Monthly Archives: May 2013

Tired of Underperforming Powder?

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“I’m tired of paying loads of money for makeup with such low pigmentation and shoddy formulation. I’d rather mix my own cosmetics, but I can’t seem to find pure 100% cosmetic pigments.” Great idea! Unfortunately, like everything, it’s easier said than done.The FDA or Federal Drug Administration regulates much of the cosmetics industry and they’re fairly hard on “adulterated” mixtures or ones that don’t meet their pre-approved formulations. (Funny how they worry about face powder but not lipstick lead!) That, and the fact that it really isn’t all about the base color when it comes to the opacity of a cosmetic but more about the effects of the other ingredients AND color pigment in the formulation of the end product powder that makes this person, and millions of other, tired of underperformed powders.

Everything interacts with everything else in the world of science which is why cosmetic formulations are such well-guarded secrets; not unlike Coca Cola or Pepsi. The cost of a cosmetic powder that really performs, like Studio Direct or MAC for example, is due to the research and development behind it. Smart people are expensive and even using the brightest minds in the world, formulations are the results of the trial-and-error process. Now trial-and-error doesn’t mean throwing a dart at a dartboard hanging on a black wall in a dark room. It’s “predictive” which means simply that scientists combine what they’ve learned in college-level to PhD academics with their subsequent real-world experience and make “educated guesses” to begin a trial-and-error quest for the perfect formulation; this is in a scientific world where adding an amount of something that weighs half that of a human hair (.50mg or a few dust particles) can completely change the color of a product.

So, with the exception of getting back some of the “markup” cost (difference between a company’s cost to produce a cosmetic and the price you pay on the sticker) of your under-performing cosmetic by making it perform when it should have in the first place, there’s very little benefit to adding your own color and, in fact, you may change the color all-together. There’s a reason powders like Studio Direct and MAC are used extensively in the entertainment industry and that’s because the cost of failure is so great. The more complete the color is, the fewer times it needs to be re-applied to the performer and the fewer times you hear, “Hold for makeup” on the set. The fewer times you hear that on-set, the less the production cost is.

Coenzyme Q10, your Wallet and Your Skin

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It seems the battle has raged for the past 30-years as to whether Coenzyme Q10 or “CoQ10″ as it’s called really works cosmetically.  You can see it or it’s derivatives Ubiquinol and Ubiquinone listed all the time on labels and in it’s oxidized form but what is it and could it possibly stop or slow the aging of skin? Well, to answer that question, a short explanation is in order; the Cliffs Notes version of course.

Up into our late 20s, our bodies naturally produce CoQ10 in the form of Ubiquinone which helps the cells produce energy and collagen and elastin; keeping the balloons inflated and firm so to speak. But the body also metabolizes Ubiquinone into Ubiquinol which works to fight free-radicals; those renegade oxygen molecules that destroy collagen and elastin and other things that make our skin appear thin, saggy and wrinkly. It’s a physiological process but the simple truth is that both Ubiquinol and Ubiquinone both benefit the skin and body. The issue is, how to keep the creation of Ubiquinone and its metabolizing into Ubiquinol going.

You see, after about 30, our body slows the creation of Ubiquinone and and it’s  metabolization into Ubiquinol thus slowing the cellular support of collagen and elastin AND the fight against free-radicals. So the search has always been for a way to create and then physically introduce synthesized or “man-made” CoQ10 in the form of Ubiquinol into the body for cellular uptake. The problem was that both forms of CoQ10 are “hydrophobic” which means they don’t dissolve in water. And because nutrients are absorbed through the small intestine, this makes it hard to get the powdery, synthesized Ubiquinol into the bloodstream and then into the cell walls where it works to fight free-radicals and thus stop or at least slow the aging process all skin goes through.  So, what to do.

BioAvailability – Well, it turns out the answer was fairy simple when you look back on it. Instead of water, why not use oil capsules like Vitamin E comes in because both forms of CoQ10 dissolved easily in oil. That way, the gelatin coating that surrounded the oil and dissolved Ubiquinol could dissolve in the small intestine and be absorbed it the blood stream and taken to the cells to fight those wrinkle-causing, skin-degenerating free-radicals. And it worked. The down side was that the process of making those gelatin capsules was extremely high making the capsules expensive. Thankfully, science has allowed the development of what is known as BioQ10SA; a process which lowers the manufacturing cost of Ubiquinol capsules while still getting the compound through the intestinal walls and into the blood stream and cell walls to fight free-radicals.

So, rather than go on with a lay person’s view of just why, for Studio Direct clients anyway, we believe in the importance of CoQ10, physician and nutritionist Dr. Joseph Mercoloa explains the benefits and the cautions that accompany CoQ10 internally in this video.