Facial attractiveness plays a crucial role in a variety of social interactions because attractive faces are preferred in general. Although it is considered that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and ethnic groups have different standards for judging beauty, facial attractiveness judgements are more similar than different across sexes, ethnic groups, and ages. Previous studies have shown that that various facial features contribute to facial attractiveness. On the other hand, facial make-up is a popular cosmetic practice throughout history and across cultures. There is evidence that make-up has a beautifying effect on facial attractiveness. This review summarizes such findings briefly and discusses how attractive faces are produced by make-up.

Recently, Head Spa has been drawing considerable attention in hair salons as a novel head massaging service. Several key basic massage techniques comprising Head Spa were identified although the physiological and psychological effects of each technique remained unclear. In the present study, the effects of five basic massage techniques — pressing, finger pressing, kneading, friction, and stroking — on mind and body have been evaluated using physiological and psychological indices. In the physiological test, parasympathetic activation was commonly observed for all five techniques, which was indicated by pulse rate decrease. The pressing, finger pressing, and stroking increased the secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) level in saliva. The kneading increased the skin surface temperatures at most sites followed by the friction. Several techniques even affected facial morphologies. In the psychological test using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) the factors prominent for each basic massage technique appeared differently. In particular, only the pressing induced an optimistic mindset, kneading raised the degree of relaxation, and stroking improved consciousness. These results suggested that, despite the short massage period of three minutes, each basic massage technique has distinctly different effects. Thus, our study contributes in unveiling the effect of each basic massage technique and creating a rational head massage menu in salons for improving customer satisfaction.

The functional properties of foundation and sunscreen products need to be long lasting because they are applied to the skin during for a long time in a day. Thus, the surface of the powder in cosmetics is coated with hydrophobic agents to make it water resistant. However, the water-resistant property of the powder makes it difficult to wash it off with water easily. To solve this problem, we focused on two types of poly (trimethylene carbonate) (PTMC) derivatives which show spontaneous surface rearrangements depending on wet or dry conditions. We found out that PTMC with poly (dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS-PTMC) and poly (ethylene glycol) monomethyl ether (mPEG-PTMC) showed change in the contact angle because of the surface rearrangement of polymers under the wet condition. The response time under the wet condition and change in contact angle were able to be controlled by the polymer chain length and blend ratio of PDMS-PTMC and mPEG-PTMC. PDMS-PTMC and mPEG-PTMC polymer-coated powder showed hydrophobicity for a certain period, and then became hydrophilic after a certain period in water. Furthermore, by using a powder coated with PDMS-PTMC and mPEG-PTMC with the optimal polymer chain length and blend ratio for the powdery foundation, it is possible to develop a product that is both long lasting and easily washed off.

It is well-known that healthy hair is damaged by such factors as heat, friction, and sunlight. By the damage incurred above, the functional groups like sulfo and amino groups appear on the hair surface due to the removal of 18-MEA (a natural protective material of hair). As a result, the hair condition becomes more hydrophilic and cuticle lifting occurs on the hair surface. We focus on the amino group in damaged hair in order to improve the hair texture. Lipophilic vitamin C (ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate) is known as a pro-vitamin C in the field of skincare, and the chemical structure is close to that of acid anhydride. Generally, acid anhydride has high reactivity with amino groups. Therefore, the efficiency of ascorbyl tetraisopalmitateon damaged hair improvement was examined based on its high reactivity with amino groups. First, the reaction between ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate and amino groups was confirmed by using amino modified glass plate. The results showed that glass plates treated with common oils (hydrocarbon, ester, etc.) did not have a change in their contact angle value, but the glass treated with ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate showed a high hydrophobicity by contact angle measurement of water. Next, ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate in squalane solution was used to treat a damaged hair. The treated hair showed an improvement in water repelling and cuticle fluffing by contact angle measurement, via scattering electron microscopic observation.