Organic Skin Care Blog – Product Reviews & Healthy Skin

Here's my second "You Ask, I Answer" post, where I consolidate some common (and not so common) reader questions. Reader questions aren't a new thing on my blog, and I've written a bunch of posts based on reader questions over time, including some of my personal favourite science-y posts, like my post on parabens, and my post on talc. But I thought it would be nice if I could share some of my reader Q&As with everyone else too!


Today's question on DIY and natural skincare comes from Chelsi:

Chelsi asks:
I want to ask u something. It's so hard for me to get organic and natural skincare that avoids not using harmful chemicals...the fact is there are lots of brands outside there use chemical ingredients... I want to make DIY skincare but I think i don't have enough time to make it while I have to work and after work I am tired and just wanna take a rest..So , do you think it's okay to still using the skincare which still contains chemical ingredients? thx :)

Your question is quite a big hairy one, so I'll just touch on some key topics that you raised:
1. Are chemicals really a problem in skincare?
2. So when should I avoid "chemical" ingredients?
3. Can you actually DIY your own skincare, and if so, is it actually "better" that what's available out there?

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As some of you may know, I do feature reader questions on my blog from time to time, especially when they provide inspiration for science-y posts, like this post on parabens and safety, and this other post on talc and safety. Recently I received a reader question on the Elizavecca Bubble Clay Mask, and it's an ingredients analysis type of question - exactly the sort of questions I love to take a stab at!

Elizabeth asks:
Do you think you could evaluate the "Elizavecca Bubble Clay Mask"? I bought it but I'm not sure if it actually works...it does make my skin feel smooth and soft right after but I'm not sure about any long term effects. I'm afraid this product might be mostly skintertainment because of the bubbles.

The Elizavecca Bubble Clay Mask is something of a niche cult product that has gained popularity among some kbeauty fans over the past couple of years or so, along with other bubble masks. Elizavecca is a fairly niche Korean beauty brand, and their Bubble Clay Mask seems to have gotten popular in part due to the novelty factor. Basically, the Bubble Clay Mask goes on like a normal clay mask, but once applied, quickly foams up with lots of little bubbles when you apply it, like so:


I'm pretty sure a part of the reason why they're so popular is because the foam gives rise to all sorts of really cute, funny, or weird (sometimes all at once!) selfies, like this. I mean, imagine applying a mask and then having it foam and bubble up right on your face! That's pretty fun, isn't it?


That said, bubble masks, despite the novelty value, aren't actually anything super groundbreaking, and masks of this format have existed for awhile. In fact, waaaay back in 2011, I reviewed just one such bubble mask from another Kbeauty brand, The Nature Lab Oxygen Shield Bubble Mask. And more recently in 2014, I reviewed a sort-of-similar product from a Western brand, the Elizabeth Arden Ceramide Boosting 5-Minute Facial, a 2-part skincare product where the first part also consists of a foaming mask. So while the Elizavecca one is more popular, it certainly isn't the first of its kind.

Anyway, since this is a reader question, let's get back to the question, and then we'll talk a bit more about bubble masks in general. What's inside the Elizavecca Bubble Mask, and what makes it bubble? Does this bubbling really help skin? Do bubble masks in general really bring any skincare benefit beyond being novel or entertaining? Let's take a look, starting with the ingredients list!
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Reader questions aren't a new thing on this blog, obviously - I've featured a bunch of them on my blog over time, and sometimes they are the inspiration for entire (sometimes pretty long) posts, especially when it pertains to the science-y part of things, like this post on parabens and safety, and this other post on talc and safety.


I love it when readers send me questions (if not I wouldn't be blogging!), and I love responding to them. Because a lot of my readers are pretty interested in skincare and ingredients, I get a lot of questions that require some time to research and reply to, so I often am unable to respond immediately, although I try my best! Through the years, I've also noticed that some questions are repeated as well. So, to better answer questions at a faster pace and eliminate repetition, I decided to compile a few similar questions and answer them all at once, and put them up on my blog! Hopefully it will also serve as a useful reference to anyone else having similar questions too!

