Ingredient of the Week: Parabens

This week, the Ingredient of the Week is the family of chemicals known as the parabens.

Parabens are alkyl esters of para-hydroxybenzoic acid, and are of the general chemical structure shown above, where R represents an alkyl (hydrocarbon) group of variable carbon chain length. Referring to the structure above, commonly used parabens include methyl paraben (R= -CH3), ethyl paraben (R= -CH2CH3), propyl paraben (R= -(CH2)2CH3) and butyl paraben (R= -(CH2)3CH3).

Parabens are used as preservatives in many cosmetic and toiletry formulations. In recent years, they have become controversial, and have come under fire from environmental groups. It has become popular for consumers to look for "paraben-free" products. However, when I question people as to why they want to avoid parabens, I usually draw a blank look. So, let's take a closer look!

A Fashion Manifesto

A couple months ago, I was hunting through the magazine racks at the bookstore, and stumbled across this title that I had never seen before.

The Economist Intelligent Life, March/April 2013 and May/June 2013 issues.

The Economist has always been one of my favourite publications, and I read it whenever I have the chance, but as the title suggests, it is mainly concerned with economics, business and politics, with a tiny sprinkling of "lighter topics" in the last few pages of the magazine. I was intrigued by "Intelligent Life" because it is under The Economist brand, but it covers a wide range of topics outside of the regular purview of The Economist: culture, the arts, travel, and in particular, fashion and style! Who would have ever thought a magazine associated with The Economist would talk about fashion?

Ingredient of the Week: Vitamin C

The Ingredient of the Week is ascorbic acid, also known as Vitamin C.

L-ascorbic acid (Vitamin C)

Vitamin C formulations are well-known in the world of cosmetics, and have been around for a while, but there have been some advances in their formulation. I thought now would be a good time to revisit this ingredient, and discuss its importance.

Fashion Friday: For the guys...

Where did May go to? Well, June is just around the corner and that means Father's Day is coming up soon. This year, it falls on June 16. Seeing as I haven't done a post on men's fashion in ages, I thought now would be a good time to revisit the subject!

M with the kids,
at the Canadian International Auto Show last year.

Ingredient of the Day: Kojic acid

The Ingredient of the Week is kojic acid.

Kojic acid is a naturally occurring compound, produced by certain species of fungi, particularly Aspergillus oryzae. It is the by-product of the fermentation of rice by these fungi in the production of sake (Japanese rice wine).

Bottles of Japanese sake

Fashion Friday: Casual style

Friday is my favourite day of the week - time to kick back and relax. In that spirit, today I am launching Fashion Fridays! I will talk about what's catching my eye style-wise at the moment. Like I said at the beginning of the year, I cut myself loose from the popular/big-name fashion blogs and I have been relying solely on what I have been seeing around me and gut feeling. It hasn't been easy I have been going through some major transitions in the past few years, and the constant state of flux has really confused my sense of what works and what doesn't work. So, fair warning that you might see some fashion faux pas!

Ingredient of the week: Hyaluronic acid

Starting this week and into next week, I am launching (hopefully!) regular weekly series. On Wednesdays, I will be featuring the Ingredient of the Week in which I will discuss a chemical compound, why it is found in cosmetic formulations, and products to watch out for that contain the ingredient in question. I will be delving a little further into the science - please take a look at the Chemistry 101 page (linked here and above) to get a handle on basic terminology.

Today, I am featuring hyaluronic acid. Hyaluronic acid (also known as hyaluronan; see below) is a polymer and a type of organic compound known as a glycosoaminoglycan. A glycosaminoglycan is an unbranched polysaccharide composed of repeating disaccharide units, in this case glucuronic acid and N-acetylglucosamine. The molecular weight of hyaluronic acid found in vivo is variable and dependent on the length of the molecule, ranging from 5,000 to 20,000,000 Daltons. (To give perspective, one molecule of water is ~18 Daltons.)

Hyaluronic acid