Parabens are commonly used as preservatives in cosmetics. Here are answers to questions that consumers often ask about the safety and use of these ingredients.

- What are parabens, and why are they used in cosmetics?

- What kinds of products contain parabens?

- Does FDA regulate preservatives in cosmetics?

- Are parabens safe in cosmetics? ....

Will consumers stay the course now that things appear to be returning to a new normal across much of the country? 

Over the past months, mass-market retailers saw a spike in most segments of hair care as salons, beauty supply stores and specialty beauty retailers were forced to close during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now marketers and merchants hope the habits consumers adopted during their time sheltering at home will stick and the category will continue to produce robust volume. A pipeline of new products from multinational brands and niche marketers also is in the works to maintain the sales bounce. Not surprisingly, hair color sales rocketed, but data also supports the acceleration...

Researchers from Skoltech and the University of Texas Medical Branch (US) have shown how optoacoustics can be used for monitoring skin water content, a technique which is promising for medical applications such as tissue trauma management and in cosmetology. The paper outlining these results was published in the Journal of Biophotonics.

A recent human study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology found that consuming grapes protected against ultraviolet (UV) skin damage. Study subjects showed increased resistance to sunburn and a reduction in markers of UV damage at the cellular level.  Natural components found in grapes known as polyphenols are thought to be responsible for these beneficial effects...

Use of a cosmetic laser invented at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) may improve the effectiveness of certain anti-tumor therapies and extend their use to more diverse forms of cancer. The strategy was tested and validated in mice, as described in a study published in Science Translational Medicine.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors are important medications...

Scientists have created a highly detailed map of skin, which reveals that cellular processes from development are re-activated in cells from patients with inflammatory skin disease. The researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Newcastle University and Kings College London, discovered that skin from eczema and psoriasis patients share many of the same molecular pathways as developing skin cells. This offers potential new drug targets for treating these painful skin diseases. Published on 22nd January in Science, the study also provides a completely new understanding of inflammatory disease, opening up new avenues for...

While aging is an unavoidable biological process with many influencing factors that results in visible changes to the hair, there is limited literature examining the characteristics of hair aging across the races. Now a new study describes the unique characteristics of hair aging among different ethnicities that the authors hope will aid in a culturally sensitive approach when making recommendations to prevent hair damage during one’s life-time.

Among the findings: hair-graying onset varies with race...