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My brother and his girlfriend took me too the movies yesterday. On the way there, his girlfriend pulled out some lip gloss and was about to use it when my brother almost shouts "EWWWW!" I asked him what was so gross and he said "They put fish scales in lip gloss. My biology teacher told my class" Now, if anyone else had told me this, I would have demanded to go home and throw out every tube I could find. But my brother has a reputation for telling me things like that to scare me. (Like telling me that black widows eat humans and live in our house when I was five) I googled it, but Google doesn't feel like giving me a straight answer. Is it true?
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Nothing is wrong with fish scales. I just don't like the thought of animals being killed for the sake of beauty.
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I dunno, I doubt that I'd feel entirely comfortable putting fish scales on my lips. But then, I am a guy. Posts: 2827 | Registered: Jul 2005
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The ingredients of modern cosmetics may also surprise those who use them: Lipstick, for example, can contain the shimmery substance of fish scales called "pearl essence". Pearl essence is obtained primarily from herring and is one of many by-products of large-scale commercial fish processing. This is rarely used due to the high cost and extreme fragility of this type of colorant. The primary source of the pearlescent shine used in lipsticks, eyeshadows, and blush is mica, a natural, mined mineral. The mica, which is translucent, is coated with a very thin layer of titanium dioxide. This coating causes color to appear through interference effects with the mica; varying the thickness of the titanium dioxide changes the color.[1]
So it seems unlikely. Unless she was using really expensive lip gloss. Posts: 1990 | Registered: Feb 2001
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quote:Originally posted by Jeesh: Nothing is wrong with fish scales. I just don't like the thought of animals being killed for the sake of beauty.
Seeing as how it's a by-product of the fishing industry (i.e., the fish are dying anyway so that we can eat them), you shouldn't have a problem with it.
The same thing is generally true of leather. Think of how much beef Americans eat. That many cows produce a lot of skin, and if it's not turned into leather then it will just be wasted.
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And if they were using pearl essence, the fish would not be killed for the sake of beauty.
When I went to an amimal science workshop last year we got a list of products that contained animal byproducts. I don't know where it is now, but there were many you wouldn't think of.
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I could see that it might be a problem if you are allergic to fish. Or if you kissed someone who is allergic to fish.
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I'm more or less on theCrowsWife's side on this one. Although Theca makes a point too. If opportunity arises, then use it.
Although, I don't know how far my word ever goes. If you were to open my closet you might find enough leather for 3 cows, at least.
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I used to manage a store that specializes in leather coats and accessories. If I had a nickel for every time I had to explain to someone that we did not kill the animals just for their hides, that we were recycling the skins from the meat packing industry, I'd have a million bucks. What really bugged me though is that these people almost always had on leather shoes or a big trendy leather handbag. If you're killing an animal for food, I think it's great if you can also use the rest as well so nothing goes to waste.
Posts: 601 | Registered: Sep 2002
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Oh, fish scales is nothing. Ambergris is still occasionally used as a fixative in perfumery. And just what, pray tell, is ambergris? Well, to be delicate about it Wickopedia says, “Ambergris occurs as a biliary concretion in the intestines of the sperm whale, and can be found floating upon the sea, on the sea-coast”
I’ve also read somewhere that certain components of skunk scent is use in perfume sometimes.
Oh, and did I mention red lipstick? I’m not sure if it is still used but the crushed up carapaces of certain beetles provided the red pigment (or stain is maybe a better word) for red lipstick.
But that stuff and the mystery meat in hotdogs doesn’t bother me too much. What I find really disgusting is the way the cosmetic industry uses strapped down live rabbits to test how irritable certain chemicals are to eyes. That’s so your new and improved shampoo and stuff will not melt your eyeball if you slip.
Now that’s truly despicable - and gross.
Have a nice day. Posts: 631 | Registered: Oct 1999
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I think the seaweed compound is called carageenan, and it's used as a thickener in a lot of stuff. Including some ice cream shakes.
Posts: 3546 | Registered: Jul 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Samuel Bush: Oh, fish scales is nothing. Ambergris is still occasionally used as a fixative in perfumery. And just what, pray tell, is ambergris? Well, to be delicate about it Wikopedia says, “Ambergris occurs as a biliary concretion in the intestines of the sperm whale, and can be found floating upon the sea, on the sea-coast”
I’ve also read somewhere that certain components of skunk scent is use in perfume sometimes.
Oh, and did I mention red lipstick? I’m not sure if it is still used but the crushed up carapaces of certain beetles provided the red pigment (or stain is maybe a better word) for red lipstick.
Ambergris and skunk (and civet) musk are rarely used except in extremely expensive perfumes. (Synthetics that do much the same jobs are far cheaper, and less likely to trigger allergic reactions.)
And beetle extract (officially known as carmine) is commonly used as a food colorant, not just in lipstick.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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quote:Originally posted by quidscribis: The stuff we have here is called agar.
We can actually buy jello (Motha brand) that doesn't require refrigeration to set. It's all because of the agar.
Which, of course, is both Halal and kosher, given that it's a vegetable compound.
