimes just making cryface is enough to bring on the tears, right? Right.
From WebMD:
In the new study, participants who received Botox injections self-reported less emotional response … and as a result, did not feel their emotions quite as deeply as their counterparts who received treatment with a wrinkle filler called Restylane.
Now don’t go thinking this means Restylane gets a pass.
What’s your take?
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