Today's questions deal with undertones and skincare, specifically eye creams for undereye puffiness. All questions are printed "as is" in order to remain faithful to the original reader's words. I do basic editing for spelling and simple grammar where possible, however. So, without further ado, let's start!
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Is talc in cosmetics dangerous or safe? Does it cause cancer, particularly ovarian cancer? Is it safe to use talc in makeup? With the news about Johnson and Johnson being sued over the talc in their baby powder supposedly causing ovarian cancer, I've been asked a couple of times about talc's safety in makeup. One such question came from my lovely reader Joanna (hello Joanna!) as below:

Hello!! Just wanted to say your blog is very very informative and I've made several purchases following the information on your reviews. Since you're so into looking at ingredients of cosmetics too I was wondering what your thoughts are regarding talc-based products, especially bronzers and loose face powders. With the recent news about Johnson and Johnson's baby powder case it's sort of alerted me a little to think about this. I know that we don't use make up in the genital area hence ovarian cancer risks are unlikely but there's also mixed evidence about chronic inhalation of talc maybe causing lung cancer. What are your views in this area? It has raised my concern as I believe effects are cumulative but I've also realised a lot of big brands such as Bobbi Brown, Benefit and 3CE all have talc based powders and bronzers. Please share your opinion :)

From her question, it's clear that there is concern about talc on multiple fronts - applied on skin, inhalation, and also perineal use (aka, using talc down there in the genital area). Although Joanna was specifically asking about talc with respect to inhalation, I thought, in view of current events, as well as other questions I've been getting, I'll just look at all 3 concern areas of skin, inhalation, and perineal use - that way, I have a neat, more complete summary of what the science says on talc in general that will hopefully be more helpful!


First though, before I start, I would like to say that this is not in any way meant to detract from the suffering of women who do have ovarian cancer. It is a serious disease with far-reaching effects, and my sympathy goes out to all ovarian cancer sufferers and their families, and they deserve our support. But for the purpose of this blogpost, I am most interested in responding to Joanna’s question, which is specifically about talc in cosmetics. So although this question certainly is prompted by current events, the scope of this blogpost is not to talk about the J&J lawsuit, but just to look at what the science says about the safety of talc in cosmetics. So, I hope that noone takes offense the narrow scope of this blogpost. Trust me, this pretty narrow scope is already quite a lengthy blogpost!
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One of the trending things in the beauty scene now, particularly the Asian beauty scene, is Bounce Up Pacts, as they are called by Asian brands, or Pore Putty as they are called by Western brands. For those who may not have heard, this is basically a base makeup, akin to foundation, and functions quite similarly, in that it comes in a variety of skin-like shades, and is meant to provide coverage and a smooth finish to the skin.


What's different and new about these Bounce Up Pacts/Pore Putties, though, is the texture. These have a hybrid texture that's sort of similar to a dough, or Play-Doh, which you can roll up, ball around, squish, and so on. You can depress your finger into the pact, and like Play-Doh, your finger will leave a print on the surface, but you can smooth it out. So these are sort of like, not as liquid as traditional cream foundation, but not as dry as a powder, and the "Putty" or "Bounce Up" name is a reference to how malleable the products are. On Youtube, you can find all sorts of videos demonstrating the more interesting properties of this product, as you can see below.


Interestingly though, this new generation of products aren't actually the first to use the phrase "pore putty". Back in the early-to-mid-2000s, Japanse brand Sana came out with a range of products called "Pore Putty", although none of them had a malleable, dough-like texture. Rather, the range's name was indicative of the supposed claims of the products - to hide your pores - and came in a range of liquids, powders, and creams, with BB creams, mineral powders, makeup bases, concealers and so on.

I guess this Bounce Up Pact/Pore Putty thing must be pretty huge right now, because I received two real-life queries from friends about this class of product, as well as one online request via Twitter. So I figured, why not? Most of the questions I got were centred around 1) whether the Bounce Up Pacts/Pore Putties were really novel, new or groundbreaking, as well as 2) what are the ingredients that give the product its interesting texture? So we'll attempt to look at these two questions in this post!

hello, @musicalhouses :) would you like to do ingredients analysis to Ver. 88 Bounce-Up Pact? It has been hot item these days.

— a (@justletterA) December 14, 2015

The best way to get blogpost ideas: Reader suggestions! Thank you for the idea!
If you know my blog, you know what I'm going to say next - we're going to look at ingredients lists! It was quite hard to find the ingredients lists for some of the Asian brand Bounce Up Pacts, but after searching the internets and asking other bloggers, I managed to get the ingredients lists for 4 products: the Chosungah22 Bounce Up Pact Master, Ver 88 Bounce Up Pact SPF 50/PA+++, Stila Perfectly Poreless Putty Perfector, and the Peter Thomas Roth Pore Putty. With two "Western" Pore Putties, and two "Asian" Bounce Up Pacts, this should give us plenty of material to work with! So let's get started!
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