Yes, agar is available here as well. But now that kosher gelatin is available (for about 10+ years), I can confirm what I've been told for years -- agar simply doesn't set as well as gelatin does.
It's a decent substitute, though.
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We also use agar to support the growth of bacteria colonies. If you set a plate of agar, swipe a q-tip to anything you can think of, zig-zag it on the agar and then cover it, little dots appear after a couple of days. I would think about refrigerating it promptly if you're making jello with it...
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What annoys me is the lables that say "not tested on animals" when I look at the ingreedients and clearly some of the ingreedients were tested on animals in the past, just the people making their particular version of the stuff didn't do it.
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Thanks for the additional information, rivka. Like I said, I wasn’t sure to what extent this stuff was still used or not. I see one of those “laws” emerging here. Like: “The gross-out factor of the ingredients is directly proportional to cost of the product.”
For instance, bird’s nest soup is considered a delicacy. It is also very very expensive. It is also very gross to contemplate that those nests are made out of bird mucus - not to mention all the bird . . . ahem . . . “byproducts” that must get deposited in those nests throughout the course of their use. (I think I’ll stick to menudo.)
Anyway, gelatin (as in the main ingredient in Jell-O and whole pile of other products such as gummy bears) is made from the hooves and bones and connective tissues of cows and pigs. Of course the process used to extract the gelatin from the hooves etc. cleans up all of the stuff that is always squishing up between those animals toes - probably.
Posts: 631 | Registered: Oct 1999
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So what's the big deal. You probably had the underdeveloped embryo of a large flightless bird for breakfast this AM anyway. You may even have cooked it with coagulated secretions from the mammary gland of a domesticated ruminate.
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Edit to add: It just makes me wonder what else he said is true. I usually assume he's trying to gross me out, which rarely works.
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quote:Originally posted by Samuel Bush: I see one of those “laws” emerging here. Like: “The gross-out factor of the ingredients is directly proportional to cost of the product.”
I'm not sure it's true, though. Eggs are plenty gross, and they're cheap. Gelatin's pretty inexpensive also.
(And you know they really do clean the bird nests before they make 'em into soup. Not that I've ever felt any need to have it anyway.)
Kosher gelatin is not made from cow bones and toenails and such. It is either made from the skins and bones of fish, or from beef hides.
Yum!
Jeesh, shall I tell you about maraschino cherries? Or the lovely food colorings in your Lucky Charms? (Which has marshmallows, and therefore gelatin along the lines of Samuel's description.)
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Here in Nevada, they have bumper stickers that say, "if you can't grow it, it has to be mined". You could just as well say, "if you can't mine it, you could probably work yourself up if you thought about it for a little while." And, if you have ever hiked around a "reclaimed" open pit, you could probably work yourself up about that too.
The "Law" I prefer is " if someone, somewhere enjoys eating it, there is probably a good taste in there somewhere. Try it you might like it."
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Oh it’s no big deal for me, Artemisia. I was just being factious - and trying to gross out Jeesh.
Personally, I’ll eat just about anything as long as it does not baa, moo, squeal, cluck, or chirp when I stick it with my fork. I draw the line at eating fugu and live things - deliberately anyway.
Raw eggs and pickled pigs feet, anyone? Posts: 631 | Registered: Oct 1999
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quote:Nowadays, the commercial maraschino cherries we know are put into a brining liquid of sodium metabisulfate, calcium chloride, and citric acid; soaked in corn syrup and fructose solution; then artificially flavored and colored either red or green. Rather makes you think twice about them, doesn't it?
quote:I draw the line at eating fugu
I'm sure he appreciates that. Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Side effect of growing up with three older brothers.
The cherries kinda gross me out though. For some reason the pig's feet don't gross me out. At least not as much as the cherries.
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I actually kind of like the idea of using fish scales - at least then it's not being wasted. I'd imagine keeping the scales separated from the other non-edible fish byproducts is a rather difficult (and therefore costly) process, though. I wonder how much of the scales end up getting tossed/turned into fertilizer/whatever instead anyway.
A vegetarian I knew in college always used to say, "An egg is just a chicken period!"
I learned about the beetle extract when I read this book, which I highly recommend if anyone's intrested in pigments and such. It was surprising, but I'm not grossed out by it.
Pigs' feet, though, are gross. Mostly because they still look like...pigs' feet. I don't eat squid tentacles, either.
I'm always amused by the "carnauba wax" that appears on some candy labels. I don't know what that is, so I end up mentally substituting "ear wax" or "candle wax". Doesn't stop me from eating the candy, though. Posts: 952 | Registered: Jun 2005
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Carnuba is a tree. No gross out factor there. It is harder than many other waxes. Therefore, it can be shined to a higher gloss.
Posts: 1167 | Registered: Oct 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Artemisia Tridentata: Carnuba is a tree. No gross out factor there. It is harder than many other waxes. Therefore, it can be shined to a higher gloss.
Aww, that's no fun at all! No thanks, I do believe I'll keep my earwax delusions. Posts: 952 | Registered: Jun 2005
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