Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

For my project, I want to see how certain makeups react with human skin. How would I measure this and what could I do for my skin? I could use human skin however I don't know possible results and how it would affect my skin.
Thank you,
Grace Walters

Hi Grace--welcome to Scibuddies!

Safety and effectiveness of make-up on human skin is an important question. I don't know of a 'synthetic skin' you could use to test make-up. Anything you apply to the skin can cause an allergic reaction for some people and this usually appears as redness. You might be able to test several products by applying a dab to your skin. I would not put the make-up on your face. Use the skin on your arm above the wrist. Be careful and use the products as recommended. If you know that you have allergic reactions to a certain make-up then don't apply it.

Testing skin products this way can be done by a method called 'patch-testing' which is similar to what an allergist does when they test you for allergy to pollen, eggs, grass, etc. Here's a description of how the patch test is done: http://www.wikihow.com/Patch-Test-Skin

I hope this answer gave you some help. If you need more suggestions or information, please query again.

Sybee